Towards Sustainable Urban Communities: A Composite Spatial Accessibility Assessment for Residential Suitability Based on Network Big Data

Abstract

Suitable allocation of residential public services is vital to realizing sustainable communities and cities. By combining network big data and spatial analysis, we developed a composite spatial accessibility assessment method for residential suitability of urban public services covering healthcare, leisure, commerce, transportation, and education services. Xiamen City, China is the test site. We found that although most facilities were concentrated on Xiamen Island, there were shortages in the per capita transportation and education service supplements compared with the average performance of Xiamen City because of the high local population. Meanwhile, Tong’an had advantages in the amount of public facilities due to its long history of regional development. However, high-quality facilities were deficient there as well as in other off-island districts. The residential communities surrounding transportation, commerce, and healthcare facilities had a similar allocation pattern in Xiamen City, whereas the residential accessibility of education and leisure services showed regional differences. Due to unbalanced regional development, evident inequality could be witnessed by comparing the composite assessment results of residential suitability between the communities on Xiamen Island and those in the off-island Areas. Our study hopes to provide dedicated support for designing sustainable communities and cities, especially for those in developing countries.

Identification of Urban Functional Areas Based on POI Data: A Case Study of the Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone

“…The rational layout and formation of urban functional areas can reduce the cost of urban housing purchases and living expenses, of residents' travel and commuting, and of production logistics. These characteristics will effectively enhance the pleasure of urban living, reduce the cost of urban large-scale production, improve the quality and efficiency of urban material and cultural production, attract more farmers and other residents of small towns to live in the city, and increase the city's competitiveness at the national and international levels [6,7]. The identification of urban functional areas is an important basis for judging whether urban and rural planning and construction goals are achieved during the process of construction, and it is also the starting point for future urban development planning work.…”

Assessing Community-Level Livability Using Combined Remote Sensing and Internet-Based Big Geospatial Data

“…At the top level, we adopt the widely used dimensions which have been proven to reflect livability comprehensively, while the indices at the bottom level can be modified according to the actual situations of the study area. Secondly, the data for selected indices allows global or national coverage, and are available in a labor-saving way and at no/low costs, which makes our model easy to extend to other areas [16,18]. The extendibility of our model also manifests itself in the selection of a prefecture-level city (i.e., Linyi) as the study area where data availability is less abundant than that in metropolis like Beijing and New York.…”

“…In contrast, at the middle level, livability assessments are made for spatial units within the city such as blocks, communities, and artificially delineated grids. It considers both local property information and environmental background on broader scales, which are able to truly reflect living environment of urban inhabitants [16][17][18]. Therefore, middle-level assessment (e.g., community-level) can provide detailed livability information that sufficiently supports urban planning and governance.…”

Does the Difference in Urban Public Facility Allocation Cause Spatial Inequality in Housing Prices? Evidence from Chongqing, China

“…The exploration of the spatial equity of urban public facility allocation that is based on spatial accessibility [17] focuses on the layout of facilities, which aims to enable citizens to gain equal access to public facilities [18]. The research subjects mainly focused on public service facilities [19][20][21], including essential livelihood facilities such as basic education facilities [22] and medical service resources [23,24] and nursing homes [25], as well as facilities that serve higher-level needs such as parks and green spaces [26] and recreational facilities [27].…”