Evaluating the impact of urban morphology on urban vitality: an exploratory study using big geo-data

The United Nations has proposed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), of which SDG11 aims to "make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable". This is in line with Urban Vitality's objectives. This study proposes a quantitative framework to evaluate the impact of urban morphology on urban vitality. In this framework, a proxy that is more reflective of economic and human activities is proposed for depicting urban vitality based on geographic big data; then we use a Multi-scale Geographically Weighted Regression (MGWR) regression considering spatial heterogeneity to analyze the different effects of urban form on urban vitality. Taking the Beijing Sixth Ring Road area as the study region, the results indicate that tall, large-area, multi-functional buildings have a significantly positive impact on urban vitality. These areas exhibit single-function buildings and high levels of greenery, leading to inefficient space utilization. Increasing road network density, as well as the density of transportation and public facilities, also positively influences urban vitality. However, commercial density has a negative impact on workday vitality. Furthermore, excessive green space density, a high proportion of the largest green patches, and complex green space borders all contribute to a reduction in urban vitality.