GIS-based network analysis to determine a service area for current civil defense centers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Abstract EN

This paper addresses the spatial distribution of the civil defense centers in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, by using a geographic information system (GIS)-based service area analysis.

Thirty-eight civil defense centers are distributed across approximately 1,298 km2, with a high population density and extensive traffic congestion.

The main objective of this study is to assess the current distribution of civil defense by using a network dataset model to build a traffic flow model (map of travel time) to determine the distance that fire trucks from different stations in Riyadh can cover in a given amount of time.

The study finds that the service area for all defense centers within a 4- minute area covers about 879 km2, despite a lack of traffic and light signal data.

In other words, the service area located within 4 minutes includes about 67% of Riyadh, meaning that about 33% of the city needs more than 4 minutes for fire trucks to respond to emergency calls.

Thus, this study proposes add new civil defense centers in these areas or redistributing the current centers.

Finally, based on the network analysis in GIS, this study enables fire chiefs to obtain a clearer picture of how quickly the city’s fire trucks can respond to emergency calls and determine the suitability of existing sites of civil defense centers to develop appropriate solutions.