Resilience and accessibility of Swedish and Dutch municipalities

Abstract

Recent years have shown a rising popularity of the concept of resilience-both theoretically and empirically-in complex systems analysis. There is also a rising literature on resilience in the transport and spatial-economic field. The pluriform interpretation of resilience (e.g., engineering vs. ecological resilience) is related to methodological differences (e.g., stability in dynamics vs. evolutionary adaptivity). But in all cases the fundamental question is whether a complex system that is subjected to an external shock is able to recover, and if so, to which extent. The present paper [Based on presentation from cluster 6 (Accessibility) of the Nectar 2015 conference in Ann Arbour, USA.] aims to add a new dimension to resilience analysis in spatial systems, by addressing in particular the relationship between spatial accessibility at a municipality level and the resilience outcomes of the spatial system concerned. It does so by investigating to which extent accessibility of Swedish and Dutch municipalities has mitigated the local shock absorption from the recent economic recession. In our study the shock absorption capacity of municipal accessibility is estimated by analysing the relevant resilience indicators for the period concerned. In this context, conventional resilience indicators based on either multivariate complex data (in particular, the Foster Resilience Capacity Index) or employment data (in particular, the Martin Resilience-Employment Index) are confronted with spatial connectivity data based on local accessibility measures, so that geographical mobility may be regarded as one of the shock-mitigating factors. The empirical analysis is carried out for two countries which have both proven to be rather shock-resistant during the recent economic crisis, viz. Sweden and The Netherlands. Clearly, the geographical structure of these countries forms a sharp mutual contrast, viz. a spatially dispersed economy with a few distinct urban concentrations versus a spatially dense economy with one major metropolitan centre (the Randstad), respectively. Our experiments are carried out for the 290 municipalities in Sweden and 40 COROPs in The Netherlands. Our research findings show relevant and new insights into differences in the local recovery potential in Sweden and The Netherlands.

Spatial Connectivity and Regional Economic Resilience in Turbulent Times

“…Our estimates reveal that higher accessibility is associated with greater regional economic resilience. The results from a recent study undertaken to estimate the relationship between spatial resilience and spatial accessibility for the municipalities of the Netherlands and Sweden clearly demonstrated the significance of spatial accessibility in the ability of municipalities to absorb and recover from the 2008 economic crisis [34]. Östh et al [29] report similar findings for the municipalities in Sweden, where the major economic centers, i.e., the most accessible locations in Sweden, were found to be the most resilient areas.…”

“…It is a valuable proxy of spatial connectivity because it embeds socio-connectivity network elements in its economic formulation [29]. A high degree of accessibility may propagate exogenous shocks, but may also increase the competitive efficiency of a region through the decrease in transportation costs and hence contribute to achieving a faster recovery [34]. Thus, studying the effect of spatial connectivity on regional resilience can help provide insights for longer-term policy decisions.…”

Urban or Rural: Does It Make A Difference for Economic Resilience? A Modelling Study on Economic and Cultural Geography in Romania

“…The value of the index is between 0 and 1, a higher score indicating more local economic diversity, while a lower score indicates less economic diversity. We used the Hachman Index for 2008 (the last year before the crisis) as an explanatory variable because studies like [1,4,[62][63][64] show that economic diversity is a resilience driver, thus inducing stability in the local economy. We used this explanatory variable only for urban communities due to the specific structure of the main part of the rural communities/communes from the region (small communities based mainly on agriculture and trade).…”

Development of an Index of Transport-User Vulnerability, and its Application in Enschede, The Netherlands

“…Finally, attention should be paid to ensuring sufficient services (e.g., jobs, shopping, leisure, and education) in reasonable proximity to (all) residents' place of residence to reduce the need for trips or shorten their length. There is also concurrence between the characteristics that influence accessibility and the resilience of transport systems (shorter distances, modal choices, more cycling and walking), so increasing the accessibility of a city also contributes to its transport system being more resilient [32,33], and thus better able to deal with changes or disturbances, including those brought on by climate change.…”