Accessibility and equity evaluation of elderly meal service facilities from a low-carbon travel perspective

Abstract

Elderly meal service (EMS) is important for ensuring the daily life autonomy of older people. Regarded as supply carriers, EMS facilities require a layout that not only improves elderly people's quality of life but also influences their low-carbon travel behaviour and sustainable urban development. However, the layout of traditional public service facilities generally has a resource supply orientation and overlooks the travel behaviour and spatial demands of the elderly population. Thus, an improved version of the two-step floating catchment area (i2SFCA) method based on the Gaussian distance decay function and the Huff model is proposed in this study. This method incorporates elderly people's low-carbon travel behaviours, allowing the accessibility of EMS facilities to be evaluated. The method combines the Lorenz curve, Gini coefficient and location entropy to analyse the equity of the resource allocation of facilities. The results pertaining to the study area reveal significant spatial differences in the accessibility of EMS facilities. High-accessibility areas are concentrated in the central urban area, whereas peripheral areas have insufficient service capacity. The overall pattern can be classified as having strong inequality. On this basis, the hierarchical and differentiated layout of facilities must be differentiated, and the matching amongst location strategies, travel costs and elderly needs should be optimised. In this manner, the spatial equity and overall service efficiency of the EMS system can be enhanced. • Develop an improved 2SFCA method incorporating Gaussian decay and the Huff model. • Integrate walking and public transport to reflect low-carbon travel behavior of the elderly. • Assess both accessibility and equity of elderly meal service facilities in urban settings. • Identify spatial mismatches between facility layout and elderly population distribution. • Offer evidence-based strategies for building equitable and low-carbon urban service systems.

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