Spatial Equity Evaluation of Rural Eldercare Service Resources Based on Accessibility: A Case Study of Huanxian County of Gansu Province, China

Abstract

Safeguarding the elderly population in the countryside is an inherent requirement for alleviating social conflicts in rural areas and effectively carrying out China’s Rural Revitalization. The existing spatial mismatch between rural elderly service facilities and population distribution in China aggravates the imbalance of facility resource space, how to improve the accuracy of demand and supply results and better measuring the spatial fairness of elderly service is significant to realize the optimal allocation of rural elderly service. Based on the above, this study pays attention to the refined needs of the elderly population, and focuses on the spatial equity of the rural elderly facilities, to make up for the short boards of the basic public services in the countryside and realize the all-round rural revitalization. This study takes Huanxian County in the hilly loess area of Longdong, China as an example and explores the spatial equity of rural elderly services by using the Urban Spatial Network Analysis (UNA) to measure the accessible quantity and supply capacity of elderly services. The results found that there were 553 rural eldercare service facilities in Huanxian County, including 285 eldercare facilities and 268 medical and health facilities, and the spatial distribution is characterized by a southward shift in the east and uneven regional distribution. Overall, the supply capacity of rural pension services was generally good, with the township center as the gathering point and spreading out in a faceted manner, with nearby townships forming a contiguous area; however, there were strong contrasts and obvious differences in the strength of supply capacity. However, the spatial equity of rural eldercare service was poor. In 42.05% of the elderly population grid cells, eldercare service spatial equity was extremely low. The spatial distribution also presented a northern preference over the southern, a western preference over the eastern, and a concentration along the highway. The study explored the realization of spatial equity in the optimal allocation of rural elderly services based on paying attention to the refined needs of the rural elderly population, a vulnerable group, to provide a reference for solving the shortcomings of basic public services in rural areas. The fair allocation of rural elderly services demands that the spatial optimization of facility layout be organically coordinated with policy, management, and post-maintenance, and all elements in the rural territorial system be fully mobilized to achieve the basic guarantee of China’s rural elderly problems.