Research on Urban Sustainability Indicators Based on Urban Grain: A Case Study in Jinan, China

Abstract

As a concept to describe the characteristics of urban spatial forms, urban grain emphasizes the size of urban parcels. Fine grain and coarse grain are considered essential attributes. Fine grain plays a crucial role in promoting the adaptability of urban development, improving urban vitality, and helping achieve sustainable urban development. Current research on urban grain is scattered and difficult to apply to solve practical urban problems. Therefore, this paper aims to identify the spatial indicators that affect the urban grain, to solve urban problems by adjusting spatial indicators. It contains significant suggestions for improving urban design theory and promoting sustainable urban development. This study primarily uses the comparative method to identify spatial indicators influencing urban grain by comparing coarse- and fine-grain study areas. This study screens relevant spatial indicators (building density, road network density, age of housing structures, building façade width along streets, number of entrances and exits along streets, and function mixture) affecting urban grain through a review and measurements, and it visualizes the representation of spatial indicators using the grid method, determining the correlation between spatial indicators and urban grain. The results show that all six indicators have an impact on urban grain.