The aim of this study is to assess the spatial distribution of health centers in rural Lattakia
governorate and to develop a scientific methodology to guide the growth of the health
sector by identifying the needs and adequacy of the primary health
care centers according
to the spatial distribution of the population within these rural areas using spatial statistical
techniques in GIS.
In order to achieve this objective, a spatial database was created, including the population
centers, the primary health care centers (health centers) with the population served by
them, as well as a group of fields on the specifications of these centers in terms of
ownership, floor space and human cadres.
A number of quantitative and spatial tests were conducted in order to measure the fairness
of the distribution of health centers according to the population distribution and determine
the need, while attempting to find an initial guidance on the locations of the supporting
centers according to quantitative and spatial analysis And then measure the degree of
improvement according to the study indicators.
The result of this research was to describe the current status of the distribution of health
centers in the northern Latakia countryside, identify areas of weakness and inadequacy,
propose supporting centers and develop an effective guideline for assessing and improving
the placement of primary health care activities in rural areas.
New sciences have greatly contributed in improving analysis processes and
subsequently lead to better understanding of the future. The more knowledge and
information are available, the better planning process will be. Furthermore, better data
lead
s to better decision-making. This is the basis of Geographic Information System (GIS).
Due to its great ability in processing and analyzing extensive and various amount of spatial
data, GIS has solved many obstacles in the research field since it was first launched.
GIS plays an important role in the field of tourism planning as it contributes in
developing new applications that serve modern touristic.
In this research paper, GIS will be used to build an effective system that will improve
touristic planning in Lattakia governorate. A spatial database will be created, that includes
the most prominent touristic places in the city, such as restaurants, hotels, religious and
historical sites.etc.
Each of the touristic attractions will be evaluated, and then a tool , created in GIS
environment, will be used for weighting roads network, in order to determine the touristic
weight for each path in roads network.
