Ms Katkanok Suta (p), Mr Donghyun Kim

This study aims to explain the spatial differences in Unmet Healthcare Needs (UHN) observed at the si·gun·gu (local district) level. Rather than interpreting UHN as merely the result of individual choice, this research is grounded in a conceptual framework that understands UHN as an outcome of spatial, economic, and social structures. Specifically, it examines the roles of three structural constraints: (1) Geographic/Travel Accessibility, (2) Daily-life Constraints, and (3) Socioeconomic Structural Barriers. The analysis is based on annual UHN rates at the local district from 2010 to 2024.
Geographic/Travel Accessibility was measured using the Enhanced Two-Step Floating Catchment Area (E2SFCA) method. This approach captures the level of opportunity to access healthcare services in spatial terms by comprehensively considering hospital service capacity (e.g., number of beds and hospital size), diversity in the supply structure, and spatial equity. The model incorporates actual travel time calculated from the road network, distance-decay effects, and competition for medical resources from surrounding populations. The final accessibility scores were normalized to a 0–1 scale to indicate the relative advantage or disadvantage in healthcare access across regions.
Daily-life Constraints were assessed through the Daily-life Constraints Index. This composite index consists of three components: time constraints arising from occupational structure, caregiving burdens within households, and constraints related to healthcare facility operating hours. Each indicator was standardized and aggregated to measure the extent to which structural conditions of everyday life limit healthcare utilization at the regional level, even when medical needs exist.
Socioeconomic Structural Barriers were measured using a composite index reflecting the structural socioeconomic vulnerability of each region. The index includes three components: income (affordability), education (human-capital), and occupational risk, defined as employment instability and high opportunity-cost job structures. Each component was standardized using z-scores and averaged to create the overall index. Higher values indicate greater structural constraints on healthcare access at the regional level.
Empirical analysis was conducted using a Two-Way Fixed Effects panel regression model to estimate the effects of the three structural constraints on UHN rates. This approach controls for unobserved regional characteristics and time-specific effects. The findings are expected to identify which structural constraints primarily drive UHN in different regions and to provide empirical evidence for designing place-based healthcare policies aimed at reducing spatial inequalities in healthcare access.

Dra. Jéssica Tavares (p), Prof. Gonçalo Santinha (p), Daiga Paršova, Gijs van Stekelenburg, Prof Marith Dieker, Prof. Age Poom

The transition to electric mobility is increasingly framed as a cornerstone of sustainable urban development and climate action. However, growing evidence suggests that its benefits and costs are unevenly distributed across space, raising important concerns about socio-spatial inequalities, territorial exclusion, and justice. In socioeconomically vulnerable neighbourhoods, across both urban and peri-urban contexts, where housing conditions, tenure regimes, infrastructural provision, and governance arrangements diverge from those assumed in mainstream mobility and energy policies, electric vehicles (EVs) and Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technologies risk reinforcing existing forms of spatial and social polarisation.

This paper examines how place-specific socio-technical and institutional conditions shape perceptions of EV and V2G technologies in three vulnerable neighbourhoods: Aradas (Aveiro), Kanaleneiland (Utrecht), and Annelinn (Tartu). Grounded in an analytical framework combining socio-technical transitions and energy justice, the study explores how distributive, procedural, and recognitional inequalities are produced and experienced at the neighbourhood scale. Empirically, it adopts a comparative qualitative design based on resident focus groups, complemented by a pre-discussion questionnaire capturing everyday mobility practices, attitudes towards electric mobility, and socio-demographic characteristics.

The findings reveal that attitudes towards EVs and V2G are strongly place-dependent and shaped less by individual preferences than by structurally embedded territorial conditions. At the local level, limited exposure to EVs and low awareness of V2G contribute to uncertainty and perceived exclusion from innovation pathways. At the institutional level, constraints related to housing typologies, collective or fragmented ownership arrangements, insufficient charging infrastructure, grid capacity limitations, and complex multi-actor decision-making processes systematically reduce perceived accessibility. These barriers intersect with affordability concerns, limited procedural transparency, and uncertainty regarding compensation and benefit-sharing mechanisms, reinforcing perceptions of unfairness and marginalisation. At the broader societal level, while climate change awareness and rising energy prices foster conditional openness towards sustainable mobility, such openness remains contingent on credible assurances of fairness, access, and inclusion.

By foregrounding electric mobility as a site where socio-spatial inequalities are reproduced and contested, this paper contributes to debates on just transitions and territorial cohesion. It argues that without place-based and justice-sensitive governance approaches, electric mobility risks becoming another vector of spatial polarisation rather than a driver of inclusive sustainability.

Ms Seungshin Lee (p), Dr In Kwon Park

Despite universal health coverage, significant disparities in mental health service utilization persist across Europe. As urban infrastructures undergo rapid digital transformation—termed "Platform Urbanism"—traditional analog access channels are increasingly replaced by digital platforms. This shift risks creating a "Digital Wall" for the aging and digitally vulnerable. This study investigates the "Double Exclusion" hypothesis, positing that digitally vulnerable individuals living in highly platformized regions face a compounded penalty: individual skill deficits (primary exclusion) exacerbated by the structural dismantling of analog services (secondary exclusion).

Utilizing microdata from the European Health Interview Survey (EHIS) Wave 3 (2019) linked with Eurostat NUTS 2 regional statistics, we employ multilevel logistic regression models. We operationalize digital capability using survey data collection modes (web-based vs. face-to-face) and construct a regional "Platform Urbanism Index" aggregating indicators of the collaborative economy and digital infrastructure. The study analyzes the cross-level interaction between individual digital capability and regional platform density on unmet medical needs and depression (PHQ-8). Furthermore, we examine whether social capital serves as a buffering mechanism against this technological exclusion.

We anticipate finding that the association between digital exclusion and unmet medical needs is significantly stronger in regions with high platform urbanism, confirming the paradox that "Smart Cities" may function as exclusionary spaces. However, high social support is expected to mitigate this penalty through "human intermediaries." This research challenges techno-optimist narratives, providing empirical evidence that without inclusive policies, digital urbanism may widen health inequalities.

Dr. Leily Hassaine-Bau (p), Dr Brice Barois (p)

This paper examines the role of FIBRAs, Mexico’s Real Estate Investment Trusts, in the financialization of the country’s real estate sector, and their spatial implications for metropolitan development. Introduced in the early 2000s, FIBRAs transform stabilized rental income from commercial property into exchange-listed assets. Their investment strategies are not neutral but highly selective, concentrating capital in major metropolitan regions and within them, in municipalities that function as economic centralities with strong infrastructure, governance, and socio-economic status.
The study argues that FIBRAs actively reinforce urban hierarchies. While peripheral municipalities are experiencing the fastest population growth, they are largely excluded from FIBRA investment due to weaker institutional capacity and planning. This creates a territorial mismatch between where people live and where capital flows, deepening socio-spatial inequality.
Methodologically, the paper combines georeferenced data from over 200 FIBRA properties, demographic analysis from INEGI (1990–2020), socio-economic stratification using the AMAI index, and qualitative interviews with fund managers and developers in Monterrey. Results show that FIBRA capital systematically favors affluent, accessible municipalities and avoids fast-growing peripheries, despite their demographic dynamism.
However, selective investment is beginning to reach non-elite but well-connected municipalities under specific conditions, such as corridor-based development or strategic infrastructure, suggesting a potential,though limited, expansion of “investable” geographies.
Theoretically, the paper positions financialization as a spatial process that shapes, and is shaped by, metropolitan restructuring. It contributes to international debates on real estate finance and urban inequality, showing that the effects are particularly acute in contexts of rapid, under-resourced urban expansion like Mexico’s peripheries.
The conclusion emphasizes the need for public policy to realign capital flows with inclusive urban development. Proposed tools include land value capture, inclusionary zoning, corridor-based planning, spatial investment incentives, and stronger transparency requirements. Listed real estate investment, while financial in form, must be treated as a territorial governance challenge with broad implications for equity and spatial justice.

Dr. József Pál Lieszkovszky (p)

The presentation interprets transport-related social exclusion (TRSE) from the perspective of the capabilities approach and, drawing on the research literature, highlights the phenomenon of TRSE by social position.
TRSE occurs when "spatial resources" (land use patterns; transport system and its temporal constraints) and "individual conversion functions" (perceptions, skills, and cognitive and time constraints) interact in the broader political, social, and economic environment in such a way that the individual's set of capabilities is permanently narrowed and reaches the threshold of "accessibility poverty." As a result of this process, ten TRSE dimensions can be distinguished: (1) exclusion from services/facilities, (2) geographical exclusion, (3) spatial exclusion, (4) physical and cognitive exclusion, (5) time-based exclusion, (6) fear/prejudice/emotion-based exclusion, (7) information exclusion, (8) economic exclusion, (9) digital divide-based exclusion, and (10) social position-based exclusion. The latter refers to the restriction of movement in public spaces through social control, stigmatization, or status-related restrictions.
Based on the above dimensions, the presentation examines social position-based exclusion (e.g. gender, race, nationality, age, ethnicity, religion) based on research in the literature, highlighting that migrants and refugees find it more challenging to understand public transport information and timetables due to language barriers and literacy difficulties, while young people may be restricted in their actual access due to the safety and autonomy risks of traveling alone; In the absence of adequate transport or safe alternatives, these groups may miss out on opportunities and services available to their peers.
One of the conclusions of the presentation is that inclusive transport planning should not only provide infrastructure but also increase accessibility as a capability, especially for those who face cumulative disadvantages across various dimensions of exclusion.