The utilization of the population in the accessibility measures. Advantages and disadvantages

In the analysis of the territorial accessibility, it is often useful to determine the magnitude of each of the municipalities analysed, in order to show the utility deriving from its accessibility, which can be interpreted as an indirect indicator of the benefits which good connections generate for other municipalities. There are many possible ways to reflect the dimension and hierarchical order of council areas in a territory, and though the choice of one or another method are determined by the object of the analysis, a population variable is normally used. Although this can have a series of advantages, of course, it can also have a number of difficulties depending on its treatment. The main aim of this article is to analyse the advantages and disadvantages when the variable population constitutes a feature in the indicators of accessibility. To reach this objective various indicators have been used for the Catalan territory - with and without the introduction of the demographic variable - to evaluate, to contrast and discuss its validity.