Role of Urban Public Space and the Surrounding Environment in Promoting Sustainable Development from the Lens of Social Media

Abstract

The development of mobile social network has shown the power to change the ways people gather and communicate in urban public spaces (UPSs). In this study, we utilized a check-in database collected from Instagram in 2016 and 2017 in two central districts of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) to analyze the city dynamics and activities over the course of the day. By quantifying the popularity of contemporary UPSs, a comprehensive study was conducted on many attraction features spreading over the two central districts. Pearson’s correlation was used to explore the proximity and attractiveness associated with the surrounding environment of three types of UPSs. The results show that the lifetime of UPSs is very stable during weekdays and weekends. Within that, commercial UPSs are proved to play a dominant role in urban dynamics. This paper’s finding is at odds with the urban planning stereotype that public facilities often help people to get around. In the case of HCMC, it has proved the opposite: people are attracted to urban public spaces even though there are not many cultural and social specialties there. The results will contribute to enhancing the predictability of each UPS on socio-economic performance and to understanding of the role of urban facilities in urban sustainability.

Spatial Analysis of the Rural-Urban Structure of the Spanish Municipalities

“…These values are frequent in the physical sciences, where the phenomena conform to known laws [74], for example, the relationship between space and time for a mobile that travels at a constant speed. However, in social and human sciences, where the phenomena are complex, it is established that values from ±0.3 are representative and from 0.5 highly representative [75,76].…”

Rural Tourism as a Development Strategy in Low-Density Areas: Case Study in Northern Extremadura (Spain)

“…So, its absolute value shows its strength, such that the highest values indicate that the dependency relationship between the two variables is tighter, in the sense of being stronger. On the other hand, if it presents a value of 0, it indicates that the two variables, X and Y, are independent or have no relationship between them [57,58].…”

Research on the Interaction Design of Urban Public Environmental Facilities under the Background of Digital Intelligence

“…In addition, Nguyen, T. V. T. et al collected relevant registration data (2016-2017) on Instagram in two central districts (HCMC) of Ho Chi Minh City to analyze urban dynamics and activities, and the study showed that people are attracted to urban public spaces [13]. Lau, K. L. et al conducted a study on the relationship between older adults' perception of urban green space and the relationship between perception and use of UGS and self-rated health of UGS in three different types of UGS in Hong Kong (public housing estates, street parks and green spaces in district parks), the study showed that time spent in contact with UGS was strongly associated with physical and mental health [14].…”