A geospatial analysis of the parks, emergency assembly areas, and urban green spaces in Izmir districts

Ensuring equity in the allocation of public resources is a central objective for planners. In the context of planning, equitable distribution involves strategically placing resources or facilities to maximize accessibility for a diverse range of spatially distinct social groups. Equity in resource distribution has been a focal point of interest across numerous disciplines. The equity mapping method, which utilizes visualization techniques within geographic information systems (GIS), serves as a valuable tool for analyzing the spatial equity in the distribution of public resources. In this study, equity mapping was applied to parks, green spaces, and emergency assembly areas - resources of significant societal importance - to evaluate individual accessibility to these public facilities. The fundamental methodological approach to equity mapping involves overlaying the distribution of accessibility measures with socioeconomic data to analyze spatial variations in equity. This approach relies on spatial univariate, bivariate, or multivariate analysis, which examines the mapped data distributions and spatial patterns to identify and characterize spatial associations. The study answers eight research questions: (1) the number of emergency assembly areas per capita by district, (2) the number of children's playgrounds per capita among the population aged 0-19 by district, (3) the number of fitness areas per capita among the population aged 20 and above by district, (4) the amount of urban green space per capita among the entire population by district, (5) the distance of the nearest emergency assembly area to the district center, (6) the distance of the nearest emergency assembly area to the neighborhood center, (7) the number of parks within reach of the neighborhood center, (8) number of parks within 1 km of buildings on a district basis. Obtained fundamental patterns of inequity in the distribution of focused public resources in the study may help the municipalities better understand the current situation, make plans for the following years and ensure a more equitable distribution of public resources.