Advanced computing for evaluating facility needs and enhancing sustainable development of public facility investment plan

Abstract

This paper describes the use of a GIS-based methodology for assessing and planning social facility provision and developing an integrated facility plan which is defensible and impacts meaningfully on resource allocation. A case study of community hall investment for eThekwini municipality in South Africa is used to illustrate the methodology of matching supply and demand spatially across urban and rural areas. The GIS analysis ensures that the evaluation of backlogs and proposals for new facilities are based on real needs related to population distribution and are not unduly influenced by political pressures. It also allows for the visualisation of geographic variations in service provision and allows one to report on the state of service provision as an indicator of service provision.