The structural dimensions and community vibrancy: An exploratory analysis in Guangzhou, China

Most of the existing studies captured the social and ambient elements of urban built environment, but rarely have the structural elements that influence community vibrancy been addressed. In this paper, we composed indices to assess community vibrancy in Guangzhou, China using population density, social- intensity, and economic activity intensity. We then utilized the Local Entropy Map and Random Forest Regression to investigate the spatial-temporal variation of vibrancy and how it relates to the communities' structural and social & ambient elements using social and remote sensing data. We found their relationships to be spatially dependent and contrasting between functionally different regions. Our analysis at the wholistic level revealed that the vibrancy of the city was influenced more by the social & ambient elements, while analysis at the functional-region level showed this to be also true for the commercial regions of the city, that of residential regions was influenced more by the structural elements. We argue that urban vibrancy should be treated at the functional- region level, and that the importance of structural elements and social and ambient elements should both be recognized in urban research and the policy-making process. • Urban vibrancy is better examined at the functional-community level. • Community vibrancy is affected by both the structural elements and social & ambient elements. • Vibrancy of residential communities influenced more by structural elements. • Vibrancy of commercial communities influenced more by the social & ambient elements.