Urban services provision between proximity and socioeconomic fragilities: a GIS-based analysis of Bologna

This work aims to investigate whether Bologna (Italy), a medium-sized Mediterranean city, can be described as a “proximity city”, analyzing service distribution within the city and populations inhabiting them. Using information on urban service provision in Bologna and census tracts data, the spatial distribution of public services across neighborhoods is analyzed, to measure service provision and accessibility in 5, 10 or 15 minutes by walking. The socioeconomic composition of each area is then taken into account, to go beyond a mere description of service proximity, inquiring urban fragilities, their spatialization and the relations existing among socioeconomic fragilities and service accessibility in Bologna’s neighborhoods. The results draw a geography made of a partial overlap of fragilities and lack of services, but also interesting “outliers”.