Journal of the Bulgarian Geographical Society 49: 3-15, doi: 10.3897/jbgs.e108502
GIS-based location analysis for hospital site selection: A case study on National Children’s Hospital in Sofia, Bulgaria
Leonid Todorov‡, Elena Rumenova Todorova§‡ Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski", Sofia, Bulgaria§ Forest Research Institute - Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
Corresponding author: Elena Todorova ( elenatyukenova@yahoo.com ) Academic editor: Dimitar Simeonov © Leonid Todorov, Elena Todorova. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Citation:
Todorov L, Todorova ER (2023) GIS-based location analysis for hospital site selection: A case study on National Children’s Hospital in Sofia, Bulgaria. Journal of the Bulgarian Geographical Society 49: 3-15. https://doi.org/10.3897/jbgs.e108502 |  |
Abstract
The present research investigates the possibilities of the available online resources and GIS analytic tools to facilitate integrating the spatial context in urban and regional planning by testing a GIS-based location analysis that uses widely available data for identifying an appropriate site for National Children’s hospital in Bulgaria. The elaborated methodology is easy to use, employs accessible online resources, and could be applied in different scales. The aim is to produce a comprehensible instrument that could be adopted by public authorities and used for informed political decision-making. A series of geospatial analyses are used to evaluate the potential location and its alternatives based on transport accessibility, population density in the service area, and public transport connectivity. The analyses are based on the online resources of Google Maps that are used to evaluate the transport accessibility to all the possible locations using different perspectives. The pedestrian access to public transport is also calculated to assess the different modes of transport available. To assess the locations according to the transport accessibility of the population, tools from ArcGIS Pro Network analyst are used. Accessibility is considered from the patient's perspective. The results are analyzed to make a supposition of the alternatives and to come up with a conclusion about whether the already chosen location is a sensible choice from a transport accessibility perspective. The outcomes of the research could help policymakers understand some of the spatial complexities associated with the demand and the accessibility dimensions of healthcare access. The article emphasizes the significance of integrating the spatial context in urban and regional planning and the possibilities of the new technologies to facilitate that task. This methodology for location analysis could be also used for other public services and urban-related matters.
Keywords
geographic information systems, geospatial analysis, transport accessibility, service area, hospital location