Urban and rural disparities in general hospital accessibility within a Chinese metropolis
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Accessibility is one of the crucial criteria for measuring the ease of access to public services in a region. Given China's historical rural-urban dualism and rapid urbanization process, there exist significant disparities in public services within metropolises. This study selects Nanjing as a representative metropolis and employs the Gaussian two-step floating catchment area method and an improved potential model to calculate the accessibility of comprehensive hospitals. Spatial autocorrelation and urban-rural disparities are analyzed, confirming spatial variations in healthcare service equity. The results show that: ①The spatial variability of accessibility to comprehensive hospitals is significant. The Gaussian two-step floating catchment method overestimates overall accessibility, and for Nanjing, the improved potential model with β = 1.5 proves more suitable. ②Accessibility exhibits pronounced clustering characteristics. Healthcare conditions for residents in the northern part of Liuhe District, eastern part of Qixia District, western part of Pukou District, peripheral areas of Jiangning District, eastern part of Gaochun District, and residents in Lishui District need improvement. ③Comprehensive healthcare services are relatively lacking in nearly 60% of rural areas. Our research findings provide valuable insights for improving spatial justice in public infrastructure in metropolises of developing countries.
Source: Scientific Reports
Authors: Xinyi Du, Yating Du, Yijia Zhang, Yaqiu Zhu, Yadong Yang
Language: English
Subfield: Transportation
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,590
OpenAlex ID: W4403172869