GIS-Based Transport Accessibility Analysis to Community Facilities in Mid-Sized Cities

Transport accessibility is an important issue for the sustainable development of cities. This work presents a GIS-based accessibility analysis approach that can be applied to assess accessibility to community facilities in medium-sized cities using publicly available data. For that purpose, a case study was developed using the road network and public transport data from Covilhã municipality, in Portugal. Data collected on websites were treated and organized to build the network dataset and perform network analyses with the aid of the ArcGis® Network Analyst extension (creation of service areas and Origin-Destiny (OD) cost matrices). Four accessibility evaluation analyses were performed for two transport modes: accessibility to the municipality main community facilities by private and urban public transport (isochronous and OD matrices), by inter-urban public transport (time); and accessibility by private transport between civil parishes (isochronous and OD matrices). The population and the territory covered by different travel times were also determined. The case study results showed that the accessibility in Covilhã is quite reasonable, either using private transport inside the municipality (maximum 30 minutes for covering nearly 95% of the resident population and 83% of the territory), or urban public transport inside the urban perimeter (maximum 50 minutes). However, the periphery civil parishes of the municipality have lower levels of accessibility for inter-urban public transport (reaching 115 minutes). The utility of the approach was validated through the results obtained in the case study, where it was possible to observe patterns of accessibility across the municipality for the considered modes, making it possible to improve the overall accessibility through the identification of priority areas of intervention.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A GIS-Based Evaluation of the Effectiveness and Spatial Coverage of Public Transport Networks in Tourist Destinations

This article develops a methodology for evaluating the effectiveness and spatial coverage of public transport in tourist cities. The proposed methodology is applied and validated in Cambrils municipality, in the central part of the Costa Daurada in Catalonia, a coastal destination characterised by the concentration of tourism flows during summer. The application of GIS spatial analysis tools allows for the development of a system of territorial indicators that spatially correlate the public transport network and the distribution of the population. The main novelty of our work is that this analysis not only includes the registered resident population, but also incorporates the population that temporarily inhabits the municipality (tourists). The results of the study firstly permit the detection of unequal spatial accessibility and coverage in terms of public transport in the municipality, with significant differences between central neighbourhoods and peripheral urban areas of lower population density. Secondly, they allow observation of how the degree of public transport coverage differs significantly in areas with a higher concentration of tourist accommodation establishments

Exploring urban visitors' mobilities. A multi-method approach

Aquesta tesi doctoral sorgeix de la necessitat d’aprofundir en el coneixement de les mobilitats dels visitants, entendre les decisions que configuren el seu comportament espacio-temporal i identificar i explorar els efectes que les seves mobilitats tenen sobre les destinacions urbanes. La tesi es desenvolupa entorn a quatre objectius específics que s’emmarquen en l’àmbit de recerca relacionat amb el seguiment de l’activitat dels visitants en destinacions turístiques urbanes. Cadascun d’aquests objectius es desenvolupa en cadascun dels articles científics que conformen aquesta tesi doctoral, publicats tots ells en revistes de revisió per parells. El primer article es proposa com a objectiu identificar els factors, relacionats amb el perfil socioeconòmic dels turistes i amb les característiques de la seva estada, que determinen la selecció d’opcions de transport i mobilitat sostenible per moure’s per la destinació urbana. El segon article pretén analitzar i comprendre com afecta el comportament espacio-temporal dels turistes en els seus patrons de consum econòmic i, per tant, en la generació d’ingressos per a l’economia local. El tercer article es proposa analitzar la influència de l’espai urbà sobre la forma en què els visitants es desplacen per la destinació. I finalment, el quart article té per objectiu reconstruir trajectòries i/o fluxos espacio-temporals a partir de dades geolocalitzades de les xarxes socials per tal de detectar patrons de mobilitat dels visitants de destinacions urbanes. Les fonts de dades i els mètodes utilitzats per complir amb els objectius de partida són diverses. En aquest sentit, la tesi aporta també una àmplia radiografia dels pros i les contres de les diferents fonts de dades disponibles per a l’anàlisi de les mobilitats dels visitants en destinacions turístiques.Esta tesis doctoral surge de la necesidad de profundizar en el conocimiento de las movilidades de los visitantes,entender las decisiones que configuran su comportamiento espaciotemporal e identificar y explorar los efectos que sus movilidades tienen sobre los destinos urbanos. La tesis se desarrolla en torno a cuatro objetivos específicos que se enmarcan en el ámbito de investigación de seguimiento de visitantes, y que se desarrollan en cada uno de los artículos científicos, publicados todos ellos en revistas de revisión por pares, que conforman esta tesis. El primer artículo se propone como objetivo identificar los factores, relacionados con el perfil socioeconómicos de los turistas y con las características de su estancia, que determinan la selección de opciones de transporte y movilidad sostenible para moverse por el destino urbano. El segundo artículo pretende analizar y comprender cómo afecta el comportamiento espaciotemporal de los turistas en sus patrones de consumo económico y, por tanto, en la generación de ingresos para la economía local. El tercer artículo se propone analizar la influencia del espacio urbano sobre la forma en que los visitantes se desplazan por el destino. Y finalmente, el cuarto artículo tiene por objetivo reconstruir trayectorias y / o flujos espaciotemporales a partir de datos geolocalizados de las redes sociales para detectar patrones de movilidad de los visitantes de destinos urbanos. Las fuentes de datos y los métodos utilizados para cumplir con los objetivos de partida son diversos. En este sentido, la tesis aporta también una amplia radiografía de los pros y contras de las diferentes fuentes de datos disponibles para el análisis de las movilidades de los visitantes en destinos turísticos.This dissertation arises from the need to deepen the knowledge of the mobility of visitors, understand the decisions that shape their spatiotemporal behaviour and identify and explore the effects that their mobility has on urban destinations. The thesis is developed around four specific objectives that fall within the scope of visitor tracking research, and that are developed in each of the scientific articles, all of them published in peer-reviewed journals, that make up this thesis. The first article aims to identify the factors, related to the socioeconomic profile of tourists and the characteristics of their stay, that determine the selection of sustainable transport and mobility options to move within the urban destination. The second article aims to analyse and understand how the visitors’ spatiotemporal behaviour affects their patterns of economic consumption and, therefore, the generation of income for the local economy. The third article aims to analyse the influence of the built environment on the visitors’ mobilities at destination. And finally, the fourth article aims to reconstruct trajectories and / or spatiotemporal flows from geolocated data obtained from social networks in order to detect visitors’ mobility patterns at urban destinations. The data sources and methods used to meet the objectives are multiple. In this sense, the thesis also provides an extensive x-ray of the pros and cons of the different data sources available for the analysis of visitors’ mobilities in tourist destinations