Evaluation of social facilities coverage: A case study of Sofia city

Abstract

In order to aid the decision making process related to the provision of public services as to maximize the benefits for society, it is crucial to evaluate the current social facilities demand in terms of spatial distribution and access. The paper aims to solve this problem by proposing a method for automated assessment of the coverage of public services within an urban region using a capacitated graph. The methodology abstracts residential buildings into demand nodes and public service buildings into supply nodes within a graph and then uses shortest distance calculations in order to balance the two, while prioritizing residential buildings based on distance.The paper is focused on creating a general pipeline that can be used on any type of public services, as long as a certain geospatial and demographic data are available. The method is described without referencing specific tools, but focusing on the general procedure. The procedure is then applied to the whole city of Sofa, focusing on assessing the coverage of kindergartens using the 15 minutes walking distance, followed by a brief discussion of results.