Spatial evaluation of the accessibility of public service facilities in Shanghai: A community differentiation perspective

Following the 'people-oriented' concept, increased attention should be paid to the heterogeneity of community residents when configuring public service facilities. Taking Shanghai as an example, this study analyzed the spatial pattern of urban and rural community differentiation and evaluated spatial differences in the level of accessibility to four types of public service facilities based on the shortest travel distance. There were significant differences between community types in Shanghai, with a clear circular structure in the urban and rural spaces. Here, facility accessibility decreased from the core to the periphery. Population density, income level, and the shortest walking distance to facilities revealed a significant negative correlation. Age level, household registration, and the shortest walking distance to facilities were partially weakly correlated or uncorrelated. The spatial matching of population density and facility accessibility simultaneously presented a circular pattern and heterogeneity, while planned new towns in suburbs and mid-suburbs presented a double-medium-sized match of the same community type. From the perspective of community differentiation, mechanisms behind the formation of the spatial pattern of facility accessibility included urban-rural pattern continuity and differences in allocation specifications, the continuity of population agglomeration and the accumulation of facility construction, and urban planning guidance and population agglomeration.