GIS-based approach evaluating sustainable spatio-functional accessibility to mosques

ABSTRACT The acceleration of urbanization leads to a geographical extension of cities, longer distances and travel times, increased motorization, and a constantly growing population. Faced with this situation, new urban policies are attempting to control the interaction between urban planning and urban mobility and to redefine a new dimension of proximity, which reduces excessive use of energy-consuming and polluting modes of travel, namely vehicles. This orientation is embodied in the 15-minute city model, which focuses on pedestrian accessibility from one’s home to nearby services and urban spaces. From this perspective, the paper proposes a GIS-based model to evaluate pedestrian accessibility to mosques. Using the open-source software QGIS, a total number of 30 mosques in the Agdal district in the city of Fez in Morocco were studied to investigate their pedestrian accessibility, by examining their spatial distribution and also their capacity to accommodate the worshippers of their catchment areas. Considering the land use and the population density of each mosque’s catchment area, the results showed that even if a mosque can be spatially accessible by walking, it may not be able to comfortably satisfy the potential worshippers in its area of influence. Many people are then forced to travel long distances, sometimes by vehicles, to reach other mosques that can eventually accommodate them. The proposed method helps city planners better understand the urban configuration in terms of spatial and functional pedestrian accessibility, for more inclusive and equitable cities.