Spatial Opportunity Index: Measuring Access to Urban Opportunities

2019-2021

Authors:

Ignacio Cardona, Researcher

Advisors:

Anita Berrizbeitia, Diane Davis, Rahul Mehrotra

Institutions:

Harvard Graduate School of Design

*

Developed as part of the doctoral research Spatial Opportunities for Self-Produced Environments, the Spatial Opportunity Index (SOi) proposes a measurable framework for evaluating spatial inequality through the distribution of land services. Rather than focusing primarily on housing conditions, the index examines how access to networked infrastructure and urban opportunities can enable or constrain the capabilities of residents across underserved territories.

Grounded in the right-to-the-city discourse, the SOi measures how land services are distributed spatially and how inequalities in access persist over time. Applied to self-produced environments, the framework shifts the focus of land policy from housing provision toward connectivity, infrastructure, and access to the broader systems of the city, providing an instrument for identifying and prioritizing strategies for greater spatial integration.