Enhancing educational equity and sustainability: a fuzzy-based framework for optimal school site selection
Educational equity is a crucial component of social fairness, essential for a harmonious society. This study employs Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA), integrating Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP), to assess and improve the distribution of mi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2025-08-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Digital Earth |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/17538947.2025.2495735 |
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| author | Yifei Meng Ruidun Chen Xiao Huang Yanhong Liu Cong Fu Yan Liu Yuchen Li Yanqing Xu |
| author_facet | Yifei Meng Ruidun Chen Xiao Huang Yanhong Liu Cong Fu Yan Liu Yuchen Li Yanqing Xu |
| author_sort | Yifei Meng |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Educational equity is a crucial component of social fairness, essential for a harmonious society. This study employs Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA), integrating Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP), to assess and improve the distribution of middle school resources in Henan Province, China. We applied fuzzy techniques simultaneously in the weighting and classification processes of school site selection criteria. We evaluated economic, transportation, social, and safety factors and incorporated educational resource allocation and teaching environment factors into the site selection criteria. Our study finds that over 39% of land in Henan Province is unsuitable for school construction. We also identified areas on the urban periphery and in the eastern and southern regions, which have convenient transportation and high educational demand, as potential sites for middle schools. Sensitivity analysis further validates the reasonableness of the expanded decision criteria. Our approach addresses the limitations of traditional AHP in handling fuzzy information, considers long-term resource allocation and ecological development of school operations, and provides planners with a robust framework for making scientifically informed site selection decisions, thereby promoting educational equity and sustainable development. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ec57156e2c3d42d48844306eea1b6c85 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1753-8947 1753-8955 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Digital Earth |
| spelling | doaj-art-ec57156e2c3d42d48844306eea1b6c852025-08-25T11:24:51ZengTaylor & Francis GroupInternational Journal of Digital Earth1753-89471753-89552025-08-0118110.1080/17538947.2025.2495735Enhancing educational equity and sustainability: a fuzzy-based framework for optimal school site selectionYifei Meng0Ruidun Chen1Xiao Huang2Yanhong Liu3Cong Fu4Yan Liu5Yuchen Li6Yanqing Xu7School of Remote Sensing and Information Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan, People’s Republic of ChinaSchool of Remote Sensing and Information Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan, People’s Republic of ChinaDepartment of Environmental Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USASchool of Education, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USASchool of Remote Sensing and Information Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan, People’s Republic of ChinaSchool of Remote Sensing and Information Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan, People’s Republic of ChinaSchool of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, UKSchool of Remote Sensing and Information Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan, People’s Republic of ChinaEducational equity is a crucial component of social fairness, essential for a harmonious society. This study employs Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA), integrating Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP), to assess and improve the distribution of middle school resources in Henan Province, China. We applied fuzzy techniques simultaneously in the weighting and classification processes of school site selection criteria. We evaluated economic, transportation, social, and safety factors and incorporated educational resource allocation and teaching environment factors into the site selection criteria. Our study finds that over 39% of land in Henan Province is unsuitable for school construction. We also identified areas on the urban periphery and in the eastern and southern regions, which have convenient transportation and high educational demand, as potential sites for middle schools. Sensitivity analysis further validates the reasonableness of the expanded decision criteria. Our approach addresses the limitations of traditional AHP in handling fuzzy information, considers long-term resource allocation and ecological development of school operations, and provides planners with a robust framework for making scientifically informed site selection decisions, thereby promoting educational equity and sustainable development.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/17538947.2025.2495735Site selectiongeographic information systemsfuzzy analytic hierarchy processmulti-criteria decision analysiseducational equity |
| spellingShingle | Yifei Meng Ruidun Chen Xiao Huang Yanhong Liu Cong Fu Yan Liu Yuchen Li Yanqing Xu Enhancing educational equity and sustainability: a fuzzy-based framework for optimal school site selection International Journal of Digital Earth Site selection geographic information systems fuzzy analytic hierarchy process multi-criteria decision analysis educational equity |
| title | Enhancing educational equity and sustainability: a fuzzy-based framework for optimal school site selection |
| title_full | Enhancing educational equity and sustainability: a fuzzy-based framework for optimal school site selection |
| title_fullStr | Enhancing educational equity and sustainability: a fuzzy-based framework for optimal school site selection |
| title_full_unstemmed | Enhancing educational equity and sustainability: a fuzzy-based framework for optimal school site selection |
| title_short | Enhancing educational equity and sustainability: a fuzzy-based framework for optimal school site selection |
| title_sort | enhancing educational equity and sustainability a fuzzy based framework for optimal school site selection |
| topic | Site selection geographic information systems fuzzy analytic hierarchy process multi-criteria decision analysis educational equity |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/17538947.2025.2495735 |
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