Transportation Accessibility Evaluation of Educational Institutions Conducting Field Environmental Education Activities in Ecological Protection Areas: A Case Study of Zhuhai City

Abstract

With the development of society, an increasing number of educational institutions have adopted field environmental education activities rather than classroom education. Field education can not only enhance students’ environmental awareness but also enable them to fully understand environmental protection knowledge. Ecological protection areas are important bases for educational institutions to organize students to implement field environmental education. Focusing on Zhuhai City, this study explored spatial relationships between educational institutions and ecological protection zones using Kernel density estimation, the two-step floating catchment area method, and Thiessen polygons. Specific actions included measuring transportation accessibility and dividing the service scopes of ecological protection zones to provide field environmental education for educational institutions. These actions provided a helpful reference for educational institutions to conduct field environmental education activities effectively. The results showed the following: (1) Schools in Zhuhai City were mainly located in subdistricts and presented a spatial layout of “one primary and two secondary.” Students were mainly concentrated in villages and towns and presented a spatial layout of “one core and two centers.” Ecological protection zones were scattered in the township area; their spatial relationships with educational institutions were scattered. Meanwhile, their spatial relationship with the number of students was relatively concentrated. (2) In terms of the accessibility of educational institutions to ecological protection zones, the educational institutions in the northeast of Xiangzhou District and the middle of Doumen District had higher accessibility, while the educational institutions in the middle and south of Zhuhai City had lower accessibility, and the educational institutions in the middle of Xiangzhou District had the lowest accessibility. (3) Based on accessibility, the service scopes of field environmental education activities in ecological protection zones were divided into 15 blocks. Here, the educational institutions located in Xiangzhou District, the western part of Jinwan District, and western, middle, and eastern parts of Doumen District had relatively strong spatial dispersions with the ecological protection zones within their blocks, while the educational institutions located in the central and eastern parts of Jinwan District and northern and southern parts of Doumen District had relatively weak spatial dispersions with the ecological protection zones within their blocks.