Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Geography, University of Ruhuna, Matara, Sri Lanka.
School of Geographical Sciences, Southwest University, Bebei District, Chongqing, P. R. China.
PLoS One. 2024 Sep 18;19(9):e0308077. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0308077. eCollection 2024.
Spatial evaluation of the region is associated with the assessment of the Quality of Life (QoL). Despite numerous research endeavoring to define, measure, quantify, and map the quality of life, there exists a consistent fault in Sri Lanka. Hence, the objective of this study was to construct a QoL index and determine the spatial disparities of QoL from the Polpitigma town to its periphery. The assessment was conducted by employing 20 geographical factors that quantify QoL using the Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The evaluation assigned weights to each criterion based on the assessments of both local residents and experts, utilizing the Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) and the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). The findings indicated that cultural factors made a greater contribution compared to the environment,service functions,security and socioeconomic factors. Within the study area, the region with a higher quality of life (HQoL) only covered 4.5% (17.3 km2), whilst the lower QoL zone encompassed 63.8% (252 km2). And also, the distance from the town is a crucial factor in determining the spatial variations in QoL. The derived model can serve as a road map for local-level planning, as it has been validated and shown to have an accuracy of 74% through the Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Considering the lack of previous research in this field, this study offers a crucial contribution in enhancing the QoL for underprivileged communities in the study area by improving employment, income, and accessibility to physical infrastructure, public utility services, and cultural and recreational facilities. Especially the findings of this study can efficiently guide decisions for the distribution of financial resources to enhance the QoL in impoverished rural communities on the rural periphery of DS.
空间评估与生活质量（QoL）评估相关。尽管有许多研究致力于定义、衡量、量化和绘制生活质量图，但斯里兰卡在这方面一直存在缺陷。因此，本研究的目的是构建一个生活质量指数，并确定从波普利蒂马镇到其周边地区的生活质量的空间差异。评估采用了 20 个地理因素，使用地理信息系统（GIS）量化生活质量。评估根据当地居民和专家的评估，利用多标准决策分析（MCDA）和层次分析（AHP）为每个标准分配权重。结果表明，文化因素比环境、服务功能、安全和社会经济因素的贡献更大。在研究区域内，生活质量较高（HQoL）的区域仅占 4.5%（17.3 平方公里），而生活质量较低的区域则占 63.8%（252 平方公里）。而且，离城镇的距离是决定生活质量空间变化的关键因素。该模型可作为地方一级规划的路线图，因为它已经通过接收者操作特征（ROC）曲线得到验证，准确率为 74%。考虑到该领域缺乏先前的研究，本研究通过改善就业、收入以及获得物质基础设施、公共事业服务和文化娱乐设施的便利性，为改善研究区域内弱势社区的生活质量做出了重要贡献。特别是，本研究的结果可以有效地指导决策，将财政资源分配到贫困农村社区，以提高 DS 农村周边贫困农村社区的生活质量。
