Javier Gutiérrez

Location, economic potential and daily accessibility: an analysis of the accessibility impact of the high-speed line Madrid–Barcelona–French border ☆

Abstract This paper evaluates the accessibility impact of the future Madrid–Barcelona–French border high-speed line. Accessibility impact of the new infrastructure is measured by means of three indicators: weighted average travel times, economic potential and daily accessibility. These indicators respond to different conceptualizations and offer complementary information about the issue accessibility. The results are quite different: very concentrated effects in the daily accessibility indicator, less concentrated in the economic potential one and more dispersal in the location indicator. The sign (polarizing/balancing) of these effects depend on the geographic scale: polarizing effects at the national level and balancing effects at both corridor and European levels are identified. A geographic information system (GIS) was used to carry out this study.

The European high-speed train network: Predicted effects on accessibility patterns

Abstract The principal aim of this paper is to evaluate the impact of the future European high-speed train network on accessibility, by reducing time distance between places and modifying their relative location. We compare the current situation with that foreseen for the year 2010, according to the Outline Plan of the European High-Speed Train Network, in order to analyse which areas will most benefit from construction and improvement of the infrastructure. It is hypothesized that the high-speed train will certainly bring the peripheral regions closer to the central ones, but will also increase imbalances between the main cities and their hinterlands. A weighted average distance indicator is applied for this purpose. This measure identifies the spatial distribution of accessibility in the area of study, emphasizing the infrastructure effects, and locates accessibility changes at the European level. A Geographic Information System (GIS) has been used to carry out this study.

Accessibility in the European Union: the impact of the trans-European road network

Abstract The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of the future Trans-European Road Network as far as accessibility is concerned. Accessibility analysis and presentation of results is undertaken using a vector geographic information system (GIS). In accordance with the results of the study, the new planned links appreciably modify levels of accessibility to economic activity centres, thus reducing distances and bringing the peripheral regions closer to the central ones. In accordance with the analyses carried out, the benefits of these new infrastructures will affect the whole of the territory of the European Union, albeit particularly so in the peripheral regions.

Distance-measure Impacts on the Calculation of Transport Service Areas Using GIS

Access coverage is important in public transit planning, as this is the means by which service is provided to riders. In fact the proximity of demand (population and employment) to stops or stations on the network to a great extent explains its greater or lesser usage by potential users. Coverage of service areas can be delineated by GIS through the creation of buffers around transit facilities based on Euclidean (straight-line) distance. A second method is based on calculations of distances along a street network (network distance). The choice of the distance calculation method affects significantly the final results in terms of population covered. This paper assesses the overestimation of the straight-line-distance method, which is the most widely used in coverage analysis, by comparing it with that of network distances. It investigates systematically the factors influencing this overestimation, such as the density of stops or stations, the coverage distance thresholds and the characteristics of the area analysed (street-network design, barriers, and population distribution in the neighbourhood of the bus stop or station). Finally, it concludes that the network-distance method provides systematically better estimates of transit ridership than the Euclidean distance method.

The eruption of Airbnb in tourist cities: Comparing spatial patterns of hotels and peer-to-peer accommodation in Barcelona

In recent years, what has become known as collaborative consumption has undergone rapid expansion through peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms. In the field of tourism, a particularly notable example is that of Airbnb. This article analyses the spatial patterns of Airbnb in Barcelona and compares them with hotels and sightseeing spots. New sources of data, such as Airbnb listings and geolocated photographs are used. Analysis of bivariate spatial autocorrelation reveals a close spatial relationship between Airbnb and hotels, with a marked centre-periphery pattern, although Airbnb predominates around the citys main hotel axis and hotels predominate in some peripheral areas of the city. Another interesting finding is that Airbnb capitalises more on the advantages of proximity to the citys main tourist attractions than does the hotel sector. Multiple regression analysis shows that the factors explaining location are also different for hotels and Airbnb. Finally, it was possible to detect those parts of the city that have seen the greatest increase in pressure from tourism related to Airbnbs recent expansion.

The impact of orbital motorways on intra-metropolitan accessibility: the case of Madrid's M-40

Abstract In this paper, we analyze the impact of orbital motorways on intra-metropolitan accessibility, using as an example the Madrid M-40 orbital motorway. The maps of changes in accessibility show that, as one might expect, the nodes situated near the M-40 are those that most benefit from the new infrastructure and that the further their distance from the M-40, the weaker the changes, although the gradient is much steeper towards the city centre than towards the exterior. All the indicators used point to the fact that the new orbital motorway has brought about relevant changes, but the intensity with which such changes are registered depends on the variable used as a mass (changes are higher in accessibility to population indicators than in accessibility to employment indicators), and on the type of operationalization adopted (the most complex ones are those which least noticeably reflect the effect of the new orbital motorway). It has been verified, in the case of the Madrid M-40, that orbital motorways do not necessarily lead to an increase in the equality of intra-metropolitan accessibility, for this will depend on their location within the metropolitan area: the further out they are, the greater equality they bring, even though they attract less traffic.

Multiple sclerotic fibromas of the skin. A cutaneous marker of Cowden's disease.

Multiple hamartoma syndrome, or Cowdens disease, is a rare genodermatosis with multiple organ system involvement in which malignancy, particularly of breast and thyroid, may develop. Multiple trichilemmomas have been classically regarded as the cutaneous hallmark of this disease. We here emphasize multiple sclerotic fibromas of the skin as another specific cutaneous marker of this entity, which may also be helpful in an early diagnosis.

Exploring the limitations of CORINE Land Cover for monitoring urban land-use dynamics in metropolitan areas

One of the sources of data most utilized in Europe by planners, policy makers and researchers is CORINE Land Cover (CLC) because of its wide territorial coverage. However, the users of this spatial database do not have information on its quality for analysing urban land and its evolution. This study analyses the limitations of CLC for monitoring urban land use dynamics, using Madrid Land Use as a mapping reference. This is a local geographical database with higher resolution for the Madrid region that coincides with CLC at the years of reference (2000, 2006). The results show that with respect to the total urban land area in 2000 and 2006 and the area converted to urban land between 2000 and 2006, CLC is relatively reliable. However, the confusion matrices show very high error rates, especially in dynamic analyses (changes between 2000 and 2006) and when there is differentiation between different types of land use. Researchers, planners and decision-makers should therefore exercise considerable caution when using this source for analysing urban land use and its dynamics for local approaches.

Optimal location of battery electric vehicle charging stations in urban areas: A new approach

ABSTRACT Battery electric vehicles (BEV) are increasingly seen as one of the most suitable alternatives to internal combustion engine vehicles. An important issue involved in the dissemination of BEV relates with the deployment of the respective charging network and, in particular, with the locations of charging stations. Typically, the locations selected correspond to popular places such as city centers, shopping areas, train stations, and university campuses. Although these places are highly visible, the low parking times and high rotation rates often observed there could deliver an inadequate solution for the daily charging needs of users. In this article, a new approach to determine the location of BEV charging stations in urban areas is proposed. The approach relies on a detailed analysis of BEV charging needs, charging coverage, and adoption potential, as well as on an innovative type of location-allocation model. The usefulness of the approach is demonstrated for a set of hypothetical instances replicating the essential ingredients of real-world charging station location problems.

Walking Accessibility to Public Transport: An Analysis Based on Microdata and GIS

In this paper we analyse the role of walking accessibility to transit facilities. Microdata and GIS tools have been used to calculate distances walked by different population groups in accessing Metro stations. Distances walked by the population were used to determine the threshold distances of the station service areas and calculate the population covered by the Metro network. With respect to Metro ridership, different distance-decay functions were adjusted and the sensitivity of the population groups to the distance was measured. Two indicators were proposed, based on the distance-decay functions, to measure access quality and potential demand. The Madrid Metro network was used as the study area. Results show that young people and adults, men, immigrants, and public transit captives are willing to walk longer distances and are less sensitive to the effect of distance. When walking distances have been used in order to fix the limit of catchment areas, the amount of the population covered is lower than when a standard threshold (0.5 miles) is used, but overestimations affect each age group in a different way. The access quality indicator shows that the population group in the worst situation is children and that stations in the centre of the network have higher access quality values. However, the synthetic accessibility indicator shows that potential demand is lower for the most central and most peripheral stations than for the stations located in the intermediate areas. It has been proved that both indicators are sensitive to changes in the spatial distribution of population groups within the catchment areas. These results demonstrate some of the advantages of the proposed methodology and argue in favour of its use in public transport planning.