Deutsch Intern
Professorship for Social Geography

Accessibility in local supply

In recent years, the thinning out of the stationary retail network has led to considerable gaps in local supply in urban sub-areas and especially in rural, sparsely populated areas. In addition, numerous smaller medium-sized centres or sub-centres often no longer have full-range grocery stores in inner-city locations and it is often not possible to get to them without a car. As a result, large sections of the local population are affected by unfavourable supply situations and poor accessibility - especially people with limited mobility and limited mobility options. In a spatial comparison, this raises the question of the equivalence of living conditions and spatial justice.

The DFG-funded project (project no. 467088138) with a duration of 36 months focuses on the accessibility and spatial consumer behaviour of local food supply and its modelling. The Mainfranken study area is characterised by different spatial and community types in terms of settlement structure. The relational relationships between supply and demand in the context of questions of accessibility in local supply are to be both empirically investigated and transferred to GIS-supported models and analysed on the basis of a multidimensional operationalisation of accessibility. Three main objectives are pursued:

  • To gain a differentiated insight into the (situational) use, perception and satisfaction of the population's local food supply. In addition, the role of daily commuting and the role of online grocery shopping will be analysed.
  • The linking of spatial interaction models and GIS-supported accessibility models for local food supply. In addition to macro-scale accessibility analyses, individual perspectives are also to be implemented in the models using a two-sided approach.
  • Linking the empirical results of the first two objectives in order to evaluate accessibility in its multidimensionality not only on a sample basis, but also by modelling it in relation to a population with regard to social justice

 

Previous publications in connection with the project

Rauh, J & S. Rauch (2024): Everyday route linkages in grocery shopping: Empirical findings and their relevance for applied retail research. In: Location, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00548-023-00902-w