Using GIS to detect spatial inequality in primary schools in Ain Touta

The economic and social changes in Algerian society at the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s had a radical impact on the urban and regional dynamics and on population growth (besides rural migration) in the regional and urban networks, including cities like Ain Touta, which is considered the most prominent urban agglomeration in the region. Ain Touta was unable to keep up with development challenges, which has led to a deterioration of its education system and other public services. Moreover, the decision-makers of none of these sectors use modern technologies such as geographic information systems (GIS), spatial decision support systems (SDSS), smart cities, and E-government, which would enable them understanding the current issues from a geographical perspective, especially through measuring spatial inequality access to education services. This paper uses a GIS approach to identify spatial inequality in primary schools and measure the distribution pattern using the nearest neighbour average method, vector distribution, hotspot, and service area analyses. These analyses can be help creating a functional access and disability map to improve the local school map. The results obtained confirm the basic hypothesis, as it was found that the northern area of the city, which is the area were the immigrant population resides, is the least accessible to educational institutions. In consequence, other parts of the city have to bear the burden of supporting the northern area, and thus themselves become under-resourced.