Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
Department of Geography and urban plannin, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman
Abstract
A B S T R A C T
This study aims to evaluate spatial justice in the distribution of urban services in Zarand City. The research, in the terms of purpose and methodology, adopts applied and descriptive-analytical approach respectively. Five homogeneous urban districts were delineated based on physical-functional criteria and local experts’ opinions. The study employs five indicators including educational, health, green space, transportation, and cultural‑sports services; and draws on data obtained from organizational sources and field observations conducted in 2022–2023. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and TOPSIS technique were used for data analysis. Initially, the relative weights of indicators were determined through AHP by Ten academic and executive experts (inconsistency rate: 0.038). Subsequently, the five districts were ranked using the TOPSIS technique. Findings revealed that educational (0.346) and cultural-sports (0.242) indicators hold the highest weights. The most privileged area was District 4, with a similarity index of 0.850, in contrast to District 2, which was identified as the most deprived with an index of 0.378. The gap of 2.25 times between privileged and deprived districts indicated an inequitable distribution of services and the necessity for purposeful redistribution of urban facilities in favor of deprived districts. In the final step, quantitative outputs were visualized as zoning maps in a Geographic Information System (GIS) environment
Extended Abstract
Introduction
Spatial justice, as one of the fundamental pillars of sustainable urban development, demands the equitable distribution of resources, facilities, and services across urban spaces. Inequality in access to basic services such as education, health, green spaces, and transportation not only reduces citizens' quality of life but also deepens social gaps and threatens the spatial cohesion of cities. Zarand City in Kerman Province, given to its specific economic characteristics (dependence on coal mines), rapid population growth, and environmental constraints, faces serious challenges in the equitable distribution of urban services. However, no systematic study has yet addressed the quantitative and spatial assessment of these inequalities at the urban district level in Zarand. The present study aims to fill this gap by evaluating spatial justice in urban service distribution using an integrated multi-criteria decision-making approach and spatial visualization.
Methodology
The research, in the terms of purpose and methodology, adopts applied and descriptive-analytical approach respectively. The spatial domain is Zarand City in Kerman Province. Initially, five homogeneous urban districts were identified based on physical-functional criteria (type of fabric, population density, land usage) and according to the opinions of local experts. The research indicators encompass five main criteria: educational services, health services, green spaces, transportation, and cultural-sports services. Data acquisition was achieved via organizational sources (Zarand Municipality, Department of Education, University of Medical Sciences) and field observations during 2022-2023.
An integrated approach of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and TOPSIS technique was utilized for data analysis. In the first step, the relative importance of each indicator was determined using the AHP method based on the opinions of ten academic and executive experts. The pairwise comparison matrix was formed based on the geometric mean of opinions, and the inconsistency rate (CR) was calculated as 0.038, indicating high consistency of judgments. In the second step, the five urban districts were ranked using the TOPSIS technique. The TOPSIS implementation steps included normalizing the decision matrix, creating a weighted matrix, determining positive and negative ideal solutions, calculating Euclidean distance, and finally calculating the similarity index (CL) for each district. In the final step, the quantitative outputs from the TOPSIS model were entered into a Geographic Information System (GIS) and visualized as a surface zoning map.
Results and discussion
According to local experts, the AHP analysis demonstrated that educational indicators, with a weight of 0.346, and cultural-sports indicators, with a weight of 0.242, were assigned the highest priority. The subsequent rankings were assigned to green space (0.189), health (0.126), and transportation (0.097) indicators. The high weight given to the educational indicator highlights its crucial role, especially in youth-centric cities such as Zarand. The TOPSIS technique output exhibited the final ranking of districts as follows: District 4 with a similarity index of 0.850 at the completely privileged level, District 1 with an index of 0.672 at the privileged level, District 3 with an index of 0.610 at the semi-privileged level, District 5 with an index of 0.491 at the deprived level, and District 2 with an index of 0.378 at the completely deprived level. The gap between the privileged district (4) and the deprived district (2) is approximately 2.25 times, indicating intense concentration of services in specific districts of the city and systematic deprivation of others.
The identified pattern is consistent with spatial justice theory, where resources are concentrated in the center and deprivation occurs in the periphery. From the perspective of the political economy of space, this pattern can be seen as the result of capital accumulation and unbalanced budget allocation over time. The spatial visualization of these findings in the form of a zoning map clearly revealed the center-periphery pattern and confirmed the existence of deep spatial injustice in the distribution of urban services in Zarand.
Conclusion
The research findings confirm the existence of deep spatial injustice in the distribution of urban services in Zarand. The gap of 2.25 times between privileged and deprived districts indicates an inequitable distribution of services and the necessity for a purposeful redistribution of urban facilities in favor of deprived districts. To achieve spatial justice, it is recommended to develop a spatial deprivation index and implement a targeted budget redistribution favoring Districts 2 and 5. It is recommended that future research should employ network analysis and socio-economic data to gain a deeper understanding of the origins of spatial inequality in similar cities.
Funding
There is no funding support.
Authors’ Contribution
Authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved thecontent of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work declaration of competing interest none.
Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.
Keywords
)