The transport impedance disparity indicator: A case study of Xi'an, China

This research proposes a transport mobility disparity indicator which identifies the accessibility by urban points of interest (PoI) (e.g. distribution of working place, park, school, hospital, supermarket, bus, and metro stations, etc.),community/hukou (household registration) policy types (local hukou/city residents vs non-local hukou/migrant residents), and their average transport cost to income ratios to describe the gap between traffic demand and accessibility of different communities.The lower the ratio of the average transport costs to average incomes of a community and the more PoI factors in the surrounding areas, the lower the transport impedance indicator of the community, and vice versa. Greater transport impedance disparity indicators between different communities in the same city indicate a larger gap in transport impedance, helping urban planners identify the severity of the unequal relationship between different areas and the decision-making support provided future urban planning and administrative policies. Xi'an, the capital city of Shaanxi province in China, is chosen as the research subject in this study to calculate the transport impedance disparity indicator between local and non-local hukou residents' communities. The transport impedance disparity indicator effectively reveals the different treatments between local and non-local hukou residents' communities in the same city. Compared to local hukou residents, non-local hukou residents experience clear disadvantages in terms of accessibility.