Revealing urban vibrancy stability based on human activity time-series

Stability is one dimension of urban vibrancy, capturing routine temporal variations in the use pattern of urban spaces. Understanding the spatiotemporal patterns and relationships between the factors influencing vibrancy stability is crucial for policy makers and urban planners. Previous studies have focused on the static indicators of vibrancy stability and ignored the temporal regularities in human activities and interactions. This study employed a dynamic time series baseline derived from global social media check-ins over 24 hours as a proxy for routine patterns in the study area, and propose a comprehensive framework to quantify urban vibrancy stability. Global and geographically weighted regressions were used to explore the relationship between vibrancy stability, the built environment, and population. The empirical study was conducted in Shenzhen, China. The results indicate that a significant positive correlation exists between stability and intensity of vibrancy; and that highstability areas are mainly distributed at the center of city or districts. Furthermore, educational and cultural facilities rather than population were the leading contributor to vibrancy stability in the west of Shenzhen; while dynamic influences of factors associated with vibrancy stability display varying patterns. This study supports efforts to optimize urban vibrancy stability and design urban space rationally.

Automated summary

This study proposes a comprehensive framework to quantify urban vibrancy stability, and explores the relationship between stability and factors such as the built environment and population. The results indicate a positive correlation between stability and intensity of vibrancy, and high stability areas are mainly located in the center of the city. Educational and cultural facilities have a greater contribution to vibrancy stability than population, and the patterns of factors associated with vibrancy stability vary in different regions.