Ethically informed urban planning: measuring distributive spatial justice for neighbourhood accessibility

Ethically informed urban planning: measuring distributive spatial justice for neighbourhood accessibility | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Ethically informed urban planning: measuring distributive spatial justice for neighbourhood accessibility Ruth Nelson, Martijn Warnier, Trivik Verma This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4293613/v2 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 2 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Abstract Studies in urban accessibility have advanced our understanding of social and spatial inequalities in the distribution of urban resources in cities worldwide. In response, prominent discourse is shifting to embed justice in urban planning. Ethical principles have historically been employed by philosophers to guide thinking about reshaping society towards more fair and just outcomes. In this work, we present the Mapping Accessibility for Ethically Informed Urban Planning (MAP) framework. Map operationalises three metrics of distributive spatial justice based on Equality, Utilitarianism and Rawls’ Egalitarian principles to compare the implications of choosing different values of justice to evaluate neighbourhood accessibility. We apply MAP to three diverse cities located in the Netherlands, Mexico and South Africa, modeling each city as an urban network model, integrating public transportation, land use, and street networks. Across the cases and ethical perspectives, we find that the implications of defining justice is mediated by a neighbourhood’s proximity to local mixed land use for shorter commuting times. Whereas for longer commutes, it is dependent on a neighbourhood’s access to the Central Business District of each region, through transportation infrastructure. The findings underscore the scale, contextual and value-reliant nature of distributive spatial justice. MAP offers a means to facilitate comparative analysis within urban planning processes, highlighting different ethical concerns for debate by stakeholders and citizens. Social science/Geography Social science/Complex networks spatial justice urban planning network science cities employment accessibility Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Supplementary Files SupplementaryMaterial.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 2 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Show more versions Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4293613","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":302266955,"identity":"d6704982-8abb-4444-93d1-450ce22a46c2","order_by":0,"name":"Ruth Nelson","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA8ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYHACNgYGHiDFDmJXADEzcwMBHcxQLcwgzhkQg5EYLQxQLYxtIBYBLeYz8o89YJBhyONnZn/4uHBebTR/O1DLj4ptOLXI3EhmNwA6rFiymcfYeOa247kzDjM2MPacuY1Ti4REMpsEUEvihsM8bNK8247lNgC1MDO2EaFl/2H2Z9K8c47lzidaywZmBjNp3oaa3A0EtfA8NpNI4JFInHEY6BeeYwdyNwK1HMTrF/bEZxIfe2wS+9vbHz7mqanLnXf+8MEHPypwawGDxB4JGPMwmDyAXz0I/ICz6ggrHgWjYBSMghEHAG94TMAbtaY0AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Delft University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ruth","middleName":"","lastName":"Nelson","suffix":""},{"id":302266956,"identity":"b8a54868-c8b0-45c9-8c9f-2467b760b919","order_by":1,"name":"Martijn Warnier","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Delft University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Martijn","middleName":"","lastName":"Warnier","suffix":""},{"id":302266957,"identity":"a9141259-69c5-42b4-81a3-eb91aa3f337d","order_by":2,"name":"Trivik Verma","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"TU Delft","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Trivik","middleName":"","lastName":"Verma","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-04-19 14:06:33","currentVersionCode":2,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4293613/v2","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4293613/v2","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":75627734,"identity":"e697429c-a417-43d7-96fc-ee7a8a0a41b6","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-02-06 13:20:38","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":772887,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Nelsonetal2025.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4293613/v2_covered_dc4e4022-ae89-4a8f-bab3-8916af24af96.pdf"},{"id":75626242,"identity":"a46f9787-4efc-4dfa-85bd-2a994f0a895b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-02-06 13:04:36","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":656859,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"SupplementaryMaterial.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4293613/v2/fb137defd58f2e9cf8ded715.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"Ethically informed urban planning: measuring distributive spatial justice for neighbourhood accessibility","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"spatial justice, urban planning, network science, cities, employment accessibility","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4293613/v2","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4293613/v2","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eStudies in urban accessibility have advanced our understanding of social and spatial inequalities in the distribution of urban resources in cities worldwide. 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