Measuring Urban Form and Its Effects on Urban Vitality in Seoul, South Korea: Urban Morphometric Approach
Publication: Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Volume 150, Issue 3
Abstract
Urban vitality is a core feature of sustainable cities and neighborhoods. Acknowledging the significant role of the spatial and physical attributes of built urban landscapes in influencing urban vitality, scholars and planners in the field of urban studies have meticulously examined the relationship between urban morphology and variations in urban vitality. While most previous studies have primarily focused on a narrow range of factors when analyzing urban form, often neglecting its multifaceted nature, this study utilizes urban morphometrics using Python's Momepy library to offer a comprehensive typology. It integrates diverse urban components from individual buildings and streets to entire neighborhoods into a unified, holistic framework, providing a more integrated understanding of urban form's influence on urban vitality. Our spatial econometric models identified higher building floor areas, taller and narrower streetside buildings, diversely aged buildings, and higher building coverings on lots as favorable urban form settings for urban vitality. Measuring urban morphology with advanced methods and identifying their relationship to urban vitality provides insightful implications for urban planners and designers for creating vibrant cities and neighborhoods.
Practical Applications
This study utilizes advanced methods to assess the design and layout of cities and neighborhoods and analyzes their effects on urban vitality. The Momepy Python package is used in this study to capture urban form in terms of size, density, layout, diversity, and connectedness. This study measures how diverse urban morphologies affect the variation of urban vitality captured by mobile phone data. This study introduces an integrated approach that identifies spatial relationships between buildings and street networks into a comprehensive framework. This holistic approach can suggest effective strategies for decision-making by urban planners and policymakers to create livable and sustainable cities and neighborhoods. Moreover, this study reveals how the effects of the urban morphology on urban vitality vary depending on the time of day and day of the week. The core findings suggest that urban planners and designers should consider spatial configurations of buildings and streets as well as residents’ behavior over time.
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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 work was supported by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2022S1A5A2A01038246).
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Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Volume 150 • Issue 3 • September 2024
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© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: May 22, 2023
Accepted: Mar 21, 2024
Published online: May 22, 2024
Published in print: Sep 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Oct 22, 2024
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