Strategic Assessment of the Access to Jobs Opportunities in Belo Horizonte

Abstract

This article aims to understand the problem of accessibility to work opportunities and its relationship with mobility in the city of Belo Horizonte. For this purpose, a method was applied to evaluate, at a strategic level, problems of unequal and inequitable distribution of accessibility and mobility (GARCIA et al., 2018), based on spatial analysis techniques and ethical theories of social justice. The methodology consists of the characterization and diagnosis of distributions of accessibility and mobility problems, based on the relationships between factors contributing to these problems' occurrence and their characteristics. For this purpose, the selected indicators were submitted to exploratory analysis, considering non-spatial and spatial approaches. Belo Horizonte presents uneven and unequal distributions of accessibility and mobility to work opportunities. The levels of accessibility to work are higher in the central business district, where there is a concentration of jobs and shorter travel times compared to the rest of the municipality. In contrast, mobility has a very dispersed pattern of spatial distribution. Critical zones were delimited from unequal distribution in the diagnostic phase, based on sufficiency parameters for each transport mode. Also, analyses of the relationships between accessibility and mobility and the urban attributes contributing to the uneven and unequal distribution of opportunities were carried out. The results of this work can support the formulation and prioritization of public policies.