Using Nearest Neighbor Algorithm and Effective Support for Analyzing the Distribution Pattern of Educational Services in Sayidsadiq City

Abstract

Educational services are considered an important part of social services and have special value and importance in terms of the distribution, form, and location of educational institutions. By raising the educational level of individuals in society, the balanced distribution of educational services and increasing the number of educational institutions in the city becomes a good helper for all neighborhoods to access these services. To achieve the research objective, several quantitative statistical tools available in Geographic Information Systems were relied upon, such as the Nearest Neighbor Algorithm and Effective Support (Buffer Analysis) to determine the distribution pattern and then analyze the results and identify the factors that influenced this distribution. For this purpose, we relied on academic year (2024-2025) data. As a result of using the Nearest Neighbor Algorithm for educational services in general in Sayidsadiq city, it was revealed that the distribution pattern of this service is (clustered). Also, after using Effective Support (Buffer Analysis) to show the service delivery boundaries based on the distance that students travel, it was found that the largest buffer area within the city limits is at the academic preparatory stage at (124.3) hectares, while the smallest buffer area is at the kindergarten stage at (113.0) hectares. At the end of the research, as a recommendation, we requested that planning standards be relied upon to increase the number of educational institutions in a way that matches the number of residents and students.