Living well with the foundational economy: Assessing the spatial accessibility of foundational infrastructures in Vienna and the relationship to socio-economic status

Foundational infrastructures play a vital role for providing a good life for all within planetary boundaries. In this article, we employ a spatial understanding of accessibility to assess the access to five foundational infrastructures (healthcare, care, education, culture, nature) for Vienna's 250 census districts. Based on government statistics and OpenStreetMap data, we develop the Foundational Accessibility Indicator and study how accessibility intersects with spatially explicit socio-economic variables, as covered by the Social Status Index. We find strong spatial disparities with regard to the accessibility of foundational infrastructures in Vienna, with high access for most infrastructures in the city center and partially the west, but poor access in the south and east of the city. There is a significant, positive, moderate correlation between the average access to foundational infrastructures and socio-economic status in Vienna, meaning that people of higher status tend to enjoy higher access than people with lower status. In the discussion, we contextualize our results, critically reflect our approach and draw implications for retrofitting foundational infrastructures. We conclude by highlighting the broader implications of our findings for accessibility research for living well within planetary limits. • Foundational infrastructures play a key role in achieving a good life for all within planetary boundaries. • Paper presents a novel indicator to measure the spatial access to foundational infrastructures in Vienna. • Despite being vital for wellbeing, access to foundational infrastructures varies considerably across the city. • People of low socio-economic status tend to have worse access than people of high status in Vienna. • Research calls for closer examination of people's rights to access and the sustainability of foundational infrastructures.