Spatial Disparities in Affordable Housing and Urban Service Accessibility in Kolhapur, India: A GIS-Based Combined Affordability Index Approach

Abstract The importance of affordable housing in the context of sustainable and just city development has been well documented. However, inequities in access to affordable housing and in the quality of urban services in many accelerating urban centers still remain, exacerbating and reinforcing socio-spatial disparities. This study paper analyzes the spatial variation in affordable housing in Kolhapur City, India, by integrating GIS with a Combined Affordability Index (CAI). The CAI integrates standardized land price measures with human service distribution, including health, education, and finance, into an evidential, spatially explicit classification of urban affordability. The results show that less expensive areas with cheap land prices are often poorly provided for, whereas high-priced zones still tend to enjoy the access to urban services, which consolidates the process of socio-spatial differentiation. Zones of moderate affordability reflect mixed compromises along the service availability versus housing cost spectrum. These findings highlight the need for policy making that integrates space and that is able to tackle both housing affordability and access-to-service issues in tandem. The GIS-based CAI seems to be replicable and provides a tool for prioritizing interventions and addressing spatial justice in other medium-sized cities in India.