Influence of Built Environment on Urban Vitality: Case Study of Shanghai Using Mobile Phone Location Data

Abstract

Although a successfully built environment has been widely accepted in urban planning as a method of promoting urban vitality in China, the related theories were proposed in Western cities, and these have not been empirically verified in Chinese cities, especially in high-density urban areas. The availability of mobile phone location data has made it possible to accurately measure urban vitality and explore the influence mechanism of built environments in China’s high-density urban areas. In this study, the intensity of urban activity was used as a proxy for urban vitality and its value was calculated during six time periods of the day using active mobile phone location data in the central urban area of Shanghai, China. Subsequently, the variables were confirmed within the built environment according to classical theories, and values were assigned to these indicators based on topographic and survey maps. Furthermore, after a series of tests, six spatial econometric models were created to evaluate the impact of the built environment on urban vitality. The results demonstrated that active mobile phone location data can reflect and help measure urban vitality to a great extent. Mixed use and diversity, scale, old buildings, density, and border vacuums all contributed to the urban vitality of Chinese high-density urban areas; meanwhile, density and proximity to public facilities were the most significant. In addition, compared to working time, urban vitality was more susceptible to the built environment during nonworking times.