The Equity of Basic Educational Facilities from the Perspective of Space

Abstract

Basic education pursues “balance” and “quality” under the premise of “universalization”. High-quality and balanced education is the general strategy of international education. We used urban network tools to measure the spatial equity of three types of basic educational facilities (kindergarten, primary school, and middle school) in the main urban area of Lanzhou City, China, from the perspective of supply and demand. This can optimize the allocation of educational facilities, and make up for the shortage of basic educational facilities. It can also provide a scientific reference and new ideas for research on public service facilities. The conclusions are: (1) The distribution of basic educational facilities presented a typical pattern of belt-shaped clusters, river trends, and dense east and sparse west. The spatial dislocation between facilities and residential buildings was significant and occurred in numerous instances. (2) The supply of basic educational facilities was weak. There were significant differences in spatial accessibility among different types and regions. The spatial accessibility of kindergartens (34.83%) was the best with regard to walking conditions, followed by primary schools (27.43%) and middle schools (21.11%). (3) The distribution of basic educational facilities was affected by factors such as historical development, natural geography, social economies, and the travel behaviors of residents; (4) It is necessary to improve the problem of spatial imbalance through the implementation of refined planning management and resource allocation of infrastructure, the construction of a “community life circle”, and the establishment of an early warning mechanism for academic degree attainment combined with big data.

Spatial Distribution and Accessibility Analysis of Primary School Facilities in Mega Cities: A Case Study of Chengdu

“…This will provide more accurate suggestions for the allocation of primary school facilities. Additionally, it is important to study the causes and effects of educational resource equity [16].…”

“…The common methods of spatial accessibility include the distance method, the cumulative opportunity method [14], the two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA) method and its improved forms [15,16], and the potential model and its improved forms [17,18]. Among them, the distance method solely takes into account distance factors and does not consider other factors, such as the size of supply and demand points.…”

Spatial Pattern, Quality Evaluation, and Implications of Preschool Education Facilities in New Urban Areas Using Multi-Source Data: A Case Study from Lingui New District in West China

“…First, most of the existing studies focus on the spatial layout of kindergartens and pay little attention to the spatial layout of nurseries. Second, most existing studies from specific factors analyze the direct causes of the spatial problems of preschool education facilities, while few studies based on the background of macrourbanization analyze the deeper causes of the problems of preschool education facilities in new towns or NUAs [35,36]. Third, the existing research focuses on the eastern and central regions of China, and preschool education facility layout planning of the economically underdeveloped regions in the west is relatively lacking [5].…”

“…The government should strengthen the connection between preschool education and residential areas and balance the allocation of preschool education resources between regions [35,43]. At the same time, the site selection of preschool education should also emphasize the participation of children; introduce the "children impact assessment mechanism" in the entire process of site selection, planning, construction implementation, environmental assessment, regulation, teaching quality feedback, and other aspects; carry out regular surveys of children and their families' perception of the friendliness of preschool education construction and their needs; collect opinions of children and their families; and constantly improve the construction of child-friendly spaces and improve the quality of preschool education.…”