ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Aging and Public Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1644849
This article is part of the Research TopicThe Costs of Caring for Older AdultsView all articles
Has the Matching between Urban Population Aging and Elderly Care Facilities Achieved Coupling Coordination?-An Empirical Analysis Based on Spatiotemporal Evolution and Multifactor Interaction Mechanisms
Provisionally accepted
- 1Tianshui Normal University, Tianshui, China
- 2State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ministry of Water Resources, Yangling, China
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The aging population has become a global socio-economic challenge, particularly in economically underdeveloped regions, where it profoundly impacts the allocation of medical resources, social security systems, and land use patterns. However, existing research has paid insufficient attention to the coordination between population aging and the spatial distribution of elderly care facilities, making it difficult to provide scientific evidence for optimizing regional elderly care resources. This study explores the temporal and spatial evolution characteristics of aging and its relationship with elderly care facilities based on data from Gansu Province from 2000 to 2020. Using ArcGIS for spatial visualization analysis, we measure matching equity through the Gini coefficient and assess the coupling coordination relationship using a coupling coordination degree model. Additionally, we employ geographic detectors to identify key influencing factors. The findings indicate that the level of aging in Gansu Province continues to rise with significant spatial heterogeneity; northern and central regions experience accelerated aging, while southern areas show slower growth rates. The distribution of elderly care facilities is highly uneven; economically developed cities like Lanzhou concentrate resources, while severely underdeveloped areas in the north and west lack adequate facilities. Fluctuations in the Gini coefficient suggest that equity in matching between aging populations and elderly care facilities has not consistently improved over time; overall coupling coordination levels remain low. Geographic detection results reveal that population density, economic development, fiscal investment, and digital financial development are critical factors affecting matching degrees among these elements. Notably, interaction effects between population density and foundational aspects of aging are most pronounced (q=0.7498). This study deepens our understanding of the relationship between population aging and elderly care facility matching dynamics while providing a scientific basis for optimizing layout strategies for eldercare infrastructure and land use planning in underdeveloped regions. It emphasizes the necessity of tailored approaches to enhance equity in eldercare resource allocation according to local conditions.
Keywords: Population aging, Elderly care facilities, Coupling coordination, Spatial matching, Gansu province
Received: 11 Jun 2025; Accepted: 09 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Zhao and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Qiang Liu, Tianshui Normal University, Tianshui, China
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