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A computational tool for evaluating urban vitality using Kendall Square development proposals as a case study
Abstract
Kendall Square, home to MIT, a world-class university and a district known globally for its reputation as an epicenter of ideas and innovation, has recently seen a new wave of development seeking to turn it into a place for people. Typically, multiple developers and private investors will bid on developing the area. The competitive nature of this process suggests that involved parties have varying and potentially conflicting objectives. For example, the soaring office and residential rents in Kendall Square make it attractive to private developers looking for monetary gains. Furthermore, in an area with an already high employment density, the addition of more office and commercial spaces could increase the stress on the public transportation system that is struggling to keep up with current demand. This becomes a design problem with no optimal solution. The question becomes, how do we design districts to be more livable for people? In this research we propose a computational evaluation decision support platform to facilitate collaborations between stakeholders in their interactions within the contexts of urban planning. Whether planned interventions or new developments, the aim of this research is to give stakeholders the ability to weigh the implications from these interventions on the vitality of districts. Chapter 1 lays the foundation of the theoretical contributions put forth by Jane Jacobs regarding urban vitality. Chapter 2 discusses the four-diversity conditions for urban vitality and early attempts to validate these conditions. Chapter 3 presents an overview of the urban elements of both Kendall Square and Harvard Square as a case study. In chapter 4 we apply Jacobs' vitality conditions to both case studies. We find that Harvard Square is balanced in terms of Jacobs' conditions, while Kendall Square suffered form an imbalance in residential density. Chapter 5 presents the computational evaluation platform "CityMatrix" and uses the Volpe and MIT development sites as examples of urban interventions. We find that the current plan, approximately 16,000 employees and 3,500 residents is not enough to increase the population density to make Kendall Square a more vital district. Lastly, chapter 6 provides a conclusion and future steps for this research.
... The functional dimension is measured by Points of Interests (POIs), which provide detailed types of functions and precise locations (Yue et al., 2021;Williams et al., 2019;Delclòs-Alió & Miralles-Guasch, 2018;Gómez-Varo et al., 2022;Dong et al., 2021;Jiang et al., 2015). The social dimension is best represented by population distribution data, as denser populations tend to have more interactions, contributing to urban vibrancy Leichtle et al., 2019;Dong et al., 2021;Shi et al., 2020;Zheng et al., 2019Zheng et al., , 2017Gowharji, 2016;Jin et al., 2017). Thus, this study uses road density, POIs density, and population density to represent the morphological, functional, and social dimensions, respectively. ...
Due to rapid urbanization over the past 20 years, many newly developed areas have lagged in socio-economic maturity, creating an imbalance with older cities and leading to the rise of "ghost cities." However, due to the complexity of socio-economic factors, no global studies have measured this phenomenon. We propose a unified framework based on urban vitality theory and multi-source data, validated by various data sources. We derived 8841 natural cities globally with an area over 5 square kiloxmeters and divided each into new urban areas (developed after 2005) and old urban areas (developed before 2005). Urban vitality was gauged using the density of road networks, points of interest (POIs), and population density with 1 km resolution across morphological, functional, and social dimensions. By comparing urban vitality in new and old urban areas, we quantify the ghost cities index (GCI) globally using the theory of urban vitality for the first time. The results reveal that the vitality of new urban areas is 7.69% that of old ones. The top 5% (442) of cities were designated as ghost cities, a finding mirrored by news media and other research. This study sheds light on strategies for sustainable global urbanization, crucial for the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.
... Previous studies argued strong connections between urban vitality and land-use diversity (De Nadai et al., 2016;Gowharji, 2016). Multi-function land use attracts people with diverse purposes who share common facilities, resulting in an increase in the vitality of blocks. ...
Urban vitality generally refers to the ability to attract lively businesses and human activities, which largely depends on the urban built environment and human flows. Previous studies that applied the empirical approach to analyze urban vitality from the feature of the urban built environment and the behavior of residents are scarce. This study developed a novel framework for exploring urban vitality on the street scale with geographic big data in Xiamen Island—a livable city in southern China. We measured urban vitality and analyzed its characteristics using the Shannon entropy model based on four dimensions of GIS-based data on the point of interest density, taxi flow density, building density, and road density. We then apply the regression model to explore the relationship between land-use diversity and urban vitality. Results show that four dimensions are associated with urban vitality. Furthermore, the dimensions of the taxi flow density and the road density in low vitality blocks can be distinguishable from other blocks. Results showed a stronger relationship between land-use diversity and urban vitality. The urban expansion direction of Xiamen Island is from the old town around the Xiamen Port to the new district around Yundang Lake to form a continuous covered area, which significantly impacts urban vitality. The approach of this study not only measures urban vitality through human activity but also sheds light on guidelines for sustainable urban development, which can plan and policy in practice for cities in China and many other countries.
... Although the core of takeaway delivery is in the 'service area,' previous studies have not discussed the relationship between different delivery service areas and urban space. Enhancing the vitality of a city lies in continuously attracting the surrounding population and its resources [57,58]. As urban takeaway develops alongside cities, takeaway tends to develop well in densely populated areas [59]. ...
As one of the most important criteria for measuring the quality of urban life and the environment, urban vitality has become the focus of urban-related research and related disciplines with an increasing number of advocates for the rapid and harmonious development of urban cities. Urban takeaway can represent urban vitality, but studies have not investigated this in a quantitative manner. Furthermore, current studies rarely focus on or even mention the urban food takeaway vitality generated by the spatial distribution of urban takeaway. This study first calculated the vitality of urban takeaways based on the urban takeaway distribution, building footprint, Open Street Map (OSM) data, and the Rapidly Exploring Random Tree (RRT). Then, the urban vitality was obtained using Tencent-Yichuxing data and night-time light data, followed by a spatial correlation analysis between the urban takeaway vitality and urban vitality. Finally, the results for Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou were compared, and the following conclusions were drawn: (1) there is a significant spatial correlation between the urban takeaway vitality and urban vitality, but the correlation varies in different cities at different times; and (2) even in the same city, different road and building densities have an impact on the correlation. The urban takeaway vitality proposed in this study can be used as a new index to evaluate the urban vitality, which has important theoretical and practical significance for the sustainable development of future urban cities.
... According to Jacobs (1961), large cities must have a sufficiently dense concentration of people to achieve urban vitality. Population concentration includes the total amount of population and the density of employees and residents (Gowharji, 2016;Jacobs, 1961). The agglomeration of the urban population leads to intensive land use and high-density buildings. ...
Urban vitality is widely recognized as an authentic philosophy that reflects chaotic urbanization and orthodox planning in the developed world. However, comparative studies on the urban vitality of developing countries are scarce. This study developed a framework for analyzing urban vitality in developing countries. Using Ho Chi Minh City and Shanghai as cases, we measured urban vitality and analyzed its spatial pattern by using the projection pursuit model based on three dimensions of human activity, built environment, and their linkage. Both cities show a declining gradient of urban vitality from the urban cores to suburbs. Shanghai also fosters several peaks of urban vitality in its subcenters. The different spatial patterns of urban vitality are largely determined by the monocentric or polycentric urban form. A similar pattern of high urban vitality in both urban cores may be associated with the European-style block planning in the former concession areas. Recently, these two cities launched large-scale transport projects and replicated the modern style of broad and grid roads from the US, thereby reducing their urban vitality. This comparative study can improve our understanding of urban vitality patterns in developing countries and provide planning implications that can help nurture urban vitality.
... According to Jacobs (1961), large cities must have a sufficiently dense concentration of people to achieve urban vitality. Population concentration includes the total amount of population and the density of employees and residents (Gowharji, 2016;Jacobs, 1961). The agglomeration of the urban population leads to intensive land use and high-density buildings. ...
Urban vitality is widely recognized as an authentic philosophy that reflects chaotic urbanization and orthodox planning in the developed world. However, comparative studies on the urban vitality of developing countries are scarce. This study developed a framework for analyzing urban vitality in developing countries. Using Ho Chi Minh City and Shanghai as cases, we measured urban vitality and analyzed its spatial pattern by using a projection pursuit model based on three dimensions of human activity, built environment, and their linkage. Both cities show a declining gradient of urban vitality from the urban cores to suburbs. However, Shanghai also fosters several peaks of urban vitality in its subcenters. The different spatial patterns of urban vitality are largely determined by the monocentric or polycentric urban form. A similar pattern of high urban vitality in both urban cores may be associated with the European-style block planning in the former concession areas. Recently, these two cities launched large-scale transport projects and replicated the modern style of broad and grid roads from the US, thereby reducing their urban vitality. This comparative study can improve our understanding of urban vitality patterns in developing countries and provide some planning suggestions that can help nurture urban vitality.
... Population density and labor force have been identified as appropriate indicators to measure human activities [13,26,39]. Population density lays the foundation for lively social activity and urban vitality. ...
Identifying urban vitality in large cities is critical for optimizing the urban fabric. While great attention has been paid to urban vitality in developed countries, related studies have been rarely conducted in developing countries. In this study, we defined urban vitality as the capacity of an urban built environment to boost lively social activities and developed a framework for measuring urban vitality using the dimensions of built environment, human activities, and human–environment interaction. Taking Shanghai, China as a case, we conducted a measurement of urban vitality using multi-source data. The results show that Shanghai follows a monocentric vital pattern within the outer ring road, with urban vitality declining from the central urban core to the city periphery. While the old urban cores tend to show high urban vitality, Pudong New Area is mostly dominated by low vitality. Three clusters with high urban vitality were identified: the old urban area, the Lujiazui CBD, and residential agglomeration areas. We conducted validation of the measuring results using phone usage density. Urban vitality showed a positive correlation with phone usage density, indicating a high accuracy of assessment. We also discovered that European-style block planning, zoning plan, mixed-functional development, urban renewal regulation, and migrant concentration were playing leading role in urban vitality of Shanghai.
... Public sites and green spaces, which are available in varying extent in all urban areas, bring important benefits to urban vitality (Lopes and Camanho, 2013). Sun and Lee (2015) had a confirmed walking activity that is associated with Jacobs' six conditions for urban vitality, and Gowharji (2016) built a computational evaluation decision support platform to assess the urban vitality of districts and facilitate collaborations among stakeholders of varying proficiency levels. ...
This study focused on urban vitality assessment to address the increasing decentralized urban pattern and take precautions to urban decline. Using Chicago in the US and Wuhan in China as examples, urban vitality was decomposed into four aspects: density, livability, accessibility, and diversity. Spatially explicit indices were calculated, and the spatial pattern was analyzed in a big data environment. The ultimate urban vitality assessment was carried out by applying a spatial technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution to rank. The following were revealed. (1) Chicago is superior in accessibility and diversity, whereas there are high values in density and livability in Wuhan. (2) Chicago has a grid-based urban pattern and is highly decentralized in urban vitality, and the spatial division of Wuhan is considerably irregular with a ring-like spatial distribution of urban vitality. (3) Block groups or community neighborhoods around the scenic spots or with large areas are highly likely to be influenced by their neighborhoods in Chicago and Wuhan. The indicator system on urban vitality assessment can be adjusted and extended in an all-around manner and can become profoundly robust and dynamic with the consideration of diversified spatial interactions.
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