Research Article | | Peer-Reviewed

Equity in Public Facilities Provision in an Urban Area: A Spatial Analysis of Rajshahi City Corporation

Received: 14 May 2024     Accepted: 1 August 2024     Published: 6 September 2024
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Abstract

In the Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC)area, spatial sizeis not proportionate to the placement of public facilities due to rapid urbanization and population growth. This raises the question ofwhat is the level of equity present inthe provision of public facilities in the city corporation area. For this research, primary schools, high schools, colleges, health facilities, and markets were selected from the available types of public facilities.Location Quotient (LQ) method and Gini Coefficientwere used to analyze locational concentration and spatial disparity in the provision of public facilities in 30 wards of Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC). Service area analysiswas done to show how much of the city corporation area falls under afavorable distance from the public facilities.The number of the wards having LQ value > 1 range from 9 – 15 based on different public facilities; showing locational concentration is present for all public facilities. The Gini coefficient (GC) values range from 0.41 to 0.67, showing a high level of spatial inequity. The service area analysis also shows the service area of the public facilities fail to cover all of the wards.In the future, inequity in provision of public facilities can compound with the increase in population and urban sprawl if not met with regulatory and inclusive planning policies.

Published in Urban and Regional Planning (Volume 9, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.urp.20240903.14
Page(s) 96-111
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Spatial Analysis, Population, Public Facility, Service Area, Spatial Disparity, Planning Standard

1. Introduction
In recent years, urbanization has been a global phenomenon. The growth of the urban population in various regions of the world has shifted the ratio of the rural-urban population around the world. In the case of the Asia region, the urban population has risen from 33 million in 1950 to 548 million in 2018 . Bangladesh has also seen a rapid urbanization rate, the urban population growing from 8.2% of the total population in 1972 to a projected 39% of the total population in 2021 . The ever-increasing urban population has resulted in unplanned development in the urban areas, which has put a strain on the available public facilities . Urbanization and population migration are internally connected . In the case of Bangladesh, 50% of the population of the secondary towns consists of migrated people and the biggest reason behind migration is economic opportunities . The rapid rise in urban population growth has an adverse impact on public services, higher population density lowers the service level, exceeding the capacity of service provision . Urban sprawl created due to also lowers environment quality and creates problems like urban heat island , loss of ecosystem and biodiversity . It is shown by Md. J. Alam & Ahmad, 2013 that the provision of public facilities in public and private housing projects is poor and missing in some cases, due to corruption, lack of good governance , and other reasons.
In the last several decades, scholars have taken an increasing interest in the issue of public facility accessibility . Poor accessibility, on the other hand, may have negative socioeconomic effects and promote inequality by limiting citizens' access to essential public facilities like schools and hospitals, as well as services and social contact Equality in sustainable urban development and excellent quality of life necessitates an examination of the accessibility of urban public amenities. Nonetheless, the majority of prior research has concentrated on a single establishment . The main benefit of focusing down on a single facility is that it may assist establish a fair public facility allocation plan by highlighting locations that are underserved and in need of improvement in facility distribution.
Urbanization has also occurred in the Rajshahi Division. According to a study done by K. T. Alam & Islam, 2010 , the Rajshahi division hosts 15.5% of the total urban population of Bangladesh. Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) is the prominent urban growth center in this region, showing high urban growth from 1990 to 2015, averaging 7.9% per annum, converting 25 sq. km. of non-urban land to urban land . Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) is not only a city corporation area but also a divisional city. It is one of many economic centers where rural to urban immigration occurs because it provides economic opportunities to nearby rural areas. The city management authority, Rajshahi Development Authority (RDA) controls development through building codes and standards of land and facility development. Although, many facilities are developed before the standards came into implementation. There are not many studies done on the spatial distribution of public facilities in a City Corporation area. The scope of the available studies limits itself to a single specific public facility. Literature on the equity and efficiency of public facilities is available, but literature based on the perspective of Bangladesh is sparse. This study was inspired by a need to address a gap in knowledge by analyzing the spatial variance and accessibility of public services throughout the city's wards. Also finding out how many people are in the region that these public amenities serve.
2. Public Facilities, Equity and Evolution of Planning Standards
In our research first, the definition of a public facility has been determined. There are several definitions offered. Public facilities, as simply put by Cremer et al., 1985 , are locations where customers get public services. A more in-depth explanation is given by DeVerteuil, 2000 ; Teitz & Bart, 1968 , according to them urban facilities are parts of the city whose first and foremost function is the provision of public goods and services which are partly if not wholly by the government. Again, City of Irvine, 2012 describes public facilities as the institutional provision of health, education, safety, recreation, and worship, which are basic human needsand also some facilities are helpful even in earthquake . They are also explained as those basic services which cannot be provided door to door .
2.1. Equity in Public Facility Provision
The scope of spatial equity varies from person to person, from ambitious goal of encompassing access to multiple alternatives to jobs, facilities, cultural eventsto access to basic public facilities for everyone . Similarly, Robinson, 2007 considers equity as affordable, accessible and appropriate services provided to all classes of the population. In a simpler way, Andrews et al., 2019 , considers equity as equal access to services for both wealthy and poor.In equal provision of facilities exacerbate the existing problems in the socio-economic and health drawbacks in the urban area . From the understanding of equity as a concept, definition of spatial equity is derived by Rahman et al., 2015 and simply explains spatial equity as public facilities provided equally in the context of space . Public facilities need to be distributed on the basis of equity to elevate the lives of people living in every corner of a city.According to Ashik et al., 2020 , there are two types of spatial equity:
1) Horizontal Spatial Equity: Horizontal spatial equity refers to the distribution of facilities disregarding the location and socio-economic condition of the residents. This focuses on the access of people to public facilities.
2) Vertical Spatial Equity: Vertical spatial equity is the provision of public facilities based on the socio-economic condition of the served population so that people at the lower end of socio-economic spectrum get compensation for public facilities to lower the overall inequality they face.
Some researchers prefer vertical equity over horizontal equity (De Bartolome and Ross 2004 ; Martins et al. 2013 ; Yuan et al. 2017 , as cited in Cepiku&Mastrodascio, 2021 , referring horizontal equity as equality.
2.2. Equity and Planning Regulations
The history of planning regulations shows the evolution of planning regulations. The regulation changed over time to accommodate equity. Alterman, 2013 divided the evolution of planning regulations into five generations. The first generation introduced building regulation and construction related rules. The second generation expanded on this and introduced land use control elements immediately surrounding the building structure. The third generation included landscaping standards and design review process. The fourth generation counted for environment, introducing protection rules, growth management, land conservation etc. Finally, the fifth-generation regulations focus on community needs, they include Dedication of land for public services, fees for public services usage etc.The present generation of regulations is based on planning principles that help to increase equity and inclusivity. The planning for public facilities also enforces these qualities, as shown by Mohd Ibrahim et al., 2016 .
Table 1. Planning Principles.

Planning Principles

Descriptions

Equal distribution of facilities

Properly distributed in accordance to location and population.

Accessibility

Provisioned within walking distance from residential areas and provided safety from traffic.

Comfort and safety

Not established in places of natural hazard, steep slopes, etc.

Interaction

Social interaction is to be promoted.

Design

Should value local aesthetics and culture, also in line with universal design principles.

2.3. Planning Standard for Public Facilities
There are several planning authorities in Bangladesh, which implement different planning standards for their respective jurisdiction area. In the case of Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC), the Rajshahi Development Authority (RDA) has set the planning standards for public facility development, some of the standards related to this research are shown below:
Table 2. Standard for Public Facilities in Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) Area.

Facilities

Rajshahi Metropolitan Development Plan, 2004 (RMDP 2004)

Primary School

1 school per 4000 popn

High School

1 school per 6,000 popn.

Intermediate College

1 college per 6,000 popn.

Degree College

1 college per 30,000 popn

Market

1 in each ward

Health Center

354 person per bed

Some of the given standards do not mention the suitable spatial distance from one public facility to another. It is sometimes hard to designate distance to standards, but some studies show the maximum distance which the public facility users are willing to go to receive the service. According to Rodíguez-López et al., 2016 , children are willing to walk up to 875 meters to go to educational facilities and in the case of adolescents, the distance is 1350 meters. For the distance of health facilities, Mansour, 2016 considered 1 km as the preferred distance. So, the ideal spatial distances for the selected public facilities are:
Table 3. Preferred Distance of Public Facilities.

Facilities

Distance

Primary School

875 meters

High School

1350 meters

College

1350 meters

Clinic

1 kilometer

Hospital

1 kilometer

Market

1 in each ward

2.4. Measuring Spatial Disparity of the Public Facilities
Figure 1. Lorenz Curve and Gini Coefficient (GC) (Source: Zheng et al., 2021 ).
The measurement of spatial disparity is done through the analysis of Gini co-efficient (GC). This method is used by Jahan & Oda, 2000 , and Rahaman & Salauddin, 2009 , Azmoodeh et al., 2021 , Jang et al., 2017 to analyze spatial equity. According to Pan American Health Organization, 2001 “The Gini coefficient (GC) is based on the Lorenz curve, a cumulative frequency curve that compares the distribution of a specific variable with the uniform distribution that represents equality. This equality distribution is represented by a diagonal line, and the greater the deviation of the Lorenz curve from this line, the greater the inequality.”
The perfect diagonal line shows the perfect equality. The more the Lorenz curve deviates from the equality line, the more inequality is in the system.
2.5. Measuring Spatial Concentration of the Public Facilities
Analysis of spatial concentration of the public facilities provide the answer to the question of spatial disparity of public facilities. One method of measuring concentration is through a method named L. Q or Location Quotient method, used to measure spatial concentration by Jahan & Oda, 2000 and Rahaman & Salauddin, 2009 In the Location Quotient Method, the relative distribution/concentration of one area with the whole area is measured.
3. Study Area
Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) has a long history of development. More than 150 years ago, Rajshahi city was known as Boalia Rampur municipality. Later, it became Rajshahi Paurashava. In 1887, the municipality was upgraded to a municipal corporation. In 1990, the municipal corporation was updated to Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC). This city corporation consists of 30 wards. According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics and Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) has an area of 97.17 sq km with a population of 449756.
Figure 2. Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) Area.
There are 7 types of structure use in Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC). The highest percentage of structuresare used as residential buildings. 87% of the total structures are residential buildings. The 2nd highest percentage of structure use type is the business and mercantile buildings. The detail structure type with their percentage and frequency are described in table 4.
Table 4. Structure Use Type in Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) Area.

Structure Use Type

Count

Percentage

Business and Mercantile Building

5955

6

Educational Building

735

0.78

Health Care Building

166

0.18

Industrial Building

436

0.46

Miscellaneous Building

3845

4

Mixed Use

1024

1

Residential Building

81649

87

Total

93810

100

They add up to 6% of the total structure use types. The Miscellaneous Buildings are the 3rd largest percentage of total structure use types, which is 4%. These 3 structure use types make up 97% of the total structure use type. The rest of the use types are only 3% of the total structure use type.
Figure 3. Facility Provision Compared to Population Density.
The figure shows the density of public facilities at each ward compared to population density of these wards. It is evident from the map that there is a concentration of public facilities in a few wards which also have a high density of population. Some wards also have a high population density but they lack public facilities.
4. Method
For this research, quantitative data is required to fulfill the research objectives. The variables including demography of the study area, service area of the public facilities, and location variation of the public facilities require quantitative data for analysis. Demographic data, ward area, structures in the selected wards, and other structure-related data have been collected from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics and Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC).
4.1. Data Analysis
The data were processed and analyzed in Microsoft Excel and maps were produced in ArcMap 10.6.
Analysis of Spatial Concentration of the Public Facilities:
In the case of measuring the spatial concentration of public facilities in this research, the Location Quotient Method is used. The formula for this research will be:
LQ = (xi / ni) / (x / n )
Where,
xi = Number of facilities in a selected ward
ni = Population of that selected ward
x = Number of facilities in Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) Area
n = Total population of Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC)
The values derived from the formula will range from 0 to greater than 1. The interpretation of the values is given below:
If LQ < 1:
The LQ value < 1 means that the concentration of the facilities in the ward is lesser than the total wards in the city corporation area
If LQ = 1:
The LQ value = 1 means that the facilities present in the ward are sufficient enough for the population of that particular ward.
If LQ > 1:
The LQ value > 1 indicates that there is a concentration of the facilities in the ward.
Analysis of Spatial Disparity of the Public Facilities:
Gini Coefficient (GC) derived from the Lorenz Curve is used to derive the level of spatial disparity of the public facilities in the study area. The formula for Gini Coefficient (GC) is given below:
G =2i=1n(xi-x̅)n2x̅
Here,
𝑥 = observed value (Number of facilities per population)
𝑛 = number of values observed (Number of wards)
x̅ = mean value of x
G = Gini Coefficient
The range of Gini coefficient (GC) is 0 to 1. 0 shows total inequality and 1 shows total equality.
4.2. Service Area Calculation
The service areas of the public facilities were analyzed with the Network Analyst tool in ArcGIS. The required distances were derived through literature review.
Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) has a total population of 449756. The following table shows the breakdown of the population based on education and gender.
Table 5. Demographic Information of the Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC).

Wards

Population (Primary School going)

Population (High School going)

Population (College going)

Male

Female

Ward Population

Ward 1

1475

1892

1635

7945

8087

16032

Ward 2

1836

2139

1854

8860

8963

17823

Ward 3

1711

2033

2255

10098

10034

20132

Ward 4

1165

1416

1324

6660

6578

13238

Ward 5

1201

1554

1370

6796

7332

14128

Ward 6

1343

1587

2105

7775

7481

15256

Ward 7

919

1100

1152

7851

5091

12942

Ward 8

804

914

1630

5806

5205

11011

Ward 9

939

1195

1864

7321

6911

14232

Ward 10

708

829

1504

5692

5365

11057

Ward 11

701

873

2410

5960

6334

12294

Ward 12

624

1078

1873

6518

4831

11349

Ward 13

679

797

1467

5059

4786

9845

Ward 14

1975

2502

2480

11369

10580

21949

Ward 15

1110

1260

1904

7203

6497

13700

Ward 16

1495

1844

2076

8829

7781

16610

Ward 17

1816

2314

2474

9999

9952

19951

Ward 18

1295

1469

1557

7490

7057

14547

Ward 19

2064

2545

2729

11622

11307

22929

Ward 20

589

872

896

4015

3842

7857

Ward 21

804

1042

1022

5130

4797

9927

Ward 22

589

732

900

4250

4164

8414

Ward 23

718

848

857

4346

4308

8654

Ward 24

1277

1437

1495

7358

7155

14513

Ward 25

969

1250

1454

6659

6093

12752

Ward 26

1561

1877

2119

9754

8832

18586

Ward 27

1428

1696

1911

9163

8693

17856

Ward 28

1844

2278

2712

11622

10075

21697

Ward 29

1595

1851

1623

7244

6995

14239

Ward 30

1522

1863

3175

14580

11656

26236

4.3. Number of Public Facilities at Each Ward
The following table shows the distribution of public facilities at each ward of Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC).
Table 6. Number of Public Facilities in Each Ward of Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC).

Wards

Primary Schools

High Schools

Colleges

Markets

Health Facilities

Ward 01

3

1

0

2

1

Ward 02

6

3

1

4

0

Ward 03

4

1

0

2

3

Ward 04

3

0

0

3

2

Ward 05

5

3

1

1

1

Ward 06

2

0

0

4

8

Ward 07

2

2

1

2

5

Ward 08

1

4

2

0

11

Ward 09

4

2

2

0

7

Ward 10

2

2

0

0

9

Ward 11

3

2

1

0

3

Ward 12

1

2

0

6

1

Ward 13

1

2

1

1

4

Ward 14

3

2

1

0

2

Ward 15

0

0

0

0

0

Ward 16

3

1

0

2

0

Ward 17

4

3

2

2

2

Ward 18

1

0

1

1

1

Ward 19

1

1

0

0

1

Ward 20

2

1

0

0

0

Ward 21

3

2

1

0

1

Ward 22

0

1

3

1

0

Ward 23

1

0

1

1

1

Ward 24

4

0

0

0

0

Ward 25

5

1

1

0

1

Ward 26

0

0

0

0

0

Ward 27

1

4

2

0

2

Ward 28

2

0

0

1

1

Ward 29

0

0

0

0

0

Ward 30

0

0

0

0

0

5. Results and Discussion
5.1. Spatial Concentration of Public Facilities
Through the LQ method, spatial concentration of public facilities is determined. The following table shows the LQ values of public facilities in each ward.
Table 7. LQ Values of Public Facilities.

Wards

Primary

Secondary

College

Health Facilities

Market

Ward 1

1.116

0.596

0

0.419

1.7

Ward 2

1.793

1.581

1.383

0

3.059

Ward 3

1.282

0.554

0

1

1.354

Ward 4

1.413

0

0

1.014

3.089

Ward 5

2.284

2.176

1.87

0.475

0.965

Ward 6

0.817

0

0

3.52

3.573

Ward 7

1.194

2.049

2.225

2.593

2.106

Ward 8

0.682

4.934

3.146

6.706

0

Ward 9

2.336

1.886

2.75

3.302

0

Ward 10

1.55

2.719

0

5.464

0

Ward 11

2.349

2.583

1.064

1.638

0

Ward 12

0.879

2.091

0

0.591

7.205

Ward 13

0.808

2.827

1.747

2.727

1.384

Ward 14

0.833

0.901

1.033

0.612

0

Ward 15

0

0

0

0

0

Ward 16

1.101

0.611

0

0

1.641

Ward 17

1.209

1.461

2.072

0.673

1.366

Ward 18

0.424

0

1.647

0.461

0.937

Ward 19

0.266

0.443

0

0.293

0

Ward 20

1.862

1.293

0

0

0

Ward 21

2.047

2.163

2.507

0.676

0

Ward 22

0

1.54

8.541

0

1.62

Ward 23

0.764

0

2.992

0.776

1.575

Ward 24

1.718

0

0

0

0

Ward 25

2.83

0.902

1.763

0.526

0

Ward 26

0

0

0

0

0

Ward 27

0.384

2.658

2.683

0.752

0

Ward 28

0.595

0

0

0.309

0.628

Ward 29

0

0

0

0

0

Ward 30

0

0

0

0

0

The facility wise LQ values show concentration of different public facilities in various wards:
For Primary Schools - 15 out of 30 wards have scored LQ value higher than 1, showing that concentration of primary school is present in those wards. 10 other wards show LQ value lower than 1, showing a lack of self-sufficiency. The wards having a concentration of primary schools are located in the north, east and southern parts of the city corporation.
For High Schools – 14 out of 30 wards have scored LQ value higher than 1, showing that concentration of high schools is present in those wards. 6 wards have LQ value lower than 1, showing a lack of self–sufficiency. 10 wards do not have high schools in them.
For Colleges – 15 out of 30 wards have scored LQ value higher than 1, showing that concentration of colleges is present in those wards. Interestingly, the other 15 wards have no colleges in them, so there is no lack of self-sufficiency in those wards, but rather an absence of facilities.
For Health Facilities – 9 out of 30 wards have scored LQ value higher than 1, showing that a concentration of health facilities is present in those wards. 12 wards have scored LQ values lower than 1, showing that there is a lack of self-sufficiency in those wards. 9 wards do not have health facilities in them.
For Markets – 12 out of 30 wards have scored LQ value higher than 1, showing that the concentration of markets is present in those wards. 3 wards have scored LQ values lower than 1, showing that there is a lack of self-sufficiency in those wards. 15 wards do not have markets in them.
Spatial Disparity of Public Facilities:
The spatial disparity of public facilities is analyzed through the Gini coefficient (GC). The following table shows the Gini Coefficient (GC) of each public facility.
Table 8. Gini Coefficient (GC) of Each Public Facility.

Public Facility

Gini Coefficient (GC)

Primary School

0.41

High School

0.51

College

0.64

Health Facility

0.65

Market

0.67

The Gini coefficient (GC) table shows that there is a high level of disparity present in the distribution of public facilities in the Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) area. The level of disparity is similar for colleges, Health facilities, and Markets. Relatively lower disparity can be seen in the case of high school and relatively the lowest disparity is in the availability of primary facilities.
Figure 4. Lorenz Curve of the Public Facilities in Study Area.
5.2. Service Area of the Primary Schools
There are 67 primary schools in Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC). The service area of the primary schools covers most of the wards of the city corporation although does not cover the eastern part of it. Ward no 26, 29, and 30 do not have any coverage of primary schools available in the city corporation area. The 3 wards out of the service area of the primary schools have a total primary school eligible population of 4678.
Figure 5. Service Area of the Primary Schools.
5.3. Service Area of the High Schools
There are 40 high schools in the Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC). These high schools are spread over 20 wards out of 30 wards of the city corporation area. The wards which do not have any high school in them are Ward 4, 6, 15, 18, 23, 24, 26, 28, 29, and 30. Although these wards do not have high schools, the service area of the high schools covers most of the wards. Only ward no 26, 28, 29, and 30 fall outside the service area of the high schools. These wards that do not fall under the service area of high schools have a total high school eligible population of 7869.
Figure 6. Service Area of the High Schools.
5.4. Service Area of the Colleges
There are 21 colleges in the Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC)area. Only 15 out of 30 wards have colleges in them. There is a concentration of colleges in the southern part of the city corporation area. Their service area of covers most of the wards. Although the service area does not reach wards 26,29 and 30. These three wards have a total high school eligible population of 2306.
Figure 7. Service Area of the Colleges.
5.5. Service Area of the Clinics
There are 47 clinics in the Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) area. Most of the clinics are located in the southern part of the city corporation. Their concentration in that part of the area leaves some of the wards out of their service area. These wards are: Ward 2, 4, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, and 30.
Figure 8. Service Area of the Clinics.
5.6. Service Area of the Hospitals
There are 19 hospitals in the Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) area. All of the hospitals are located in the southern part of the city corporation. corporation area. The service area of the hospitals covers 10 wards out of 30 wards.
Figure 9. Service Area of Hospitals.
5.7. Service Area of Markets
There are 35 markets in the Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) area. Most of the markets are spread in the southern and western parts of the city corporation. The RMDP 2004 insists to have at least one market in each ward. Currently, the 35 markets are located in 15 wards out of the 30 wards. Ward 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29 and 30 do not have market in their area. Out of the total population of 449756 in Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC), 223891 people live in the wards where there is no market.
Figure 10. Market Locations in the Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC).
6. Recommendations and Conclusion
The concentration of public facilities in some wards means that many wards do not have public facilities in them. Identifying those wards and providing public facilities in them will be helpful to reduce concentration.
The planning standard in many cases does not require spatial conformity of provision, rather it sets the number of people to be served. Following this planning standard will reduce the disparity of public facility provision, although spatial disparity may still exist.
Improvement of the transportation system and safe pedestrian-friendly environment development can help reduce the distance-related problems of using public facilities to a great extent, thus reducing the spatial disparity of using the facilities.
The population of the wards in Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) will increase over time, and with that, the demand for public facilities will rise as well. Balanced urban planning will be required to manage the demand; the current situation already has seen disparity and concentration.
The current provision of public facilities has already concentrated in some of the wards of the city corporation. Land use management, zoning and other policy instruments can be helpful to incentivize the development of new/mixed land use which can be beneficial for the provision of new public facilities in the currently under-equipped wards.
The Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) will face many challenges in the next decades to provide public facilities due to already existing spatial disparity. The population growth will be significant, so balanced and effective supply-demand based planning is required.
Abbreviations

ERP

Emergency Response Program

GC

Gini Coefficient

LQ

Location Quotient

RCC

Rajshahi City Corporation

RMDP

Rajshahi Metropolitan Development Plan

RDA

Rajshahi Development Authority

Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
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    Chakrabarty, A., Rahman, M. M. (2024). Equity in Public Facilities Provision in an Urban Area: A Spatial Analysis of Rajshahi City Corporation. Urban and Regional Planning, 9(3), 96-111. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.urp.20240903.14

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    Chakrabarty, A.; Rahman, M. M. Equity in Public Facilities Provision in an Urban Area: A Spatial Analysis of Rajshahi City Corporation. Urban Reg. Plan. 2024, 9(3), 96-111. doi: 10.11648/j.urp.20240903.14

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    AMA Style

    Chakrabarty A, Rahman MM. Equity in Public Facilities Provision in an Urban Area: A Spatial Analysis of Rajshahi City Corporation. Urban Reg Plan. 2024;9(3):96-111. doi: 10.11648/j.urp.20240903.14

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  • @article{10.11648/j.urp.20240903.14,
      author = {Arnob Chakrabarty and Mohammad Mizanur Rahman},
      title = {Equity in Public Facilities Provision in an Urban Area: A Spatial Analysis of Rajshahi City Corporation
    },
      journal = {Urban and Regional Planning},
      volume = {9},
      number = {3},
      pages = {96-111},
      doi = {10.11648/j.urp.20240903.14},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.urp.20240903.14},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.urp.20240903.14},
      abstract = {In the Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC)area, spatial sizeis not proportionate to the placement of public facilities due to rapid urbanization and population growth. This raises the question ofwhat is the level of equity present inthe provision of public facilities in the city corporation area. For this research, primary schools, high schools, colleges, health facilities, and markets were selected from the available types of public facilities.Location Quotient (LQ) method and Gini Coefficientwere used to analyze locational concentration and spatial disparity in the provision of public facilities in 30 wards of Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC). Service area analysiswas done to show how much of the city corporation area falls under afavorable distance from the public facilities.The number of the wards having LQ value > 1 range from 9 – 15 based on different public facilities; showing locational concentration is present for all public facilities. The Gini coefficient (GC) values range from 0.41 to 0.67, showing a high level of spatial inequity. The service area analysis also shows the service area of the public facilities fail to cover all of the wards.In the future, inequity in provision of public facilities can compound with the increase in population and urban sprawl if not met with regulatory and inclusive planning policies.
    },
     year = {2024}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Equity in Public Facilities Provision in an Urban Area: A Spatial Analysis of Rajshahi City Corporation
    
    AU  - Arnob Chakrabarty
    AU  - Mohammad Mizanur Rahman
    Y1  - 2024/09/06
    PY  - 2024
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.urp.20240903.14
    DO  - 10.11648/j.urp.20240903.14
    T2  - Urban and Regional Planning
    JF  - Urban and Regional Planning
    JO  - Urban and Regional Planning
    SP  - 96
    EP  - 111
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2575-1697
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.urp.20240903.14
    AB  - In the Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC)area, spatial sizeis not proportionate to the placement of public facilities due to rapid urbanization and population growth. This raises the question ofwhat is the level of equity present inthe provision of public facilities in the city corporation area. For this research, primary schools, high schools, colleges, health facilities, and markets were selected from the available types of public facilities.Location Quotient (LQ) method and Gini Coefficientwere used to analyze locational concentration and spatial disparity in the provision of public facilities in 30 wards of Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC). Service area analysiswas done to show how much of the city corporation area falls under afavorable distance from the public facilities.The number of the wards having LQ value > 1 range from 9 – 15 based on different public facilities; showing locational concentration is present for all public facilities. The Gini coefficient (GC) values range from 0.41 to 0.67, showing a high level of spatial inequity. The service area analysis also shows the service area of the public facilities fail to cover all of the wards.In the future, inequity in provision of public facilities can compound with the increase in population and urban sprawl if not met with regulatory and inclusive planning policies.
    
    VL  - 9
    IS  - 3
    ER  - 

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  • Abstract
  • Keywords
  • Document Sections

    1. 1. Introduction
    2. 2. Public Facilities, Equity and Evolution of Planning Standards
    3. 3. Study Area
    4. 4. Method
    5. 5. Results and Discussion
    6. 6. Recommendations and Conclusion
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