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

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.