Abstract
The importance of nursery facilities and the demand for the facilities have increased consistently due to the spread of 'universal social welfare' idea. However, the supply of the facilities is appraised insufficient. Therefore, this study aims at analyzing the spatial suitability of supply and demand of nursery facilities in Seoul. In this respect, this study surveyed all nursery facilities in Seoul, using 2011 Child-care Statistics published by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in 2012. In the analysis, this study performed GIS network analysis and regression analysis. What to follow is the findings of this study. First, the number of nursery facilities is positively correlated with the number of children and people per household, but is negatively correlated with the household income. Second, the present capacity of the facilities satisfies only 87.42% of the estimated demand. Third, this study performed GIS network analysis to find out the areas with excess or deficiency. As a result, the nursery service appears to cover 95.34% of the residential area in Seoul. However, the downtown area is served not enough. Finally, this study analyzed distribution characteristics of the nursery facilities in the aspect of equity, effectiveness, and efficiency. Most districts of Seoul meet the effectiveness criteria, but only a few districts satisfy the efficiency criteria. Thus, the efficiency of the facilities supply needs to be taken into account in managing policies.