ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the social characteristics of space and of individuals, along with the provision of urban amenities in a given urban environment, are also essential elements in the complex notion of urban access. It reviews the various definitions of the notion of accessibility, as well as measurement techniques that have been proposed in the literature. The chapter examines policies intended to improve accessibility, focusing on those that emphasize the social dimension of urban access. In the United Kingdom, the creation of the Social Exclusion Unit was a starting point for the development of many studies analysing the various factors behind social exclusion. Accessibility is a function of the mobility of the individual, of the spatial location of activity opportunities relative to the starting point of the individual and of the times at which the activities are available. Location-based measures represent accessibility from one location to all other destinations, and do not account for individual characteristics that influence access.
