Exploring the Relationships Between Bicycle Paths and Urban Services in Oradea, Romania

The intensification of the urbanization process on a global level is a reality specific to today’s society with some of the most complex implications, among which, the spatial ones stand out. The shortage of space in urban areas has led to the identification of sustainable solutions and ways to manage it. Against this background, the present study aims to explore the relationships between bicycle paths and service delivery units, as well as to establish the role of bicycle paths in facilitating the population’s access to services. The developed methodology involved the use of a multicriteria analysis considering ten criteria: four for bicycle paths and five for service provision units. The results highlighted the existence of strong relationships (between bicycle paths and service units) at the level of bicycle paths 1, 4, 5 and 7, while a major role in facilitating people’s access to services was established at the level of bicycle paths 1, 2, 6 and 7. Thus, the research hypothesis was validated only in the case of four out of seven bicycle paths in the municipality of Oradea, Romania, confirming that where the relationships between bicycle paths and urban service units are strong, the role of bicycle paths in facilitating bicycle access to urban services is high, while where the relationships between bicycle paths and urban service units are weak, the role of bicycle paths in facilitating bicycle access to urban services is low. In conclusion, the results obtained demonstrate the need to expand and modernize bike lanes 1, 2, 6 and 7, which have demonstrated the greatest potential to facilitate access to urban services.