Retail centres are important tools for understanding the distribution and evolution of the retail sector at varying geographical scales. This paper presents a framework through which formal definitions and typologies of retail centres, such as those in the UK, can be extended to the US. Using Chicago as a case study and data from SafeGraph, we present a retail centre delineation method that combines

Singer was the first to draw attention to the fact that the Pareto Law (originally employed to describe income inequality) could also be applied to the size distribution of urban centres. His argument was illustrated with evidence from seven nations at various points in time. As part of his study, Singer attempted to demonstrate two propositions relating to the Pareto distribution of centre size. One

Recent years have witnessed the rapid expansion of the home-sharing business. The home-sharing services provided by Airbnb not only allow the homeowner to earn extra income by renting out part of the property to the potential renters but also provides the renters an authentic travel experience by living with residents. The emerging business model of Airbnb may bring about some uncertainties to rental

The history of our modern technologies certainly stretches back to the beginnings of what has been called the first industrial revolution dating from the invention of the first mechanical devices such as those used in weaving and spinning in the early 18th century. The development of this kind of automation rapidly spread throughout England in the rest of that century and by the turn of the 19th, the

The goal of this research is to assess environmental quality at the neighbourhood level through a multi-dimensional and multi-sensory approach that combines social and physical methodologies. For this purpose, an interdisciplinary protocol has been designed to simultaneously collect physical parameter measurements (related to microclimate and acoustics) and survey data on perceptions (involving residents

A multilevel model of the housing market for San José Metropolitan Region (Costa Rica) was developed, including spatial effects. The model is used to explore two main questions: the extent to which contextual (of the surroundings) and compositional (of the property itself) effects explain variation of housing prices and how does the relation between price and key covariates change with the introduction

Time is the main axis for understanding the functional, economic, and social aspects of self-organized redevelopment. When such processes are intensive and are conducted contemporaneously by large numbers of urban agents on different spatial and temporal scales and as a result of different motivations, urban planning is fragmented into multiple simultaneous and unexpected projects. The post-zoning

To cope with the exacerbating housing problem due to urban population increase and rapid urbanization, the number of multi-unit residential complexes (MURCs) is sharply rising. MURCs account for approximately 30% or more of housing stocks in the New York and Los Angeles metropolitan areas; and much higher in developing world, for example, 58% in Seoul, Korea. Likewise, the share of electricity consumption

A frequent criticism of knowledge-based planning tools is the apparent mismatch between information frameworks used in their spatial models and the information needs of planning actors. Increasingly, these actors are contributing their context-specific knowledge during the development of such tools. Transferring this knowledge from actors to the model remains a challenge. This study establishes a set

This paper seeks to determine the propensity of racial minorities to live in gated communities. A recent study by Plaut in this journal finds that nonwhites are more likely to live in gated communities than whites for both renters and homeowners. Such a finding would indicate a major change in housing patterns. I replicate and build upon her study by including multiple years of data, disaggregating

The high share of impermeable surfaces in cities modifies the terrain characteristics that facilitate natural water flow and balance. The street network, an impervious surface on its own, is also the impetus for developing other impervious surfaces by facilitating access. The purpose of this work is to assess the interconnectedness between the underlying structural lines of the terrain and the street

Place-based structural inequalities can have critical implications for the health of vulnerable populations. Historical urban policies, such as redlining, have contributed to current inequalities in exposure to intra-urban heat. However, it is unknown whether these spatial inequalities are associated with disparities in heat-related health outcomes. The aim of this study is to determine the relationships

This paper investigates the relationship between market power and urban housing development in a two-period, partial equilibrium model of a durable rental housing market with a fixed stock of homogeneous land, a convex housing construction technology, and no externalities. We contrast the planning solution and the monopoly solution. Since we employ social surplus analysis, the competitive equilibrium

China’s rapid and extraordinary urbanisation has resulted in a dichotomy between the urban form of historic districts and that of new urban areas. Unlike the new planning of new urban areas, the optimisation of the thermal environment in historic districts is achieved through an important means of regulating the shading effectiveness of trees in street canyons, without destruction of current buildings

Whilst some land uses are highly criminogenic, others remain largely free of crime. This patterning is a reflection of the types and timing of daily activities that take place in a given land use and the opportunities that this presents for crime. While the criminology literature has developed a rigorous understanding of geographic component of crime, relatively less emphasis has been placed on the

When a person moves, the set of objects in their visual range changes. Hence, the set of objects perceived from a specific range of locations may be considered as a signature (possibly non-unique) of this region and be used for the localization of this person. In the case of fixed objects, the number of regions with a set of specific visible objects is limited. A verbal description containing references

Dynamic vision refers to a person’s visual perception of the environment when the person is in motion. Pedestrians naturally have dynamic visual experiences, the aesthetic qualities of which may modify their walking and seeing behaviors. Despite the subject’s significant design relevance, dynamic visual research has shown limited theoretical and methodological progress since the 1960s. Inspired by

Similar stores, when clustered in urban locations, often close down; many scholars have explained this phenomenon using Hotelling’s theory. However, empirically, several studies have found that competition between rivals causes stores to move away from each other, exhibiting a repulsive force. By contrast, other studies insist that customers strongly drive the agglomeration of retail rivals. This study

There is a growing interest in planning for green infrastructure, as well as a growing recognition of the multifunctional nature of green infrastructure, since it provides many social and environmental benefits to cities and regions. However, there is a lack of appropriate methods for prioritizing the locations for green infrastructure interventions. In response, this article proposes a spatial multi-criteria

There is a growing interest in planning for green infrastructure, as well as a growing recognition of the multifunctional nature of green infrastructure, since it provides many social and environmental benefits to cities and regions. However, there is a lack of appropriate methods for prioritizing the locations for green infrastructure interventions. In response, this article proposes a spatial multi-criteria

Mini-parks are becoming a popular form of outdoor recreational space in densely populated areas, largely because their small size makes site selection easier than for ordinary parks. However, existing studies on mini-parks are limited because most of them rely on data collected through traditional surveys, which are severely restricted by space and time. In this study, we utilised Tencent user density

The vision of smart cities (Batty, 2018; Batty et al., 2012; Kitchin, 2019; Orlowski and Romanowska, 2019) has attracted much attention in creating smart relations between technology and society, although researchers have approached it differently as a form of planning storytelling (Söderström et al., 2014), strategy (Ben Letaifa, 2015), stakeholders (Marrone and Hammerle, 2018), or forces (Angelidou

The vision of smart cities (Batty, 2018; Batty et al., 2012; Kitchin, 2019; Orlowski and Romanowska, 2019) has attracted much attention in creating smart relations between technology and society, although researchers have approached it differently as a form of planning storytelling (Söderström et al., 2014), strategy (Ben Letaifa, 2015), stakeholders (Marrone and Hammerle, 2018), or forces (Angelidou

Public space is characterised by visible spaces and featured by observable activities, forming the atmosphere that humans can perceive, interpret, and experience. This article conceptualises urban space as a set of viewsheds connecting functions visually which can be represented as functional visibility graphs – the graphs with mutual-visibility edges between space and function nodes. It begins with

This study proposes a prototype for the smart rendering of urban master plans via artificial intelligence algorithms, a process which is time-consuming and relies on professionals’ experience. With the help of crowdsourced data and generative adversarial networks (GAN), a generation model was trained to provide colorful rendering of master plans similar to those produced by experienced urban designers

Public space is characterised by visible spaces and featured by observable activities, forming the atmosphere that humans can perceive, interpret, and experience. This article conceptualises urban space as a set of viewsheds connecting functions visually which can be represented as functional visibility graphs – the graphs with mutual-visibility edges between space and function nodes. It begins with

This study proposes a prototype for the smart rendering of urban master plans via artificial intelligence algorithms, a process which is time-consuming and relies on professionals’ experience. With the help of crowdsourced data and generative adversarial networks (GAN), a generation model was trained to provide colorful rendering of master plans similar to those produced by experienced urban designers

Recent work on ‘anti-adaptive’ neighbourhoods has highlighted a number of common features, including scale of design, number of designers, mono-functionality, percentage of public space, planning rules and system of ownership. This article aims to provide a more general conceptual analysis of adaptability and anti-adaptability in terms of degrees of individual choice, where an individual’s choice set

Recent work on ‘anti-adaptive’ neighbourhoods has highlighted a number of common features, including scale of design, number of designers, mono-functionality, percentage of public space, planning rules and system of ownership. This article aims to provide a more general conceptual analysis of adaptability and anti-adaptability in terms of degrees of individual choice, where an individual’s choice set

Urban planning implementation evaluation (UPIE) is an important tool for the supervision and inspection of the outcomes, processes and effectiveness of planning implementation. Conformance-based evaluation refers to the exploration of the degree of coincidence between actual situations and planning contents. Decision-centred performance evaluation focuses on exploring the role and purpose of plans

Urban planning implementation evaluation (UPIE) is an important tool for the supervision and inspection of the outcomes, processes and effectiveness of planning implementation. Conformance-based evaluation refers to the exploration of the degree of coincidence between actual situations and planning contents. Decision-centred performance evaluation focuses on exploring the role and purpose of plans

The new availability of big data sources provides an opportunity to revisit our ability to predict neighborhood change. This article explores how data on urban activity patterns, specifically, geotagged tweets, improve the understanding of one type of neighborhood change—gentrification—by identifying dynamic connections between neighborhoods and across scales. We first develop a typology of neighborhood

The new availability of big data sources provides an opportunity to revisit our ability to predict neighborhood change. This article explores how data on urban activity patterns, specifically, geotagged tweets, improve the understanding of one type of neighborhood change—gentrification—by identifying dynamic connections between neighborhoods and across scales. We first develop a typology of neighborhood

Accessibility is fundamentally thought to be related to functional, economic, and social performances of cities and geographical systems and, therefore, constitutes an essential aspect for spatial planning. Previous studies focused on cities or metropolitan scales, often disregarding their position within regional and national systems, which can greatly affect their performance. Although accessibility

Accessibility is fundamentally thought to be related to functional, economic, and social performances of cities and geographical systems and, therefore, constitutes an essential aspect for spatial planning. Previous studies focused on cities or metropolitan scales, often disregarding their position within regional and national systems, which can greatly affect their performance. Although accessibility

Based on government appointed specialists’ (Antiquities Advisory Board or AAB’s) assessments of the heritage value of more than 1400 heritage items in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, we found no evidence of nationalistic bias against British or Japanese built military heritage buildings and structures after the handover of Hong Kong to China in July 1997. We also found no evidence of bias

The increasing frequency and intensity of disasters has made resilient and sustainable urban systems a primary goal for cities around the world. According to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (Wallemacq and House, 2018), climate-related and geophysical disasters have caused $2.9 trillion in direct economic losses over the past 20 years, a 151% rise from the previous 20-year period

The increasing frequency and intensity of disasters has made resilient and sustainable urban systems a primary goal for cities around the world. According to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (Wallemacq and House, 2018), climate-related and geophysical disasters have caused $2.9 trillion in direct economic losses over the past 20 years, a 151% rise from the previous 20-year period

Big data can provide new insights for smart city planning. This study exploits mobile-phone locating-request (MPLR) data as a proxy for real-time intra-urban population distribution. It models the relationship between the dynamic population distribution and the urban built environment using geographically and temporally weighted regression (GTWR), which can account for spatial and temporal non-stationarity

Space, time and the social realm are intrinsically linked. While an array of studies have tried to untangle these factors and their influence on human behaviour, hardly any have taken their effects into account at the same time. To disentangle these factors, we try to predict future encounters between students and assess how important social, spatial and temporal features are for prediction. We phrase

Labour market areas (LMAs) are a type of functional region (FR) defined on commuting flows and used in many countries to serve as the territorial reference for regional studies and policy making at local levels. Existing methods rely on manual adjustments of the results to ensure high quality, making them difficult to be monitored, hard to apply to different territories, and onerous to produce in terms

Residential income segregation is a spatial manifestation of social inequality and is an important factor that influences access to resources, services, and amenities. In general, past research analyzing income segregation has applied index-based methods to describe the separation of low-income households at one spatial scale; however, existing studies have not yet considered how income segregation

Space, time and the social realm are intrinsically linked. While an array of studies have tried to untangle these factors and their influence on human behaviour, hardly any have taken their effects into account at the same time. To disentangle these factors, we try to predict future encounters between students and assess how important social, spatial and temporal features are for prediction. We phrase

Labour market areas (LMAs) are a type of functional region (FR) defined on commuting flows and used in many countries to serve as the territorial reference for regional studies and policy making at local levels. Existing methods rely on manual adjustments of the results to ensure high quality, making them difficult to be monitored, hard to apply to different territories, and onerous to produce in terms

Residential income segregation is a spatial manifestation of social inequality and is an important factor that influences access to resources, services, and amenities. In general, past research analyzing income segregation has applied index-based methods to describe the separation of low-income households at one spatial scale; however, existing studies have not yet considered how income segregation

The elderly may have unique, daily travel behaviour characteristics compared to other age groups, associated with age and physical ability. Defining these characteristics can inform urban infrastructure construction and planning. In this study, 20 elders aged between 60 and 70 years, living in the city centre of Tianjin, were selected to complete the survey. A total of 2232 hours of participant travel

The elderly may have unique, daily travel behaviour characteristics compared to other age groups, associated with age and physical ability. Defining these characteristics can inform urban infrastructure construction and planning. In this study, 20 elders aged between 60 and 70 years, living in the city centre of Tianjin, were selected to complete the survey. A total of 2232 hours of participant travel

In order to reduce the atmospheric pollution in urban areas, an enhanced approach is proposed in this paper for the traffic congestion analysis. The approach is formulated as bi-level optimization program considering additional constraints in the traffic assignment problem. To respect the required eco-friendly threshold constraint, the travel demand between several origin–destination pairs was categorized

Urban planners have a stake in preserving restaurants that are unique to local areas in order to cultivate a distinctive, authentic landscape. Yet, over time, chain restaurants (i.e. franchises) have largely replaced independently owned restaurants, creating a landscape of placelessness. In this research, we explored which (types of) locales have an independent food culture and which resemble McCities:

In order to reduce the atmospheric pollution in urban areas, an enhanced approach is proposed in this paper for the traffic congestion analysis. The approach is formulated as bi-level optimization program considering additional constraints in the traffic assignment problem. To respect the required eco-friendly threshold constraint, the travel demand between several origin–destination pairs was categorized

Urban planners have a stake in preserving restaurants that are unique to local areas in order to cultivate a distinctive, authentic landscape. Yet, over time, chain restaurants (i.e. franchises) have largely replaced independently owned restaurants, creating a landscape of placelessness. In this research, we explored which (types of) locales have an independent food culture and which resemble McCities:

The study of human activity–travel patterns for urban planning has evolved a long way in theories, methodologies, and applications. However, the scarcity of data has become a major barrier for the advancement of research in the field. Recently, the proliferation of urban sensing and location-based devices generates voluminous streams of spatio-temporal registered information. In this study, we propose

The study of human activity–travel patterns for urban planning has evolved a long way in theories, methodologies, and applications. However, the scarcity of data has become a major barrier for the advancement of research in the field. Recently, the proliferation of urban sensing and location-based devices generates voluminous streams of spatio-temporal registered information. In this study, we propose

Urban expressways can generate excessive noise in the surrounding urban areas, and it tends to be more complex in mountainous cities, due to the undulating terrain, dense population and compact urban structures. This article aims to investigate the objective acoustic environment and road traffic noise exposure, including the noisy evaluation, annoyance and effect of roadside apartments in residential

Urban expressways can generate excessive noise in the surrounding urban areas, and it tends to be more complex in mountainous cities, due to the undulating terrain, dense population and compact urban structures. This article aims to investigate the objective acoustic environment and road traffic noise exposure, including the noisy evaluation, annoyance and effect of roadside apartments in residential

The patterns of syntactic differentiation and their causes and effects are fundamental to space syntax analysis. Often, however, differentiation is taken for granted with no reference to the dynamic process that brings it about. Here, we first show that by measuring the amount of syntactic differentiation, we can better distinguish between types of street networks. We then show that repeated local

The patterns of syntactic differentiation and their causes and effects are fundamental to space syntax analysis. Often, however, differentiation is taken for granted with no reference to the dynamic process that brings it about. Here, we first show that by measuring the amount of syntactic differentiation, we can better distinguish between types of street networks. We then show that repeated local

The digital computer was invented just prior to and during the Second World War in at least three different places: Germany, the United States and Great Britain. The idea that we could represent different phenomena using the binary code, by arranging and switching various things (or bits) on and off, had been around for centuries but during the 1920s and 1930s, the idea gained momentum. The vacuum

The digital computer was invented just prior to and during the Second World War in at least three different places: Germany, the United States and Great Britain. The idea that we could represent different phenomena using the binary code, by arranging and switching various things (or bits) on and off, had been around for centuries but during the 1920s and 1930s, the idea gained momentum. The vacuum

The ever-growing online corpus of images of the built environment, on social media and mapping platforms, offers a new kind of archive of the built environment. Recent advances in computer vision, specifically convolutional neural networks, offer new ways of querying and analyzing large image corpuses. In this paper, we propose a new method by which historians of the built environment can use these