Two-Step Floating Catchment Area Model-Based Evaluation of Community Care Facilities' Spatial Accessibility in Xi'an, China.

Sunwei Liu,Yupeng Wang,Yitong Kang,Dian Zhou

doi:10.3390/ijerph17145086

Abstract

Due to the rapid increase in the number of elderly people in Chinese cities, the development and planning of aged care facilities, and particularly community care facilities, which will gradually become the mainstream choice for the elderly in China, is becoming an important topic for urban sustainability. Previous studies have shown that the number and scale of aged care facilities in many cities are far from meeting the needs of the elderly and the overall occupation rate is low. Some of these cities are still expanding and some are undergoing urban renovation. In this process, the scientific planning of community care facilities to promote efficient use of facility resources has become an urgent problem that needs to be solved. In this study, the two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA) method and a potential model based on the Geographic Information System (GIS) were used to carry out a scientific evaluation of the spatial accessibility of community care facilities in the Beilin district of Xi’an. The aims were to explore the best quantitative research methods for assessing the distribution of Xi’an community care facilities’ spatial accessibility, provide ideas for similar studies in the future, and further the understanding of spatial allocation of urban community care facilities resources.

Highlights

Progressive rises in urban population accompanied by the aging of societies are two trends in cities globally, and in developing countries [1,2]
This study focuses on community care facilities, which have different service characteristics compared to the other care facilities
On the other hand, when the search domain moves from one census unit to another, it can cross the boundaries of the administrative area and the potential interaction between the elderly and the retirement facilities is better considered

Summary

Introduction

Progressive rises in urban population accompanied by the aging of societies are two trends in cities globally, and in developing countries [1,2]. Population aging is a sign of the progress and development of social civilization, but it brings great pressure to social economic security and medical care [3,4]. A scientifically reasonable configuration of community care facilities in a city can alleviate problems associated with their spatial distribution and improve their efficiency. For current urban planning and architecture, there is an urgent need to explore this new topic. Application of scientific methods to evaluate the spatial accessibility of Xi’an care facilities can lead to reasonable space configurations and has important practical significance. Two models were used for this evaluation and compared in this study

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion