A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Engineering, School of Engineering and Technology

Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1980

This Study has two purposes: to compare the accessibility properties of a wide range of urban structures, and to examine and develop suitable measures for this purpose. It was shown that near perfect equality of accessibility can theoretically be achieved in an appropriate planned urban area. An analysis of alternative development planes for Bangkok however showed that in reality little can be done to reduce the inequality of accessibility in already existing large urban area. It was also found that the best development plan offered little improvement in accessibility compared to uncontrolled city growth. To carry out the analysis, various measures based on Hansen's accessibility index were used. The most satisfactory measure for comparison was found to be the Gini coefficient, which was used to relate accessibility to population distribution. This Gini coefficient value is a measure of equality of accessibility in the urban area, and can be used to compare between plans of different sizes and population.