Analysis of spatial distribution of public services in terms of spatial justice approach (Case study: Bojnourd)

One of the most important consequences of rapid urbanization and the physical development of cities in recent decades in Iran has been the disruption of the distribution system of urban services, hence, the inequality in the provision thereof. Therefore, the most important mission of urban managers and planners in this field is to try to realize the goal of “equal opportunities” in providing access to urban services for all urban strata and eliminate the conflicts in providing educational and healthcare services and the like. The present study is a developmental applied research in terms of its objectives and a descriptive-analytic research in terms of its methods. A thorough literature review was conducted for data collection via library resources. In fact, some of the data needed for this study were collected from library resources or the reports provided by organizations involved in urban management. Each public service is assessed in terms of the frequency and distribution of different elements of public services in different neighborhoods of the city. The results of the study indicate a severe shortage of public services at the neighborhood level in Bojnourd city such that in some neighborhoods, there is no such thing as a health center, a park or a school. The results indicate that neighborhoods development coefficients range from a minimum of 2.3 to a maximum of 0.25 such that the neighborhood 7-4 ranks first (featuring the highest development coefficient) whereas the neighborhood 10-1 ranks 41st among the neighborhoods of Bojnourd city.