Exploring the Relationship between Urban Vitality and Street Centrality Based on Social Network Review Data in Wuhan, China

Abstract

This study investigates the association between urban vitality and street centrality in Wuhan, China. Urban vitality was measured with social network review data. Street centrality was evaluated in terms of closeness, straightness, and betweenness in walking and driving mode. We constructed a square mesh to convert datasets of street centrality (segments) and urban vitality (points) into one unit for analysis. Geospatial visualization, a chi-square test, and correlation analysis were first employed to obtain an initial understanding of the spatial coupling relationship between urban vitality and street centrality. Then spatial regression models were applied to evaluate the significances and directions of the influences of street centrality on urban vitality. A geographical detector technique was utilized to further evaluate the magnitudes of these influences. The results suggest that street centrality plays an important role in shaping the spatial organization of urban vitality, and various street centralities presented marked differences in their association with urban vitality. More specifically, when considering street centrality in walking mode, betweenness affected urban vitality the most, followed by closeness and straightness. When considering street centrality in driving mode, straightness had the greatest influence on urban vitality, followed by closeness and betweenness.