Inequality in Access to Urban Amenities

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of urban inequality in the Stockholm Metropolitan Area analyzing the spatial distribution of amenities and their accessibility. Inequality in urban amenities is measured by a multidimensional index at a fine geographical scale and it can be decomposed into the sum of inequality indices computed on the marginal distributions of amenities across locations plus a residual term accounting for their joint distribution. Our research leverages a unique dataset that combines income data for approximately 90,000 geocoded individuals residing in the metropolitan area with information from the OpenStreetMap platform, enabling us to examine the distribution of both natural and urban design-related amenities. Furthermore, we integrate data from online platforms to analyze the housing market. Our findings reveal moderate levels of inequality in amenities within the Stockholm Metropolitan Area, with social segregation emerging as the primary driver of this inequality.