Behind the Land Use Mix: Measuring the Functional Compatibility in Urban and Sub-Urban Areas of China

Abstract

Land use mix (LUM) has long been employed as one of the key methods to improve urban vibrancy and optimize built-up areas. Within the urban studies discipline, LUM is usually defined as a functional compatible but diverse land use pattern. However, its quantitative methodological approaches thereby heavily rely on the diversity of land use and fail to consider functional compatibility as another critical defining characteristic, providing only a partial picture of land use pattern. Thus, reviewing LUM’s concepts and definitions, this paper develops a new index to describe functional compatibility according to the spatial segregation measurements. To evaluate and provide empirical evidence of the proposed index, this paper selects the medium-sized city of Xiangtan as a case study. The findings demonstrate that Xiangtan exhibits a quite compatible land use pattern to a certain extent. In addition, particular clusters with relatively incompatible land use patterns are observed, which are closely linked to a special historical working unit, the ‘Danwei’ compounds, and a special rural planning authority, ‘Township-Village-Enterprise’, in China. Finally, an integrated evaluation is conducted based on the proposed index and Shannon entropy index, which can be regarded as a useful tool in future land use planning while contributing to shaping a sustainable form of urban development.

Optimizing Emergency Shelter Selection in Earthquakes Using a Risk-Driven Large Group Decision-Making Support System

“…Therefore, every urban land use has incompatibility with some uses and compatibility with others, and this compatibility and incompatibility is determined by factors such as possible risks, access, etc. [39]. On the topic of emergency shelter selection, urban land uses can be divided into two main compatible and incompatible categories.…”

A Computational Geospatial Approach to Assessing Land-Use Compatibility in Urban Planning

“…Land-use compatibility matrix values are typically determined by experts to represent the different levels of consistency between various land uses [41][42][43][44][45][46]. In this model, the process involves transforming qualitative values from a compatibility table into quantitative values suitable for GIS analysis.…”

Exploring the Effects of Transportation Supply on Mixed Land-Use at the Parcel Level

“…Mixed land-use is highly related to sustainable development goals, such as the improvement of accessibility and social health outcomes. Shi et al [1] proposed a new index to represent functional compatibility based on spatial segregation measurements to eliminate the inadequacies and complexities. However, Maitreyan et al [2] developed a multi-mixeduse distribution index by combining divisional and integral indices.…”

“…MLU refers to a range of functional land-uses, including residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, and transportation-related. It has been promoted as a significant component of modern urban development strategies, such as smart growth, Transit-Oriented Development (TOD), walkability, and compact development [1][2][3][4]. MLU is expected to provide numerous social benefits such as urban vitality, social cohesiveness, job generation, and efficient use of public utilities, and reduce travel distance, energy consumption, and CO 2 emissions [5].…”