An equally-distributed equivalent approach for equitable location analysis

Location models find extensive applications across diverse domains, including public health, compulsory education, emergency management, transportation systems, and logistics distribution. Traditional location models primarily focus on optimizing service efficiency metrics, while models incorporating equity considerations remain relatively scarce. Although some existing models attempt to address spatial equity, they frequently encounter challenges in achieving an optimal balance between efficiency and fairness. This research proposes a variant of the Kolm-Pollak linearized model (VKPL), based on the Equally Distributed Equivalent (EDE) metric's computational framework to assess equitable distribution. This model strictly complies with the principle of fairness aversion. When applied to the site selection planning for community health service centers in Zhengzhou City, the model results significantly reduced travel distance disparities. Taking the selected number of facilities P = 48 as an example, compared with the PMP model, the VKPL model increased the average travel distance by 3.66%, reduced the maximum travel distance by 20.97%, reduced the standard deviation by 9.91%, and decreased the Gini coefficient by 10.42%. The experimental results demonstrate the model’s effectiveness and hold significant research potential.