Changes in service provision in rural areas. Part 1: The use of GIS in analysing accessibility to services in rural deprivation research

G. Higgs, S. D. White*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    51 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Previous work has highlighted the importance of public service provision in rural areas particularly for potentially vulnerable groups such as the elderly, unemployed and single parents especially where this coincides with a lack of access to either private or public transport. Disadvantage can often be compounded by limited access to services for such groups with the superior resources of more affluent social groups enabling them to respond and adapt to the increasing centralisation and reduction of services. This paper reviews previous investigations of the implications of changing accessibility to services in rural areas and draws attention to the need for a new research agenda which uses spatial analytical techniques to gauge the current levels of (in)accessibility to key services at the community level. These techniques are illustrated in Part 2 of the paper with reference to changes in post office provision in mid Wales, and the policy significance of incorporating geographical information systems-based measures of provision into traditional area-based indicators of disadvantage is discussed.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)441-450
    Number of pages10
    JournalJournal of Rural Studies
    Volume13
    Issue number4
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1997

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