Uneven geography of health opportunities among subsidized households: Illustrating healthcare accessibility and walkability for public rental housing in Seoul, Korea

Abstract

Planners and policymakers significantly consider providing suitable living environments for marginalized households, beyond creating affordable homes. Previous studies have explored various socioeconomic attributes of neighborhoods with public rental housing (PRH), particularly regarding education, job, and transportation opportunities; however, we have a limited understanding of health opportunities among such subsidized households. This study, therefore, explores the accessibility and spatial equity of emergency medical services (EMS) and primary health care (PHC) for PRH residents in Seoul, Korea. The findings show that neighborhoods with PRHs are associated with lower odds ratios for EMS and PHC accessibility. In particular, the relationships between the locations of PRHs and medical services accessibility in neighborhoods varied across the types of PRHs. While neighborhoods with large-scale PRHs are associated with lower PHC access, those with small-scale PRHs are associated with lower EMS access. In addition, our findings show that PRHs tend to be located in neighborhoods with lower walkability. These results may help in empirically determining the spatial accessibility of PHC and EMS, as well as neighborhood walkability, which may affect the health status of individuals in subsidized households.