Built environment and emergency medical services response time in a high-density megacity: multilevel evidence from urban–suburban
Abstract
IntroductionEmergency medical services (EMS) response time is a key indicator for evaluating the performance of public health system and is closely associated with patient survival rates. However, empirical evidence on the potential relationship between the built environment and EMS response time remains limited, restricting the development of spatially informed strategies for improving EMS system operations.MethodsThis study employed 2024 ambulance dispatch data from the Beijing Emergency Center Office Management System, combined with multi-source data on the built environment, to construct a multilevel regression model examining the influence of subdistrict (township)-level built environment factors on EMS response time and investigating the heterogeneity between urban areas and suburbs.ResultsThe results indicate that, at the citywide level, lower residential facility density and denser arterial and local road networks significantly reduced EMS response time. Specifically, while in central urban areas, high densities of residential facilities were associated with longer response time, in suburban areas, higher densities of local roads enhanced EMS efficiency.DiscussionThese findings provide valuable evidence to guide built environment interventions aimed at shortening EMS response time and improving service efficiency across different areas.
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BibTeX
@article{li2026built,
title = {{Built environment and emergency medical services response time in a high-density megacity: multilevel evidence from urban–suburban}},
author = {Jingwei Li and Hongjie Wu and Yujie Shen and Ziyue Yu and Hui Chen and Jianghao Yu},
journal = {Frontiers in Public Health},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fpubh.2026.1930880},
url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1930880},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Built environment and emergency medical services response time in a high-density megacity: multilevel evidence from urban–suburban
AU - Jingwei Li
AU - Hongjie Wu
AU - Yujie Shen
AU - Ziyue Yu
AU - Hui Chen
AU - Jianghao Yu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/30
JO - Frontiers in Public Health
DO - 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1930880
UR - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1930880
AB - IntroductionEmergency medical services (EMS) response time is a key indicator for evaluating the performance of public health system and is closely associated with patient survival rates. However, empirical evidence on the potential relationship between the built environment and EMS response time remains limited, restricting the development of spatially informed strategies for improving EMS system operations.MethodsThis study employed 2024 ambulance dispatch data from the Beijing Emergency Center Office Management System, combined with multi-source data on the built environment, to construct a multilevel regression model examining the influence of subdistrict (township)-level built environment factors on EMS response time and investigating the heterogeneity between urban areas and suburbs.ResultsThe results indicate that, at the citywide level, lower residential facility density and denser arterial and local road networks significantly reduced EMS response time. Specifically, while in central urban areas, high densities of residential facilities were associated with longer response time, in suburban areas, higher densities of local roads enhanced EMS efficiency.DiscussionThese findings provide valuable evidence to guide built environment interventions aimed at shortening EMS response time and improving service efficiency across different areas.
SN - 2296-2565
ER -