Urban Fragmentation and Spatial Inequalities in Public Transport Accessibility: Evidence from El Bayadh, an Intermediate Arid City in Algeria

Abstract

Rapid urban expansion in arid intermediate cities often produces fragmented urban structures that exacerbate inequalities in public transport accessibility and hinder sustainable mobility. However, the relationships between urban fragmentation, transport accessibility, and travel behavior remain insufficiently explored in pre-Saharan cities. This study investigates these interactions through the case of El Bayadh, Algeria, using an integrated methodology combining urban morphological analysis, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), a household survey of 577 households, traffic counts, institutional interviews, and spatial equality assessment based on the Gini coefficient. Public transport accessibility was evaluated using a 300 m walking threshold, complemented by sensitivity analyses at 400 m and 500 m. The results indicate that approximately 65% of the population lives within 300 m of a bus stop, although coverage is strongly concentrated in central districts. A Gini coefficient of 0.41, provided by the El Bayadh Directorate of Transport and computed across 20 urban zones, indicates moderate-to-high spatial inequalities in accessibility that persist despite increasing the service threshold, suggesting that these disparities are more closely associated with urban fragmentation than with the specific walking-distance threshold used to define service coverage. The transport network comprises 11 bus routes, approximately 160 bus stops, and 90 km of routes; however, limited service quality and uneven spatial distribution contribute to a high dependence on private transport, with 45% of trips made by private car, 35% by taxi, and only 20% by bus. These findings are consistent with accessibility inequalities arising from the mismatch between fragmented urban morphology, centralized urban functions, and the configuration of the public transport network. The proposed framework provides transferable insights for planning more equitable and sustainable mobility systems in rapidly urbanizing arid intermediate cities.