Sustainable Accessibility to Social Infrastructure in the Barcelona Metropolitan Area: A Spatial Approach

Abstract Accessibility to public services has been highlighted as a fundamental element for the development of social interactions in the city. Social infrastructure (SI) acquires special importance as services that contribute to the development of socialisation, interaction and social integration in the city. Based on this, this paper develops a spatial approach on the importance of socially sustainable access to the SI in Barcelona at the metropolitan level. Utilising gravitational models, OpenStreetMap and the use of Principal Component Analysis, we have developed an index of walking accessibility to the SI. Our results, contradicting what has been suggested by the academic literature so far, show that the degree of accessibility in the metropolitan municipalities is higher than in the central municipality. However, spatial modelling shows that, regardless of income level, accessibility deficits persist among older adults, young children and people living alone, revealing persistent inequities in the metropolitan distribution of social infrastructure.