Accessibility Inequality and Income Disparity in Urban China: A Case Study of Guangzhou

Unlike in Western cities, where the poor population tends to be concentrated in the deprived inner-city areas and experiences low accessibility, the geographic distribution of the low-income population in Chinese cities might be relatively dispersed across accessibility-rich and accessibility-poor areas. This study aims to examine the relationships between income disparity and accessibility inequality in Chinese cities, as well as to identify the particular group of low-income residents who are at risk of inaccessibility. We conducted an empirical study in the city of Guangzhou, China, based on the population census, points of interest, and road network data and measured accessibility based on the three-step floating catchment area (3SFCA) method. Results reveal that although the essential services are significantly concentrated in the central-city areas, the geographic distribution of the low-income population is considerably dispersed across the central-city and suburban areas, thereby indicating the possibility of considerable intragroup inequality of accessibility among the low-income group. The findings from the regression analyses suggest that although urban development in Chinese cities has not resulted in the distinct residential segregation observed in Western cities, the low-income population might still face a dilemma between small floor area and low service accessibility. The study also reveals that nonlocal residents as well as nonurban hukou holders among the low-income population living in suburban areas also experience low service accessibility, which highlights the importance of incorporating hukou as an explanatory variable in analyzing accessibility inequality issues in the Chinese context.