ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the topic of the proximity of hospital public spaces from the perspective of the permeability flow of a patient or visitor about to experience or use these spaces. It first briefly reviews the literature on the subject. The chapter then analyses proximity in terms of permeability from the city or from a rural area to the hospital, focusing on aspects that concern the most public part of the hospital. It concentrates on physical, or spatial, proximity, which represents the measurement of the distance from treatment, a distance that has to do with the spatial integration of the hospital with the urban context, the transport networks and infrastructures, the other facilities in the region, the urban fabric, and the surrounding territory. It expresses the ease of access to treatment and healthcare services in a spatial sense.
