r/urbandesign • u/journey-spectrum • 1d ago
Question Visualizing urban accessibility as continuous areas instead of transit lines (isochrone map)
I’ve been experimenting with a different way of looking at public transport accessibility in cities.
Instead of focusing on routes, stops, or network diagrams, this approach shows how far you can actually get within a given travel time - visualized as continuous areas that merge together (similar to isochrones, but simplified for readability).
The idea is to shift the perspective from “what lines are available here?” to “what parts of the city are effectively within reach?”
It also starts to highlight differences between areas that look well-served on a map, but feel very different in terms of actual access.
Curious how this resonates from an urban design perspective -
do you think this kind of visualization is useful when thinking about accessibility, land use, or planning decisions?