Analysing the relation between territorial fragilities and accessibility: a focus on individual dimension and needs

This paper aims at examining the relation between territorial fragilities, mobility and accessibility: mobility as social practice interlocked in time and space, and accessibility as the possibility of an individual to access at different out-of-home activities. The main purpose of this paper is to answer to the following questions: is it possible to establish a relation between the level of accessibility of a given territory and its territorial fragilities? As matter of fact, many research in last twenty years demonstrated the causality between low level of accessibility and mobility related social exclusion. In this paper I will show how an interpretation of accessibility, based on individual’s needs and opportunities, may help to establish a relation between low level of accessibility and territorial fragilities. Indeed, traditional accessibility approaches brought to a misrepresented narrative, that describes a high infra-structured territory also as a more accessible and stronger one. Thanks to a bibliographical review oriented toward redefining the concept of accessibility, this work will challenge this narrative. It will be proved that a more accurate definition of mobility and accessibility may demonstrate that remoteness can be, at the most, one among the many drivers that lead to territorial fragilities.