Developing new educational facilities in cities or large municipalities using GIS: a case study in Thessaloniki, Greece

Abstract

This study presents the modeling of the system of educational facilities included in a large city or a municipality, to facilitate a decision regarding the optimum location of a new educational facility. As will be shown, the allocation of a new school is a multidimensional one and for this reason, a particularly complex decision will have to be made, based on examining a large number of variables, relating both to the deficiencies in areas shown per each educational level, as well as the available land for erecting schools located within the urban area of study. The complexity of this decision necessarily leads to the modeling of the educational system and its management, using GIS. Specifically, the analysis data, which needs to be integrated into the GIS, is presented along with the process of analysis, interpretation and the conclusion drawing relating to the problems of the existing situation in conjunction with the methodology of finding those critical spatial entities, where the construction of a new, and of a particular level, educational installation, is more urgent. For the application of the methodology, the educational system of Thessaloniki, Greece, will be used as a case study.