Share:


Urban–rural differences in primary school resources in China: a case study of Yuncheng County

    Wenwen Sun Affiliation
    ; Xin Hu Affiliation
    ; Akari Nakai Kidd Affiliation
    ; Zhuoran Li Affiliation
    ; Chunlu Liu Affiliation

Abstract

Resources in primary schools can be classified into three types: campus, teaching, and community resources. Urban–rural differences in the resources of Chinese county schools, which are triggered by population migration and residents’ preference for high-quality schools, are a common phenomenon emerging in the context of rapid urbanization. Despite the negative effects of these resource differences on social sustainability and the increasing need to comprehensively analyze urban–rural differences in school resources, to date there has not been an effective analytical framework for resolving these issues. To address this research gap, this study develops a method using the entropy-based Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), spatial analysis, and statistical analysis for assessing resource equity in primary schools by means of the relative proximities of resources. The resource differences between urban and rural primary schools are quantitatively investigated through taking Yuncheng County as a case study. The urban–rural differences in the three types of resources are discovered and presented according to geographical location. The research findings make contributions to understanding the unbalanced distribution of school resources, promoting equity in education, and improving the social sustainability of counties. Additionally, the analytical framework has the potential to be extended to analyzing urban–rural resource differences in secondary or high schools.

Keyword : equity in education, primary school, school resource, social sustainability, TOPSIS, urban–rural difference

How to Cite
Sun, W., Hu, X., Kidd, A. N., Li, Z., & Liu, C. (2023). Urban–rural differences in primary school resources in China: a case study of Yuncheng County. International Journal of Strategic Property Management, 27(2), 120–132. https://doi.org/10.3846/ijspm.2023.19142
Published in Issue
Jun 5, 2023
Abstract Views
477
PDF Downloads
401
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

References

An, X. (2018). Teacher salaries and the shortage of high-quality teachers in China’s rural primary and secondary schools. Chinese Education Society, 51(2), 103–116. https://doi.org/10.1080/10611932.2018.1433411

Banerjee, S., Szirony, G. M., McCune, N., Davis, W. S., Subocz, S., & Ragsdale, B. (2022). Transforming social determinants to educational outcomes: geospatial considerations. Healthcare, 10(10), 1974. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10101974

Beckmann-Wübbelt, A., Fricke, A., Sebesvari, Z., Yakouchenkova, I. A., Fröhlich, K., & Saha, S. (2021). High public appreciation for the cultural ecosystem services of urban and peri urban forests during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sustainable Cities and Society, 74, 103240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2021.103240

Brandín, R., & Abrishami, S. (2021). Information traceability platforms for asset data lifecycle: blockchain-based technologies. Smart Sustainable Built Environment, 10(3), 364–386. https://doi.org/10.1108/SASBE-03-2021-0042

Bureau of Statistics. (2022). China statistical yearbook. China Statistics Press.

Cabrales, A., Gossner, O., & Serrano, R. (2013). Entropy and the value of information for investors. American Economic Review, 103(1), 360–377. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.103.1.360

Chen, P. (2019). Effects of normalization on the entropy-based TOPSIS method. Expert Systems with Applications, 136, 33–41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2019.06.035

Chiang, T.-Y. (2019). Real estate developer’s product positioning: AHP-utility-based model. International Journal of Strategic Property Management, 23(5), 317–327. https://doi.org/10.3846/ijspm.2019.9752

Chow, J. C.-C., Ren, C., Mathias, B., & Liu, J. (2019). InterBoxes: a social innovation in education in rural China. Children Youth Services Review, 101, 217–224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.04.008

Cui, J., Luo, J., Kong, X., Sun, J., & Gu, J. (2022). Characterising the hierarchical structure of urban-rural system at county level using a method based on interconnection analysis. Journal of Rural Studies, 93, 263–272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2019.10.013

Echazarra, A., & Radinger, T. (2019). Learning in rural schools: insights from PISA, TALIS and the literature (No. 196). OECD Publishing. https://bit.ly/3ybP4qB

Esri. (2018). ArcGIS Tutorials. Esri. https://bit.ly/2QcWYJv

Foroozesh, F., Monavari, S. M., Salmanmahiny, A., Robati, M., & Rahimi, R. (2022). Assessment of sustainable urban development based on a hybrid decision-making approach: group fuzzy BWM, AHP, and TOPSIS–GIS. Sustainable Cities and Society, 76, 103402. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2021.103402

Frey, J. (2012). An exact Kolmogorov–Smirnov test for the Poisson distribution with unknown mean. Journal of Statistical Computation Simulation, 82(7), 1023–1033. https://doi.org/10.1080/00949655.2011.563740

Hannum, E., & Wang, F. (2022). Fewer, better pathways for all? Intersectional impacts of rural school consolidation in China’s minority regions. World Development, 151, 105734. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105734

Hassan, S. Z., Naeem, M. A., Waheed, A., & Thaheem, M. J. (2019). Assessment of socio-economic profile and residents’ satisfaction living in apartments and single unit houses in Islamabad, Pakistan. International Journal of Strategic Property Management, 23(5), 284–297. https://doi.org/10.3846/ijspm.2019.8067

Hassanain, M. A., Daghistani, O. H., & Sanni-Anibire, M. O. (2022). Development of design quality indicators for public school facilities. Facilities, 40(9/10), 594–616. https://doi.org/10.1108/F-09-2021-0084

He, S. Y., & Giuliano, G. (2018). School choice: understanding the trade-off between travel distance and school quality. Transportation, 45(5), 1475–1498. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11116-017-9773-3

He, Y., Zhou, G., Tang, C., Fan, S., & Guo, X. (2019). The spatial organization pattern of urban-rural integration in urban agglomerations in China: an agglomeration-diffusion analysis of the population and firms. Habitat International, 87, 54–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2019.04.003

Hilber, C. A., & Mayer, C. (2009). Why do households without children support local public schools? Linking house price capitalization to school spending. Journal of Urban Economics, 65(1), 74–90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jue.2008.09.001

Hutchings, M. (2021). Inequality, social mobility and the ‘glass floor’: how more affluent parents secure educational advantage for their children. In Educational research for social justice: evidence and practice from the UK (pp. 137–169). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62572-6_7

Jing, C., Zhou, W., & Qian, Y. (2022). Spatial disparities of social and ecological infrastructures and their coupled relationships in cities. Sustainable Cities and Society, 86, 104117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2022.104117

Juan, Y.-K., Hsu, Y.-C., & Chang, Y.-P. (2021). Site selection assessment of vacant campus space transforming into daily care centers for the aged. International Journal of Strategic Property Management, 25(1), 34–49. https://doi.org/10.3846/ijspm.2020.13800

Kaynak, S., Altuntas, S., & Dereli, T. (2017). Comparing the innovation performance of EU candidate countries: an entropy-based TOPSIS approach. Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, 30(1), 31–54. https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2016.1265895

Li, J., Shi, Z., & Xue, E. (2020). The problems, needs and strategies of rural teacher development at deep poverty areas in China: rural schooling stakeholder perspectives. International Journal of Educational Research, 99, 101496. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2019.101496

Long, W., Pang, X., Dong, X.-y., & Zeng, J. (2020). Is rented accommodation a good choice for primary school students’ academic performance? – Evidence from rural China. China Economic Review, 62, 101459. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chieco.2020.101459

Luo, G., Zeng, S., & Baležentis, T. (2022). Multidimensional measurement and comparison of China’s educational inequality. Social Indicators Research, 163(2), 857–874. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-022-02921-w

Mansor, A. N., Hamid, A. H. A., Medina, N. I., Vikaraman, S. S., Abdul Wahab, J. L., Mohd Nor, M. Y., & Alias, B. S. (2022). Challenges and strategies in managing small schools: a case study in Perak, Malaysia. Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 50(4), 694–710. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741143220942517

Ministry of Education. (2008). Construction standard of rural general middle school and primary schools. China Construction Industry Press. http://bit.ly/3tlLwxl

Ministry of Education. (2020). Education statistics of China. https://bit.ly/3EA9N7t

Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development. (2018). Standard for urban residential area planning and design. https://bit.ly/3uXpUsv

National Development and Reform Commission. (2020). Notice of the national development and reform commission on accelerating the work of compensating weaknesses in county urbanization. https://bit.ly/3IxLc5s

Olivier, A., Adams, M., Mohammadi, S., Smyth, A., Thomson, K., Kepler, T., & Dadlani, M. (2022). Data analytics for improved closest hospital suggestion for EMS operations in New York City. Sustainable Cities and Society, 86, 104104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2022.104104

Pradhananga, P., & ElZomor, M. (2023). Developing social sustainability knowledge and cultural proficiency among the future construction workforce. Journal of Civil Engineering Education, 149(2), 04022011. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)EI.2643-9115.0000075

Pulker, H., & Kukulska-Hulme, A. (2020). Openness reexamined: teachers’ practices with open educational resources in online language teaching. Distance Education, 41(2), 216–229. https://doi.org/10.1080/01587919.2020.1757412

Samaie, F., Meyar-Naimi, H., Javadi, S., & Feshki-Farahani, H. (2020). Comparison of sustainability models in development of electric vehicles in Tehran using fuzzy TOPSIS method. Sustainable Cities and Society, 53, 101912. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2019.101912

Sarah, J., & Khalili-Damghani, K. (2019). Fuzzy type-II De-Novo programming for resource allocation and target setting in network data envelopment analysis: a natural gas supply chain. Expert Systems with Applications, 117, 312–329. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2018.09.046

Shandong Provincial Department of Education. (2008). Standards for basic school running conditions of ordinary primary and secondary schools in Shandong Province. https://bit.ly/3GFD1Ux

Sheather, S. J. (2004). Density estimation. Statistical Science, 19(4), 588–597. https://doi.org/10.1214/088342304000000297

Sodiq, A., Baloch, A. A., Khan, S. A., Sezer, N., Mahmoud, S., Jama, M., & Abdelaal, A. (2019). Towards modern sustainable cities: review of sustainability principles and trends. Journal of Cleaner Production, 227, 972–1001. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.04.106

Sumari, N. S., Tanveer, H., Shao, Z., & Simon, E. (2019). Geospatial distribution and accessibility of primary and secondary schools: a case of Abbottabad City, Pakistan. Proceedings of the International Cartographic Association, 2, 125. https://doi.org/10.5194/ica-proc-2-125-2019

Sun, J., & Luo, H. (2017). Evaluation on equality and efficiency of health resources allocation and health services utilization in China. International Journal for Equity in Health, 16(1), 127. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-017-0614-y

Sun, W., Hu, X., Li, Z., & Liu, C. (2020). Identifying the configuration differences of primary schools with different administrative affiliations in China. Buildings, 10(2), 33. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings10020033

Sun, W., Jin, H., Chen, Y., Hu, X., Li, Z., Kidd, A., & Liu, C. (2021). Spatial mismatch analyses of school land in China using a spatial statistical approach. Land Use Policy, 108, 105543. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2021.105543

Tahmasbi, B., Mansourianfar, M. H., Haghshenas, H., & Kim, I. (2019). Multimodal accessibility-based equity assessment of urban public facilities distribution. Sustainable Cities and Society, 49, 101633. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2019.101633

Wang, K.-C., Almassy, R., Wei, H.-H., & Shohet, I. M. (2022). Integrated building maintenance and safety framework: educational and public facilities case study. Buildings, 12(6), 770. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12060770

Wu, Y., Zheng, X., Sheng, L., & You, H. (2020). Exploring the equity and spatial evidence of educational facilities in Hangzhou, China. Social Indicators Research, 151(3), 1075–1096. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-020-02417-5

Yıldız, S., Kıvrak, S., Gültekin, A. B., & Arslan, G. (2020). Built environment design-social sustainability relation in urban renewal. Sustainable Cities and Society, 60, 102173. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2020.102173

Yin, X., Wang, J., Li, Y., Feng, Z., & Wang, Q. (2021). Are small towns really inefficient? A data envelopment analysis of sampled towns in Jiangsu province, China. Land Use Policy, 109, 105590. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2021.105590

Yu, J., Zhang, C., Wen, J., Li, W., Liu, R., & Xu, H. (2018). Integrating multi-agent evacuation simulation and multi-criteria evaluation for spatial allocation of urban emergency shelters. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 32(9), 1884–1910. https://doi.org/10.1080/13658816.2018.1463442

Yuncheng Bureau of Statistics. (2021). Yuncheng yearbook 2021. Jiuzhou Press.

Zhang, X., Wu, Y., & Shen, L. (2011). An evaluation framework for the sustainability of urban land use: a study of capital cities and municipalities in China. Habitat International, 35(1), 141–149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2010.06.006