TITLE:
Integration of Location-Allocation and Accessibility Models in GIS to Improve Urban Planning for Health Services in Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah, Saudi Arabia
AUTHORS:
Ashraf Abdelkarim
KEYWORDS:
Urban Planning, Health Services, Accessibility, Location-Allocation Models, Geographic Information Systems, Spatial Distribution Efficiency and Equity
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geographic Information System,
Vol.11 No.6,
November
13,
2019
ABSTRACT: In this study, accessibility and location-allocation models have been integrated into GIS to improve spatial planning and environmental sustainability of health services in Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah. This integration provides a planning framework in order to check the efficiency of the spatial allocation of health services and to generate alternatives either by proposing an active service or to improve an existing one. To achieve these objectives, the accessibility to the service area was analyzed within the analysis of health services networks, which are divided into eight types: public hospitals, specialized hospitals, health units, healthcare centers, infirmaries, clinic complexes, the Red Crescent Center, and ambulance facilities, with time intervals of (5 minutes - 10 minutes - 15 minutes) to access coverage ranges, and the location-allocation model was used based on the maximum coverage model within a response time not exceeding 15 minutes, The results of the study revealed the poor distribution of health services Al-Madinah Al-Munawwarah suffers from weak accessibility to health services coverage areas and is unable to meet the needs of its population at present. The current need for health services reached twenty-four locations, including two public hospitals, three specialized hospitals, two health centers, three ambulance facilities, four infirmaries, three clinic complexes, four health units, and three Red Crescent centers.