On the Relationship between Space-Time Accessibility and Leisure Activity Participation

TL;DR

This study develops a space-time accessibility (STA) metric grounded in the capability approach to measure feasible leisure opportunities for individuals, integrating home/work anchors, time budgets, and multimodal networks. Using high-resolution GPS data from 2,415 Paris-region residents, the authors quantify STA, total travel time, and leisure-location diversity, and employ a DWLS structural equation model to disentangle direct and indirect effects on participation. They find that STA directly increases leisure diversity but simultaneously reduces travel time, which can dampen diversity, with active transport users showing stronger alignment with STA-based opportunity sets. The results reveal substantial heterogeneity across population groups (e.g., households with caregiving responsibilities) and underscore the value of person-centered accessibility metrics for informing transport planning that expands real freedoms to participate in social life.

Abstract

Understanding how accessibility shapes participation in leisure activities is central to promoting inclusive and vibrant urban life. Conventional accessibility measures often focus on potential access from fixed home locations, overlooking the constraints and opportunities embedded in daily routines. In this study, we apply a space-time accessibility (STA) metric rooted in the capability approach, capturing feasible leisure opportunities between home and work given a certain time budget, individual transport modes, and urban infrastructure. Using high-resolution GPS data from 2,415 residents in the Paris region, we assess how STA influences total travel time and leisure participation, measured as the diversity of leisure locations visited. Our analysis shows that most individuals, especially active transport users, choose destinations aligned with their STA-defined opportunity sets, underscoring the metric's validity in capturing capability sets. Structural equation modeling reveals that STA directly fosters leisure diversity but also reduces travel time, which in turn is associated with lower diversity of visited leisure locations. These findings highlight the value of person-centered, capability-informed accessibility metrics for understanding inequalities in urban mobility and informing transport planning strategies that expand real freedoms to participate in social life across diverse population groups.

Figures (9)

• Figure 1: Accessibility as a human capability. Conceptual framework illustrating how we conceptualize space–time accessibility (STA) as a human capability, adapted from luz2022understandingluz2022does. The diagram shows how factors influencing activity participation interact with capability sets.
• Figure 2: The Paris region and its public transit lines. Grey lines represent IRIS boundaries, and black lines depict roads and motorways. The right panel provides a zoomed-in view of central Paris, where green points mark home and work locations.
• Figure 3: Space–Time Accessibility (STA). The light-green region represents the Potential Path Area (PPA), i.e., all locations reachable given the individual's time budget and travel constraints between home and work. Opportunities within this area (dark green) are accessible, while those outside it (light green) are not. The direct home–work path is shown in bold orange, and a feasible work–activity–home path is shown in blue. This illustrates the STA of an individual, defined as the set of feasible opportunities that fall within the individual's PPA. Adapted from saraiva2022accessibility.
• Figure 4: Space–Time Accessibility (STA) set vs. visited leisure locations. One example individual. Home and work icons show where the person lives and works. Hexagons are at resolution 8, $\sim$0.74 km$^2$.
• Figure 5: Pathway structure. This directed acyclic graph shows the hypothesized and empirically validated pathways. Exposure=STA value, Outcome=Activity participation, Black arrows=Causal paths, Brown arrows=Biasing paths.