Spatial Distribution and Territorial Justice of Public Service for Disadvantaged Groups: Evidence from China.

This paper proposes a new index that measures the development level of public services for people with disabilities. Based on the framework of territorial justice, the measure examines the equity in the spatial allocation of public service resources for disadvantaged groups. Taking China as a case, this study uses principal component analysis to construct the Public Service Facility Coverage Index for persons with disabilities. It also employs cluster analysis and spatial econometrics methods to analyze the spatial characteristics of public service facilities for persons with disabilities. Findings reveal that public service facilities for persons with disabilities can be divided into four coverage clusters—very high, high, medium, and low—with significant regional disparities among them. This article also found a significant regional spatial variation in public service facilities for persons with disabilities. Specifically, public service facilities for persons with disabilities in eastern regions were obviously higher than in other regions, mainly due to regional differences in financial autonomy, the density of the disabled population, and urbanization. The above shows that the opportunities for accessing public services still differ within a territorial entity. The realization of territorial justice requires strengthening the government's governance capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]