Spatial Inequity for Non-Car Driver's Accessibility in Seattle; A Spatial Urban Metabolism Approach

Abstract

This paper examines how auto-dominant transportation planningcontributes to accessibility inequities for non-drivers in the United States. Using an urban metabolism framework, the study conceptualizes mobility as a set of interconnected flows shaped by street networks, land use, infrastructure, and policy. A GIS-based analysis evaluates how urban form, land use history, and transportation infrastructure shape access for people who cannot or do not drive. The findings suggest that spatial patterns inherited from past planning decisions continue to constrain mobility and reinforce inequitable access. By linking urban metabolism with an urban complexity perspective, the paper shows how transportation inequity emerges from interactions among street networks, land use, and policy decisions rather than from isolated infrastructure conditions. The study also provides a replicable GIS workflow using the ArcGIS Online Portal Network Dataset, offering a method that can be adapted to analyze accessibility inequities in other urban regions.