Evaluating geographical accessibility to healthcare centres in Nagaon Municipal Master Plan area using GIS: obstacles and prospects

The rapid expansion of urban areas and their populations calls for a judicious allocation of resources across the respective areas. The Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG 3) aims to secure the health and well-being of all individuals, disregarding factors such as gender, race, caste, or creed. Inequalities in access to healthcare resources can be eliminated by evenly dispersing healthcare facilities within a given area. Nagaon town, positioned at the heart of the Brahmaputra valley, has recently been undergoing rapid growth in its population, area and urban functions. In the light of this development an attempt is made in this paper to ascertain the coverage area and spatial arrangement of the existing healthcare facilities in the Nagaon town master plan area. Besides, the study endeavours to find out suitable locations for establishing new healthcare centres in the master plan area. The findings demonstrate that the town lacks an adequate distribution of healthcare centres in relation to its population distribution. Only 6% area of the region falls under the zone of high accessibility. 22% area of the region falls under moderate category and 71% of area belongs to the low accessibility zone. The suitability analysis for new healthcare facilities reveals that 22% of the area is highly suitable, 67% moderately suitable, 9% less suitable and 2% area of the region is not suitable for construction of new hospitals. The study offers valuable insights to urban planners for the establishment of new healthcare centres, thereby promoting the health and well-being of the residents within the ambit of the Nagaon Municipal Master Plan area.