PEDESTRIAN ACCESSIBILITY ASSESSMENT USING SPATIAL AND NETWORK ANALYSIS: A CASE OF SOFIA CITY

Abstract. Walking is the most accessible form of mobility, delivering different benefits to the cities and their residents such as improved public health, community liveability, efficient land use and cost savings in terms of needed space to allow movement. Walkable neighbourhoods provide a high-quality urban environment with public spaces and a variety of activities and services. To increase walkability, a focus should be placed on the pedestrian network which integrates all transportation modes, making it a subject of network-based analyses related to pedestrian accessibility, connectivity, and walkability. This paper aims to assess pedestrian accessibility in Sofia, Bulgaria by applying network and spatial analysis. It analyses the macro scale of the integration and availability of the street network. It also investigates the access to selected urban facilities, which help to increase the quality of life, such as public transport stops and parks. The results prove that such analyses could support the assessment of the feasibility of infrastructure projects and their efficiency. The analyses show that Sofia has a very good distribution of public transport stops and the parks and smaller gardens are also relatively evenly spread across the urban area. Despite this, the results discover some areas where specific measures need to be taken to provide pedestrian access to these amenities, especially in neighbourhoods where investments are high, and the need for such access is increasing.