Urban streets provide environment for road running. The study proposes a non-parametric approach that uses machine learning models to predict road running intensity. The models were developed using route check-in data from Keep, a mobile exercise application, and street geographic information data in Beijing’s core district. The results show that blue space and trail continuity are the most important factors in improving road running intensity. There is an optimum design value for the sky openness and the street enclosure, which need to be balanced with shade while meeting the light of the road. And it is also important to provide appropriate visual permeability. Furthermore, unlike daily activities, it was found that higher function mixture and function density did not have significant positive effects on the road running intensity. This study provides empirical evidence on road running and highlights the key factors that planners, landscape architects, and city managers should consider when design running-friendly urban streets.

No abstract

High-rise residential estates are characterized by high floor area ratios, many floors, and similar green area ratios. Beijing is hot in summer, and shading is an important strategy to improve the outdoor thermal environment of residential estates in summer. With respect to the morphological characteristics of high-rise residential estates, three types of shading were summarized, and their relationships with air temperature were quantified and analyzed. The three types of shading are building–tree integrated shading, building shading, and tree shading. Two residential estates that can represent the morphological characteristics of high-rise residential estates in Beijing were selected for field measurements, and the cooling effects of the three types of shading were obtained by analyzing the measured data. In the same residential estate, the daytime air temperature difference between shaded and un-shaded areas can be 0.5 °C or more. It was found that building–tree integrated shading has the most significant cooling effect, with building shading and tree shading second. The cooling effect of shading decreases with time, with morning shading having the greatest effect, and afternoon shading having the least effect.