Changes in service provision in rural areas. Part 2: Changes in post office provision in mid Wales: A GIS-based evaluation

Abstract

This paper develops themes set out in Part 1 of this paper relating to the importance of public service provision in rural areas, particularly for potentially vulnerable members of the community such as the elderly, unemployed and single parents. Changes in a key service sector, post office services, in rural mid Wales over a 15-year period are assessed and analysed in relation to the developing sociodemographic profile of the underlying population. A Geographic Information System (GIS) approach is adopted to chart changing levels of post office provision in the study area, and the subsequent impacts on accessibility to those post offices. The policy significance of developing measures of accessibility to services with a view to incorporating these GIS-generated measures into traditional area-based indicators of disadvantage is highlighted.