Car-free initiatives are increasingly recognized for boosting public transit use, retail sales, and physical activity. However, there remains a gap in research exploring such initiatives on diversity and social segregation, particularly within urban ethnic enclaves characterized by cultural, linguistic, and ethnic isolation from the broader society. This study delves into CicLAvia in Los Angeles, the largest car-free street program in the United States. By analyzing five million geotagged tweets, three-year Point-Of-Interest (POIs) data, and five-year community survey data, we aim to quantify the initiative's impact on urban diversity, measured by the entropy of language types expressed on Twitter, POI categories in proximity to Twitter users, the lexical richness within tweets themselves, and the ethnic diversity by American Community Survey. We adopted a quasi-experimental Difference-In-Difference analysis, seeking to ascertain the causal impact of nine CicLAvia events held between July 2016 and December 2018 on diversity metrics. Findings revealed that CicLAvia events, in general, significantly enhanced the diversity of the experiment groups, measured by language, surrounding POIs, and lexical richness expressed on Twitter, with consistent findings on ethnic diversity at the census tract level. Such effects were found to be insignificant in low-density suburbs away from the downtown, especially the Latino and Southeast Asian communities, indicating limitations of such initiatives in alleviating segregation. The study offers data analytical protocol and insights for planners and policymakers interested in fostering inclusiveness and diversity through car-free initiatives in the era of political polarization.
{"title":"Do car-free initiatives enhance urban diversity? Causal evidence from CicLAvia in Los Angeles","authors":"Haoliang Chang , Yuan He , Chu Chu , Jianxiang Huang","doi":"10.1016/j.cities.2025.106754","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cities.2025.106754","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Car-free initiatives are increasingly recognized for boosting public transit use, retail sales, and physical activity. However, there remains a gap in research exploring such initiatives on diversity and social segregation, particularly within urban ethnic enclaves characterized by cultural, linguistic, and ethnic isolation from the broader society. This study delves into CicLAvia in Los Angeles, the largest car-free street program in the United States. By analyzing five million geotagged tweets, three-year Point-Of-Interest (POIs) data, and five-year community survey data, we aim to quantify the initiative's impact on urban diversity, measured by the entropy of language types expressed on Twitter, POI categories in proximity to Twitter users, the lexical richness within tweets themselves, and the ethnic diversity by American Community Survey. We adopted a quasi-experimental Difference-In-Difference analysis, seeking to ascertain the causal impact of nine CicLAvia events held between July 2016 and December 2018 on diversity metrics. Findings revealed that CicLAvia events, in general, significantly enhanced the diversity of the experiment groups, measured by language, surrounding POIs, and lexical richness expressed on Twitter, with consistent findings on ethnic diversity at the census tract level. Such effects were found to be insignificant in low-density suburbs away from the downtown, especially the Latino and Southeast Asian communities, indicating limitations of such initiatives in alleviating segregation. The study offers data analytical protocol and insights for planners and policymakers interested in fostering inclusiveness and diversity through car-free initiatives in the era of political polarization.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48405,"journal":{"name":"Cities","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 106754"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145885061","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-04-01Epub Date: 2026-01-22DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2026.106794
Xize Wang , Ke Song , Qiong Liu , Ou Minghao , Lin Fang , Yanjun Liu
This paper examines the interdependent politics of policymaking through the lens of policy movement, conceptualizing it as a relation-based process embedded in shifting political-economic contexts. Focusing on housing purchase restrictions (HPR) in China, we model intercity HPR linkages to identify their network patterns and relational mechanisms across the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH), Yangtze River Delta (YRD), and Pearl River Delta (PRD) megalopolitan areas from 2016 to 2023. Four main findings emerge. First, shifting national political-economic priorities foreground HPR linkages: delegated local discretion after 2016 has encouraged widespread HPR movement, whereas the post-2021 stabilization mandate has systematically dismantled these linkages. Second, reflecting this shift, the evolution of intercity HPR linkages follows a shared inverted U-shaped trajectory. Third, hierarchical relations remain a defining feature of linkage patterns despite emergent network tendencies: the BTH and YRD linkages exhibit strong concentration around core cities, while the PRD maintains a comparatively polycentric structure. Fourth, inertia and context-contingent relational mechanisms jointly govern this evolution. Temporally, inertia is punctuated by critical turning points in 2016 and 2021 that reset dominant relational logics of linkage formation. Spatially, geographical proximity endures but is increasingly overshadowed by non-geographical relations, especially regional leadership exercised either administratively or economically. These findings refine theoretical understanding of interdependent policymaking under fragmented authoritarianism and provide practical insights for more coherent regional housing governance.
{"title":"Tracking interdependent policymaking: Intercity linkages and driving mechanisms of housing purchase restriction policy in China's three major megalopolitan areas","authors":"Xize Wang , Ke Song , Qiong Liu , Ou Minghao , Lin Fang , Yanjun Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.cities.2026.106794","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cities.2026.106794","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper examines the interdependent politics of policymaking through the lens of policy movement, conceptualizing it as a relation-based process embedded in shifting political-economic contexts. Focusing on housing purchase restrictions (HPR) in China, we model intercity HPR linkages to identify their network patterns and relational mechanisms across the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH), Yangtze River Delta (YRD), and Pearl River Delta (PRD) megalopolitan areas from 2016 to 2023. Four main findings emerge. First, shifting national political-economic priorities foreground HPR linkages: delegated local discretion after 2016 has encouraged widespread HPR movement, whereas the post-2021 stabilization mandate has systematically dismantled these linkages. Second, reflecting this shift, the evolution of intercity HPR linkages follows a shared inverted U-shaped trajectory. Third, hierarchical relations remain a defining feature of linkage patterns despite emergent network tendencies: the BTH and YRD linkages exhibit strong concentration around core cities, while the PRD maintains a comparatively polycentric structure. Fourth, inertia and context-contingent relational mechanisms jointly govern this evolution. Temporally, inertia is punctuated by critical turning points in 2016 and 2021 that reset dominant relational logics of linkage formation. Spatially, geographical proximity endures but is increasingly overshadowed by non-geographical relations, especially regional leadership exercised either administratively or economically. These findings refine theoretical understanding of interdependent policymaking under fragmented authoritarianism and provide practical insights for more coherent regional housing governance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48405,"journal":{"name":"Cities","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 106794"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146037988","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-04-01Epub Date: 2026-01-24DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2026.106784
Sheeja Krishnakumar
Street vendors sell goods or services in public spaces, playing a significant role in urban economies by providing convenient products to consumers. This paper focuses on the socio-economic, working conditions, psychological, and official support for street vendors after the pandemic through the lens of the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory. The paper analyses the responses from 302 street vendors in selected residential and commercial places in Bangalore, India. For doing business confidently, proper working conditions and official support are significant compared to social, economic, psychological, and family functioning aspects is confirmed through this study. From the analysis, the confidence to do street vending is possible through the support from officials and good working conditions that contribute to street vendors' psychological well-being. Hence, as per the COR theory, official support and adequate working conditions inhibit further resource depletion and stimulate resource gain phases, improving psychological well-being.
{"title":"Street vendors in the post-COVID-19 era: A conservation of resources theory perspective","authors":"Sheeja Krishnakumar","doi":"10.1016/j.cities.2026.106784","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cities.2026.106784","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Street vendors sell goods or services in public spaces, playing a significant role in urban economies by providing convenient products to consumers. This paper focuses on the socio-economic, working conditions, psychological, and official support for street vendors after the pandemic through the lens of the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory. The paper analyses the responses from 302 street vendors in selected residential and commercial places in Bangalore, India. For doing business confidently, proper working conditions and official support are significant compared to social, economic, psychological, and family functioning aspects is confirmed through this study. From the analysis, the confidence to do street vending is possible through the support from officials and good working conditions that contribute to street vendors' psychological well-being. Hence, as per the COR theory, official support and adequate working conditions inhibit further resource depletion and stimulate resource gain phases, improving psychological well-being.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48405,"journal":{"name":"Cities","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 106784"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146037989","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-04-01Epub Date: 2026-02-05DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2026.106814
Xiaoyan Li , Xuedong Liang , Guohao Zhang , Li Yi
This study develops a collaborative governance strategy for global cities to curb carbon emissions. To this end, two AI algorithms based on the message passing neural network are proposed. The first is a causal discovery method using an improved magnetic Laplacian to distinguish between convergent and divergent intercity emission causality. The second is a community detection method using a refined Markov process to identify city clusters by causal strength. Empirical findings characterize the intercity emission-causality network across thousands of cities worldwide: it predominantly exhibits convergent causality, distinct core-periphery structure, high connectivity, and overlapping, permeable community boundaries. These characteristics provide a structural basis for coordinated action and rapid policy diffusion among cities, enabling scalable cooperation and transnational effects. Grounded in the network characteristics, the collaboration strategy is distilled into a pathway from local to global governance: (1) leverage convergent causality to build consensus; (2) empower core cities to lead priority tasks; (3) form compact groups for efficient implementation; and (4) foster cross-community synergies that connect global cooperation. Introducing the collaboration strategy, the study advances collective action theory and maps the intricate causal interdependencies of city emissions. It contributes a suite of algorithms that produce AI-driven insights for adaptive transnational governance.
{"title":"Collaborative governance strategy for global city carbon emission reduction: Insights from causal network and community analysis","authors":"Xiaoyan Li , Xuedong Liang , Guohao Zhang , Li Yi","doi":"10.1016/j.cities.2026.106814","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cities.2026.106814","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study develops a collaborative governance strategy for global cities to curb carbon emissions. To this end, two AI algorithms based on the message passing neural network are proposed. The first is a causal discovery method using an improved magnetic Laplacian to distinguish between convergent and divergent intercity emission causality. The second is a community detection method using a refined Markov process to identify city clusters by causal strength. Empirical findings characterize the intercity emission-causality network across thousands of cities worldwide: it predominantly exhibits convergent causality, distinct core-periphery structure, high connectivity, and overlapping, permeable community boundaries. These characteristics provide a structural basis for coordinated action and rapid policy diffusion among cities, enabling scalable cooperation and transnational effects. Grounded in the network characteristics, the collaboration strategy is distilled into a pathway from local to global governance: (1) leverage convergent causality to build consensus; (2) empower core cities to lead priority tasks; (3) form compact groups for efficient implementation; and (4) foster cross-community synergies that connect global cooperation. Introducing the collaboration strategy, the study advances collective action theory and maps the intricate causal interdependencies of city emissions. It contributes a suite of algorithms that produce AI-driven insights for adaptive transnational governance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48405,"journal":{"name":"Cities","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 106814"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146188890","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-04-01Epub Date: 2026-02-02DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2026.106777
Jin Zhu
In contrast to the shrinkage of social housing in most advanced economies, China's central government (re)initiated a large-scale new-generation social house-building programme following the global financial crisis. Local governments were tasked with fulfilling centrally-determined production quotas to stimulate economic recovery. This study examines the implementation of these mandates in Shanghai, revealing how local authorities strategically reinterpret central directives to align with pro-growth agendas. Drawing on interviews with government officials, planners, and academics, alongside policy document analysis, this research demonstrates how local governments engage in ‘strategic compliance’ – fulfilling central mandates while systematically transforming their purposes to serve local development objectives – through three key planning practices. First, authorities exploit policy ambiguities to repurpose social housing quotas for urban renewal-related resettlement. Second, they deploy social housing developments as instruments for metropolitan restructuring and new town development. Third, district governments select sites to protect land revenue potential by relegating social housing to peripheral and compromised locations. By integrating fragmented authoritarianism, state entrepreneurialism, and developmental welfare perspectives, we reveal how institutional conditions, operational logics, and normative frameworks interact to enable this strategic compliance. While these strategies facilitate local growth objectives, they often undermine the policy's original intent of accommodating the most vulnerable populations, instead contributing to the government-driven suburbanisation of disadvantaged groups. This article explains how suboptimal housing outcomes emerge not from implementation failures but from local policy entrepreneurship within China's pro-growth planning regime and offers insights into the challenges of implementing top-down social policies in decentralised urban contexts.
{"title":"Strategic compliance: How local governments reshape social housing mandates in China's pro-growth planning regime","authors":"Jin Zhu","doi":"10.1016/j.cities.2026.106777","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cities.2026.106777","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In contrast to the shrinkage of social housing in most advanced economies, China's central government (re)initiated a large-scale new-generation social house-building programme following the global financial crisis. Local governments were tasked with fulfilling centrally-determined production quotas to stimulate economic recovery. This study examines the implementation of these mandates in Shanghai, revealing how local authorities strategically reinterpret central directives to align with pro-growth agendas. Drawing on interviews with government officials, planners, and academics, alongside policy document analysis, this research demonstrates how local governments engage in ‘strategic compliance’ – fulfilling central mandates while systematically transforming their purposes to serve local development objectives – through three key planning practices. First, authorities exploit policy ambiguities to repurpose social housing quotas for urban renewal-related resettlement. Second, they deploy social housing developments as instruments for metropolitan restructuring and new town development. Third, district governments select sites to protect land revenue potential by relegating social housing to peripheral and compromised locations. By integrating fragmented authoritarianism, state entrepreneurialism, and developmental welfare perspectives, we reveal how institutional conditions, operational logics, and normative frameworks interact to enable this strategic compliance. While these strategies facilitate local growth objectives, they often undermine the policy's original intent of accommodating the most vulnerable populations, instead contributing to the government-driven suburbanisation of disadvantaged groups. This article explains how suboptimal housing outcomes emerge not from implementation failures but from local policy entrepreneurship within China's pro-growth planning regime and offers insights into the challenges of implementing top-down social policies in decentralised urban contexts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48405,"journal":{"name":"Cities","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 106777"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146188920","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
<div><div>The Walled City of Jaipur in India's northwestern state of Rajasthan, founded in 1727 CE by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II as the capital of the Dhundhar region of the Kachhwaha Rajputs, is a perfect example of medieval city planning. Jaipur Walled city is a UNESCO World Heritage City, inscribed in August 2019, with its outstanding universal value, synthesized in three criterias. Criteria ii- an exemplary development in town planning and architecture demonstrating an amalgamation and significant interchange of Hindu, Mughal and several contemporary western ideas over the late medieval period; Criteria-iv- a dramatic departure from extant medieval cities with its ordered, grid-like structure – broad streets, crisscrossing at right angles, earmarked sites for buildings, palaces, havelis, temples and gardens, neighbourhoods designated for particular castes and occupations and Criteria vi- historically, the city is said to have housed “chattis karkhanas” (36 industries), the majority of which included crafts like gemstones, lac jewellery, stone idols, miniature paintings, each with a specified street and market some of which continue to exist. This criteria also makes it a UNESCO Creative City of Crafts and Folk Arts (UCCN), inscribed in 2015, and Jaipur was the first city in India to join this network.</div><div>The city of Jaipur represents the continuity of traditional urbanism, which has evolved over centuries and in the 21st century continues to blend with the socio-economic parameters. The idea of 18th century city of Sawai Jai Singh II as a centre of trade and commerce and as a creative hub for arts and crafts, Jaipur city still maintains its identity witnessed in the culture and buildings. The Walled city of Jaipur has been populated for over 298 years since its inception, for 50,000 people. Currently the population density is 58,207 people per square kilometre, with more than 3000 tourists every day. As a result, with the city's urban growth, the developmental pressures have increased, combined with an exponential increase in population. Rapid urbanization has put forth the built heritage of Jaipur in jeopardy. With limited resources and the ever-rising economic prospects of urban areas, the Walled City of Jaipur, like many other historic cities, finds itself at a difficult crossroads. This paper aims to establish a comprehensive understanding of the impact of planning of Jaipur Walled City on its cultural identity by highlighting the chronological development, physical infrastructure and socio-cultural aspects of the walled city. It also aims to focus on existing developmental approaches, prominent challenges and issues about environmental aspects, building regulations and infrastructure. The Walled City of Jaipur shares similar concerns as other historic cities in India with respect to safeguarding of historic planning context and heritage management among other developmental issues. The proposed mitigation strategies will help guid
{"title":"City profile: Walled city of Jaipur","authors":"Shipra Goswami , Rushikesh Kolte , Ashwani Kumar , Satish Pipralia","doi":"10.1016/j.cities.2025.106760","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cities.2025.106760","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Walled City of Jaipur in India's northwestern state of Rajasthan, founded in 1727 CE by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II as the capital of the Dhundhar region of the Kachhwaha Rajputs, is a perfect example of medieval city planning. Jaipur Walled city is a UNESCO World Heritage City, inscribed in August 2019, with its outstanding universal value, synthesized in three criterias. Criteria ii- an exemplary development in town planning and architecture demonstrating an amalgamation and significant interchange of Hindu, Mughal and several contemporary western ideas over the late medieval period; Criteria-iv- a dramatic departure from extant medieval cities with its ordered, grid-like structure – broad streets, crisscrossing at right angles, earmarked sites for buildings, palaces, havelis, temples and gardens, neighbourhoods designated for particular castes and occupations and Criteria vi- historically, the city is said to have housed “chattis karkhanas” (36 industries), the majority of which included crafts like gemstones, lac jewellery, stone idols, miniature paintings, each with a specified street and market some of which continue to exist. This criteria also makes it a UNESCO Creative City of Crafts and Folk Arts (UCCN), inscribed in 2015, and Jaipur was the first city in India to join this network.</div><div>The city of Jaipur represents the continuity of traditional urbanism, which has evolved over centuries and in the 21st century continues to blend with the socio-economic parameters. The idea of 18th century city of Sawai Jai Singh II as a centre of trade and commerce and as a creative hub for arts and crafts, Jaipur city still maintains its identity witnessed in the culture and buildings. The Walled city of Jaipur has been populated for over 298 years since its inception, for 50,000 people. Currently the population density is 58,207 people per square kilometre, with more than 3000 tourists every day. As a result, with the city's urban growth, the developmental pressures have increased, combined with an exponential increase in population. Rapid urbanization has put forth the built heritage of Jaipur in jeopardy. With limited resources and the ever-rising economic prospects of urban areas, the Walled City of Jaipur, like many other historic cities, finds itself at a difficult crossroads. This paper aims to establish a comprehensive understanding of the impact of planning of Jaipur Walled City on its cultural identity by highlighting the chronological development, physical infrastructure and socio-cultural aspects of the walled city. It also aims to focus on existing developmental approaches, prominent challenges and issues about environmental aspects, building regulations and infrastructure. The Walled City of Jaipur shares similar concerns as other historic cities in India with respect to safeguarding of historic planning context and heritage management among other developmental issues. The proposed mitigation strategies will help guid","PeriodicalId":48405,"journal":{"name":"Cities","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 106760"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145841418","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
With the growing prevalence of information technologies and spatial flows, network analyses have become one of the key approaches to studying interurban mobility. However, conventional models often overlook geographic contexts by simplifying flows into abstract nodes and edges. In this study, we leverage the 2018 Tencent mobile positioning data to construct an integrated “point–line–area” framework that can connect flow space with geographic space. A novel SCᵢ index is introduced to identify influential source-convergences and detect points with high-intensity radiation-like flow aggregation. Key flow corridors are extracted by using directional and distance similarity, and regional flow patterns are analyzed through nested mapping and trend surface techniques. Results not only reveal significant source-convergences in flow space, with parallel flow aggregation corridors dominated by east–west flows, but also measure the spatial evolution of flow intensity patterns across subregions. Findings highlight that, from the perspective of flow space, some planned urban agglomeration areas have yet to form multiple radiation centers, and that the key to balanced regional development lies in fostering diverse interregional connections, such as corridors.
{"title":"Unveiling pattern and structure of inter-urban mobility: Integrating flow space and geospatial information","authors":"Yue Xian , Mingxing Chen , Maogui Hu , Liangkan Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.cities.2026.106789","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cities.2026.106789","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>With the growing prevalence of information technologies and spatial flows, network analyses have become one of the key approaches to studying interurban mobility. However, conventional models often overlook geographic contexts by simplifying flows into abstract nodes and edges. In this study, we leverage the 2018 Tencent mobile positioning data to construct an integrated “point–line–area” framework that can connect flow space with geographic space. A novel SCᵢ index is introduced to identify influential source-convergences and detect points with high-intensity radiation-like flow aggregation. Key flow corridors are extracted by using directional and distance similarity, and regional flow patterns are analyzed through nested mapping and trend surface techniques. Results not only reveal significant source-convergences in flow space, with parallel flow aggregation corridors dominated by east–west flows, but also measure the spatial evolution of flow intensity patterns across subregions. Findings highlight that, from the perspective of flow space, some planned urban agglomeration areas have yet to form multiple radiation centers, and that the key to balanced regional development lies in fostering diverse interregional connections, such as corridors.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48405,"journal":{"name":"Cities","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 106789"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145978443","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-04-01Epub Date: 2026-02-05DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2026.106831
Lei Li , Shujie Sun , Zijie Pang , Liang Dong , Ji Han , Xuepeng Qian
The transition toward urban carbon neutrality has intensified attention on the coupling mechanisms between urban spatial morphology and carbon emissions. However, existing studies are often constrained by single-scale analyses and linear assumptions, limiting their ability to capture nonlinear interactions among multiple morphological indicators and spatial heterogeneity. Supported by multi-source remote sensing data, this study advances and integrates geographically weighted regression, ensemble machine learning, and game-theoretic feature attribution into an integrated spatiotemporal nonlinear regression (ISTNR) model, which is applied to systematically analyze how the evolution of urban morphology influences carbon emissions across different spatial and temporal scales in Japan. The results highlight significant regional heterogeneity and nonlinear interactions. In dense urban areas like Tokyo and Osaka, emissions are mainly driven by compactness, while in sparsely populated regions such as Hokkaido, shape complexity and fragmentation dominate. Spatial connectivity shows asymmetric effects across regions. Key thresholds are identified: emissions increase rapidly when urban area exceeds 60,000 ha or connectivity surpasses 0.85. Conversely, mitigation potential is highest when adjacent urban land comprises 55–70% and population density ranges between 0.004 and 0.007 persons/m2. Strong interaction effects are also observed—for instance, the amplification of emissions when total urban area and spatial connectivity rise simultaneously, and the reversal in the influence of landscape mesh complexity and land aggregation depending on spatial scale. This study establishes a flexible and interpretable nonlinear modeling framework, offering a novel methodological basis for identifying optimal morphological zones and guiding low-carbon spatial planning.
{"title":"Uncovering nonlinear threshold effects of urban morphology on carbon emissions: Toward optimal low-carbon urban spatial planning","authors":"Lei Li , Shujie Sun , Zijie Pang , Liang Dong , Ji Han , Xuepeng Qian","doi":"10.1016/j.cities.2026.106831","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cities.2026.106831","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The transition toward urban carbon neutrality has intensified attention on the coupling mechanisms between urban spatial morphology and carbon emissions. However, existing studies are often constrained by single-scale analyses and linear assumptions, limiting their ability to capture nonlinear interactions among multiple morphological indicators and spatial heterogeneity. Supported by multi-source remote sensing data, this study advances and integrates geographically weighted regression, ensemble machine learning, and game-theoretic feature attribution into an integrated spatiotemporal nonlinear regression (ISTNR) model, which is applied to systematically analyze how the evolution of urban morphology influences carbon emissions across different spatial and temporal scales in Japan. The results highlight significant regional heterogeneity and nonlinear interactions. In dense urban areas like Tokyo and Osaka, emissions are mainly driven by compactness, while in sparsely populated regions such as Hokkaido, shape complexity and fragmentation dominate. Spatial connectivity shows asymmetric effects across regions. Key thresholds are identified: emissions increase rapidly when urban area exceeds 60,000 ha or connectivity surpasses 0.85. Conversely, mitigation potential is highest when adjacent urban land comprises 55–70% and population density ranges between 0.004 and 0.007 persons/m<sup>2</sup>. Strong interaction effects are also observed—for instance, the amplification of emissions when total urban area and spatial connectivity rise simultaneously, and the reversal in the influence of landscape mesh complexity and land aggregation depending on spatial scale. This study establishes a flexible and interpretable nonlinear modeling framework, offering a novel methodological basis for identifying optimal morphological zones and guiding low-carbon spatial planning.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48405,"journal":{"name":"Cities","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 106831"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146188962","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-04-01Epub Date: 2026-01-21DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2025.106730
Áxel De León Marcos , Víctor Quesada-Cubo
This mixed-methods study explores how the urban environment influences self-perceived health, with particular attention to the generational differences that became evident during and after the COVID-19 pandemic call for urban planning strategies that respond to all dimensions of health. The research was carried out in a medium-sized Spanish city, combining qualitative data from 27 in-depth interviews and quantitative survey responses from 185 residents across neighbourhoods with varying environmental characteristics. Although the study initially focused on built environment factors such as green space access, walkability, and infrastructure quality, the qualitative findings showed that mental health—especially among younger participants—emerged as a central factor shaping health perceptions. Feelings of isolation, hopelessness, and confinement were frequently described by younger respondents, often tied to perceptions of spatial and social marginalization in their living environments. In contrast, older participants reported greater resilience and a more positive outlook on their health. These findings highlight the need to address mental health disparities within urban policy and underscore the importance of creating inclusive, equitable environments that support psychological well-being across age groups. The study demonstrates the value of allowing emergent themes to guide mixed-methods research and points to the need for urban planning strategies that integrate improvements in the physical environment with attention to the emotional experiences of residents, particularly in post-pandemic settings.
{"title":"Impact of the urban environment on self-perception of health in a medium-sized European city: A mixed-methods study","authors":"Áxel De León Marcos , Víctor Quesada-Cubo","doi":"10.1016/j.cities.2025.106730","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cities.2025.106730","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This mixed-methods study explores how the urban environment influences self-perceived health, with particular attention to the generational differences that became evident during and after the COVID-19 pandemic call for urban planning strategies that respond to all dimensions of health. The research was carried out in a medium-sized Spanish city, combining qualitative data from 27 in-depth interviews and quantitative survey responses from 185 residents across neighbourhoods with varying environmental characteristics. Although the study initially focused on built environment factors such as green space access, walkability, and infrastructure quality, the qualitative findings showed that mental health—especially among younger participants—emerged as a central factor shaping health perceptions. Feelings of isolation, hopelessness, and confinement were frequently described by younger respondents, often tied to perceptions of spatial and social marginalization in their living environments. In contrast, older participants reported greater resilience and a more positive outlook on their health. These findings highlight the need to address mental health disparities within urban policy and underscore the importance of creating inclusive, equitable environments that support psychological well-being across age groups. The study demonstrates the value of allowing emergent themes to guide mixed-methods research and points to the need for urban planning strategies that integrate improvements in the physical environment with attention to the emotional experiences of residents, particularly in post-pandemic settings.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48405,"journal":{"name":"Cities","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 106730"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146038008","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-04-01Epub Date: 2026-01-20DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2026.106785
Sunyoung Lee, Jangik Jin
Homeownership is widely recognized as a key determinant of individual happiness; however, previous research has shown mixed results regarding its effects. This study investigates the relationship between homeownership and happiness in Korea, with a focus on temporal dynamics and spatial variation. Utilizing panel data from the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study (KLIPS) from 2009 to 2023, we apply a panel event study model to analyze the anticipation, short-term, adaptation, and long-term effects of homeownership. The findings reveal three key insights. First, homeownership leads to a significant short-term increase in happiness, peaking immediately after acquisition but gradually declining over time due to hedonic adaptation. Second, the happiness effects vary by housing type and size: apartment (APT) ownership is associated with the highest average happiness, and transitions from non-apartments to apartments generate the most substantial gains. Notably, both upsizing and downsizing are linked to increased happiness, except in rural areas, suggesting that ownership itself plays a more critical role than size alone. Third, spatial differences are evident; homeownership enhances happiness in urban areas, including both the Seoul Metropolitan Area (SMA) and non-SMA regions, but has no statistically significant effect in rural areas. These results suggest the importance of considering spatial context and housing characteristics in designing housing policy. In particular, policy efforts should aim to support the long-term emotional well-being of homeowners by tailoring strategies to regional conditions and addressing the varied needs of different housing types and household preferences.
{"title":"Does homeownership increase happiness? Empirical evidence from Korean Labor and Income Panel Study Data","authors":"Sunyoung Lee, Jangik Jin","doi":"10.1016/j.cities.2026.106785","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cities.2026.106785","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Homeownership is widely recognized as a key determinant of individual happiness; however, previous research has shown mixed results regarding its effects. This study investigates the relationship between homeownership and happiness in Korea, with a focus on temporal dynamics and spatial variation. Utilizing panel data from the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study (KLIPS) from 2009 to 2023, we apply a panel event study model to analyze the anticipation, short-term, adaptation, and long-term effects of homeownership. The findings reveal three key insights. First, homeownership leads to a significant short-term increase in happiness, peaking immediately after acquisition but gradually declining over time due to hedonic adaptation. Second, the happiness effects vary by housing type and size: apartment (APT) ownership is associated with the highest average happiness, and transitions from non-apartments to apartments generate the most substantial gains. Notably, both upsizing and downsizing are linked to increased happiness, except in rural areas, suggesting that ownership itself plays a more critical role than size alone. Third, spatial differences are evident; homeownership enhances happiness in urban areas, including both the Seoul Metropolitan Area (SMA) and non-SMA regions, but has no statistically significant effect in rural areas. These results suggest the importance of considering spatial context and housing characteristics in designing housing policy. In particular, policy efforts should aim to support the long-term emotional well-being of homeowners by tailoring strategies to regional conditions and addressing the varied needs of different housing types and household preferences.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48405,"journal":{"name":"Cities","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 106785"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146038006","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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