Impact of Land-Use Mixing on the Vitality of Urban Parks: Evidence from Big Data Analysis in Suzhou, Yangtze River Delta Region, China
Publication: Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Volume 149, Issue 4
Abstract
As increasing attention is given to the impact of the built environment on citizens’ well-being and health, the role and performance of urban parks have to be carefully considered. The research presented in this paper focuses on the efficiency of urban parks concerning their visitor flow and explores an aspect that has not been studied so far: the impact of the built environment surrounding urban parks in attracting visitors to parks. To assess the visitor flow, the research took advantage of the large amount of accessible and accurate data connecting users and spaces: points of interest data (POI) data and Weibo check-in data. The research correlated them to investigate how the land uses and their mix in a buffer area of 400 m around each park affect the quantity of visitor flow into the parks of the city of Suzhou, China. The research first quantified the POI mixed degree of land uses and the visitor quantity based on the Hill Number Index and the social media data; then, it analyzed the sensitivity of different types of parks to different types of POI. After clarifying the quadratic function between visitor intensity and the POI mixed degree, the research found: (1) a clear correlation between the visitor intensity and the land-use mix around the parks; and (2) that different kinds of parks are affected by different groups of uses. Specifically, in the case of community parks, the visitor flow is affected by the land use for daily activities, while the visitor flow of comprehensive parks is affected by uses such as offices and services. These findings provide clear indications for improving urban parks and land-use efficiency.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and codes generated or used during the study appear in the published article.
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the National Natural Science Funds of China (Grant No. 52168001), the Natural Science Research Project of the Education Department of Guizhou Province (Grant No. KY [2021] 075), the Guizhou Education Department Project (Grant No. 2022GBzd004), and the Young Science and Technology Talents Development Project of the Education Department of Guizhou Province (Grant No. KY [2018] 246).
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Published In
Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Volume 149 • Issue 4 • December 2023
Copyright
© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 4, 2022
Accepted: May 10, 2023
Published online: Sep 26, 2023
Published in print: Dec 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Feb 26, 2024
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Big data
- Buildings
- Business management
- Data analysis
- Engineering fundamentals
- Health hazards
- Infrastructure
- Land use
- Methodology (by type)
- Parks
- Practice and Profession
- Public administration
- Public health and safety
- Recreation
- Research methods (by type)
- River engineering
- Rivers and streams
- Structural engineering
- Structures (by type)
- Urban and regional development
- Urban areas
- Water and water resources
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