Ordered weighted averaging for the evaluation of urban inequality in sao Sebastião Do Paraíso

• Published in: Cities 2024-07, Vol.150, p.104993, Article 104993
• Main Authors: Libório, Matheus Pereira, Rabiei-Dastjerdi, Hamidreza, Brunsdon, Chris, Pinto, Marcelo de Rezende, Fusco, Elisa, Vidoli, Francesco
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Composite indicators; Multidimensional problems; Public goods; Urban inequality; Urban planning
• ISSN: 0264-2751; 1873-6084
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2024.104993

Urban inequality is a highly complex and multidimensional phenomenon that involves several aspects, such as education, urban mobility, environment, technological or digital exclusion, food deserts, and inequalities in the distribution of urban facilities. Due to its impact on the living conditions of populations residing in the most deprived and unhealthy areas of cities, inequality in the distribution of urban public services is a particularly relevant issue. The measurement of urban inequality to discuss possible policy implications requires the synthesis of its sub-dimensions. Therefore, this paper applies the multicriteria method called ordered weighted averaging to evaluate the distribution of public goods in census tracts of the city of São Sebastião do Paraíso in Brazil. In particular, ordered weighted averaging, which allows the calibration of different degrees of non-compensability between sub-indicators and considers the heterogeneity of the census tracts, permits the evaluation of both positive and negative aspects of the studied phenomena. Two different composite indicators are calculated: the “Tax Index,” which analyses the presence of public goods and the benefits in terms of property value and well-being that their presence generates, and the “Infrastructure Index,” which examines the areas with the greatest lack of infrastructure. •Two composite indicators are constructed through ordered weighted averaging•The Infrastructure Index reveals priority areas for investment in public goods•The Tax Index shows which areas of the city benefit most from public goods•The indices form a mechanism for equitable allocation of public goods in the city•Taxes from the Fiscal Index fund public goods allocated by the Infrastructure Index