Mapping the Pulse: Heterogeneous Impacts of Human-Scale Street Design on Urban Vibrancy in Four Chinese Metropolises

Abstract

Urban vibrancy emerges from the complex interplay between individuals and public spaces. Recognizing the importance of capturing people’s experience and perception of streetscape and network configurations, this study investigates the relationship between human-scale street design and urban vibrancy in four Chinese metropolises: Nanjing, Wuhan, Xi’an, and Shenyang. Using a bottom-up metric framework with street view images and spatial design network analysis, this study assesses human-scale street design across five dimensions: reachability, betweenness, detours, aesthetics, and disorder. Multiscale geographically weighted regression is employed to examine how these design metrics spatially affect urban vibrancy during daytime and nighttime. The findings reveal the efficacy of enhancing street closeness and optimizing green spaces in promoting urban vibrancy. It further identifies mitigating strategies for reversing declines in urban vibrancy, such as addressing physical disorder and reducing street network severance. Additional analysis using a geographical detector explores the interactive effects of these elements, emphasizing the necessity of a comprehensive approach to urban planning. The comparative analysis across multiple cities amplifies the generalizability of the findings, offering actionable insights for adaptable, vibrancy-oriented urban planning.

Key Words:

• human scale
• spatial heterogeneity
• street design
• temporal diversity
• urban vibrancy

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41601162, 42071207), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law (2722023DK004, 2722024BY017).

Notes on contributors

Sanwei He

SANWEI HE is a Professor in the School of Public Administration, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research interests include urban and regional development and geospatial analysis.

Huiyuan Zhang

HUIYUAN ZHANG is a Master’s Student in the School of Public Administration, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research interests include travel behavior and urban planning.

Shan Yu

SHAN YU is a Master’s Student in the Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 9EP, UK. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research interests include urban form, land use, and housing.

Junfeng Zhang

JUNFENG ZHANG is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Administration, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. E-mail: [email protected]. His current research focuses on land allocation and regional development, land use, and differential management.

Xuyu Hu

XUYU HU is a Master’s Student in the College of Horticulture & Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. E-mail: [email protected]. His current research focuses on big data and green infrastructure planning.

Ziqiu Huang

ZIQIU HUANG is a Master’s Student in the College of Horticulture & Forestry Sciences, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. E-mail: [email protected]. His current research focuses on landscape architecture planning and design.