Evaluation of Urban Spatial Structure from the Perspective of Socioeconomic Benefits Based on 3D Urban Landscape Measurements: A Case Study of Beijing, China

Abstract

Urban spatial structures (USS) play an essential role in urbanization. Understanding the impact of USS patterns on their socioeconomic benefits is crucial to evaluating urban structure quality. Previous studies have, primarily, relied on statistical data and have significant temporal consistency and spatial accuracy limitations. Moreover, previous evaluation methods mainly determined the weight of indicators based on subjective assessments, such as the Delphi method, without integrating the actual socioeconomic benefits of complex urban systems. By measuring the two-dimensional (2D) urban functional landscape patterns and three-dimensional (3D) building forms of the city and considering the level of urban socioeconomic vitality as revealed by nighttime light intensity (NTLI), this study explores the influence of urban spatial structure on socioeconomic vitality. It provides a new perspective for evaluating the USS level. Furthermore, a comprehensive index, namely the Spatial Structure Socioeconomic Benefit Index (SSSBI), was constructed to quantify the socioeconomic benefits of USS. The results showed that (1) the impact of spatial structure on NTLI differs significantly with the distribution of urban functional landscape patterns and building forms. (2) The combined effect of any two spatial structure factors on NTLI was higher than the effect of each factor separately, indicating that multiple dimensions can improve urban spatial construction. (3) This study quantitatively extracts the characteristics of USS from multiple scales, which helps to find the optimal evaluation scale and build a scientific and objective evaluation model. The results showed that the USS assessment based on the SSSBI index is practical. This study could provide a reference for the government’s urban planning and land-use decisions.

Spatiotemporal Evolution of Land Use Efficiency in Southwest Mountain Area of China: A Case Study of Yunnan Province

“…The spatial variance function, also known as the semi-variance function, can effectively reveal the spatial variability characteristics of the study object [73,74]. Therefore, we choose this model to reveal the evolutionary characteristics of the spatial pattern of comprehensive LUE in Yunnan Province, and the function expression is Equation (13).…”

“…Sustainable development cannot be achieved without land management [10]. The CC of LUE affects the urbanization process, and how to maintain the healthy development of land use and enhance LUE among economy, ecology, and society has become the focus of scientific research and governmental strategic decisions [11][12][13]. In 2022, the Yunnan Provincial People's Government pointed out in the Plan of Yunnan Province as a Pioneer in the Construction of Ecological Civilization (2021-2025) that Yunnan Province should play the role of a pioneer in promoting comprehensive economic and social transformation and improving environmental quality.…”

Exploring the influence of transportation on urban spatial structure using the spatial Durbin model: evidence from 265 prefecture-level cities in China

“…The existing literature have widely examined the metrics and assessment criteria used to analyze the spatial organization of cities. The spatial arrangement of population and socioeconomic activities as well as land use structure are fundamental to understand the dynamic process of urban spatial structure and characterize spatial organization of various human activities (Arribas-Bel and Schmidt, 2011;Liu et al, 2022). Polycentricity encompasses both morphological and functional dimensions, with the morphological aspect focusing on the spatial distribution of population, employment, and land use (Burger and Meijers, 2012).…”

“…The built environment in the urban area is an important carrier of human social and economic activities, and is a significant aspect of urban spatial structure (Small, 2019). Liu et al (2022) used these built environment indicators such as the area, height, and quantity of urban buildings to measure urban morphology. Yousefi and Dadashpoor (2020) categorize the urban spatial structure into four components: spatial organization, geographical characteristics, patterns of land use, and distribution of occupation and residence.…”

Generating Natural Cities Using 3D Road Network to Explore Living Structure: A Case Study in Hong Kong

“…There are three classic models, the concentric zone model [3], the sector model [4] and the multiple nuclei model [5]; these models have been used to study the morphology of urban structure since the early days of the modern city, and their complexity has increased over time as they have been proposed. With the development of socioeconomic activities and building technology, cities have expanded both horizontally to the earth's surface and in a vertical dimension [6]. Exploring urban structure from a 3D perspective helps urban planners or citizens who live in a metropolis understand the ongoing change in city morphology [7].…”