Spatial Distribution and Accessibility Analysis of Primary School Facilities in Mega Cities: A Case Study of Chengdu

Abstract

High-quality and equitable primary education services promote the building of a harmonious socialist society and are an important basis for improving people’s quality of life and promoting high-quality and sustainable regional development. Here, we take Chengdu City as a test area, integrate data from multiple sources, use the random forest model to simulate the distribution data of primary school-age children in Chengdu City in 2020, and use the kernel density estimation method and the multi-traffic mode two-stage floating catchment area method to measure the spatial distribution characteristics and accessibility of primary school educational facilities in Chengdu City and combine the imbalance index and spatial autocorrelation analysis, examination of the equalization of the distribution of primary school educational facilities, and the correlation between school-age population and accessibility. The results show that in the past decade, the population of Chengdu has grown rapidly, and the number of primary school-age children has also been increasing. The overall distribution of primary school-age children in Chengdu presents a decentralized pattern of “one point with multiple cores”, with the population decreasing from the center to the periphery, and the population distribution dominates the spatial distribution of primary school facilities, which also highlights the imbalance in the construction of primary school facilities to some extent (S = 0.257), which was mainly manifested by the fact that the central-eastern part of the city has more primary school facilities, while the western part has fewer. In addition, the results of both accessibility and autocorrelation analyses show that the overall accessibility of the central circle of Chengdu was high, while the accessibility of the second and third circles was at a lower level and below, with very obvious cross-regional and cross-circle differences. This study can not only provide more accurate recommendations for the allocation of educational facilities but also serve as a reference for evaluating the spatial equity of other public services in the city.