Evaluation of Accessibility to Public Services in the City of Aqaba Using Geographic Information Systems

In this study, we identify methods of measuring accessibility to public services in the city of Aqaba. Accessibility is an indicator of the efficiency of their spatial distribution in relation to residential neighborhoods in the city. Administrative, commercial, educational, health and entertainment services were selected for a case study because they are the most important services. We used spatial analysis tools in Arc Map within the geographic information systems (GIS) environment to measure direct distances between neighborhood centres and public services and to determine the number of services within specific ranges (1,000 m, 500 m, 200 m), using the three most common methods of measuring accessibility: the distance to the nearest service, the number of services within a certain distance or time, and the average distance for all services. The results of this research indicate that educational services have the highest degree of accessibility, followed by slight differences among recreational, administrative, and commercial services. Health services lag further behind.