Macroaccessibility and Mesoaccessibility: A Case Study of Sapporo, Japan

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Abstract
Accessibility measures are presented which provide a means of understanding the internal spatial structure of radically different urban forms and of assessing the impact on residents of land-use and transport policies. It discusses the results of the application to Sapporo in Japan of a set of measures intended for the comparison of accessibility patterns between, within, and across cities in Pacific Rim countries. After detailing an appropriate conceptual framework attention is focused on measuring the opportunities various groups have of participating in urban activities. Mesoaccessibility and macroaccessibility measures are both used for this purpose. First, Sapporo is put into its regional and national context. Then the mesoaccessibility measures are presented as a means of understanding the local area impact of national and metropolitan level policies. Macroaccessibility measures are illustrated with specific reference to the labour market in 1975 before they are applied as a means of ‘teasing out’ the distributional consequences of the proposed Sapporo regional land-use and transport plan for 1995. The implications of the results of these analyses for Japanese planners are specified, and a reassessment is made of the accessibility measures as the basis for comparative urban studies in the Pacific Rim.

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