Optimizing spatial placement of educational institutions using POI and geo-information

The optimization of urban infrastructure (UI) placement relies on the evaluation of the current situation, which refers to neighboring capacities of transport, retail, and landscape. These factors play a critical role in determining the holding capacity of EIs in urban environments and directly influence urban planning and resource allocation. The placement of educational institutions (EI) is critical for the sustainable development of a city because it regulates population movements and attracts services. Points of interest (POI) are novel and flexible instruments for landscape evaluation and optimization based on remote geographical information. Changchun was chosen as the study area, where POIs of EIs were collected through web scraping from five types of educational institutions (EIs): training centers, public services, preschools, schools, and colleges. This method allowed us to gather data on the spatial distribution and characteristics of these institutions systematically. Regional placement of EIs showed agglomerated distributions in six areas of interest (AOIs). Both retail numbers (food, hotel, and market) and road density (classes I–IV) had positive relationships with the number of EIs. Landscape metrics did not have a direct impact on the EI number, but areas of green space and impervious land had contrasting effects on the parameter estimates of the EI number of public services. Both retail numbers and road density also showed positive relationships with the capacity to hold EIs for public services per greenspace area and built-up land area. Compared with the current placement of EIs, the optimization scheme indicated that the number of EI providing public services was far higher than that held by surrounding retailers. In contrast, more schools should be planned in downtown areas because of the large gap in traffic capacity.