The Varying Impact of Geographic Distance as a Predictor of Dissatisfaction Over Facility Access

This research uses a Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) analysis to compare perceptions of public service accessibility as captured by an attitudes survey against measures of geographical distance to those services. The 2008 Place Survey in Leicestershire, UK, captured data on respondent dissatisfaction about their access to different services and facilities. In this analysis, survey responses about access to Post Offices and libraries were summarised over census Output Areas. Road distances to the nearest facility were calculated for each Output Area. GWR was used to model the spatial variations in the relationship between facility distance and access dissatisfaction and how these relationships vary within and between different socio-economic groups (in this case OAC groups). The results show that for Post Offices, the effect of geographic distance as a predictor of access dissatisfaction is stronger than for libraries, that its effect varies spatially and that there is considerable variation within and between different socio-economic groups. For Libraries, geographic distance is a weaker predictor of dissatisfaction over access, there is little local variation in the effect of geographic distance as a predictor of library access dissatisfaction and that there is little variation within and between different socio-economic groups. These results indicate that as well as geography, other dimensions related to facility access need to be considered and that these will vary from facility to facility and from group to group.