Urban form and spatial urban equity in Bogota, Colombia

It has always been said that Bogota is one of the densest cities in the world, but what is not said is that density is distributed very differently within the urban area, with different effects on the population. This may create differences in location and access among socioeconomic groups. This paper shows four indicators that measure those differences, contributing to inequity in Bogota. The main goal of this paper is to organize facts rather than to explain their causes and quantify some data that always have been in the minds planners, but never have calculated. First, the analysis of activity balance shows a monocentric pattern that contributes to important differences in travel time between income groups; second, spatial distribution of population and employment are different, generating higher travel times for the low-income population. Population density is higher in the boundaries of the city while employment decreases with distance to city center. An accessibility analysis for the different income levels was carried out, showing low accessibility indexes to work for more than 80% of the low-income population. Those differences in access may contribute to the important differences in mobility among socioeconomic groups. In fact, high-income groups make 150% more trips than low-income groups. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.