Title: Investigating public health through urban form data mining with geographic information system and space syntax

Authors: Xin Li; Yanfei Jia; Xing Liu; Haibin Lv; Kuncheng Li; Chiu-Shui Chan

Addresses: School of Urban Design, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072, China ' School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, 430074, China ' Department of Environment and Design, South-Central University for Nationalities, Wuhan, Hubei, 430074, China ' Qingdao Huanhai Marine Engineering Prospecting Institute, State Oceanic Administration, Qingdao, Shandong, 266061, China ' School of Urban Design, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072, China ' College of Design, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA

Abstract: In this paper, we investigate the importance of urban form towards public health using geographic information system (GIS) and space syntax methods. Hankou riverside area of China is selected as a case study. Urban fabric and street network are combined for a comprehensive image of urban form. First, five formal indicators are calculated based on GIS. Second, axial and visibility analysis of space syntax are joined for complement. The result indicates that the selected area has a good potential of richness and complexity of urban fabric. Suitable urban form could stimulate activities and social interactions, which are beneficial to people's physical condition and mental strength. It also reveals that its street network presents a multi-hierarchical structure and spatial wholeness from local scale to city scale. The paper proposes to maintain the vitality of urban form to increase diversity of urban life.

Keywords: public health; urban form; GIS; geographic information systems; space syntax; Isovist; computer-aided analysis; data mining; China; street networks; cities; urban fabric; urban structure.

DOI: 10.1504/IJAMC.2016.080954

International Journal of Advanced Media and Communication, 2016 Vol.6 No.2/3/4, pp.167 - 186

Received: 08 Oct 2015
Accepted: 01 Nov 2015
Published online: 13 Dec 2016 *

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