Cities xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Cities
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cities

Understanding livable dense urban form for shaping the landscape of

community facilities in Hong Kong using fine-scale measurements
⁎
Wei Langa,b, Tingting Chena,b, , Edwin H.W. Chanc,d, Esther H.K. Yungc,d, Tunney C.F. Leee
a
Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
b
Urbanization Institute, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
c
Department of Building and Real Estate, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, SAR, China
d
Research Institute of Sustainable Urban Development, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, SAR, China
e
Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, MA, USA

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Highly dense cities' livability has long been debated in the urban planning field, particularly regarding vibrancy,
Local amenities and services walkability, and day-to-day service access. However, studies on density's effects on the provision of neighbor-
Urban network analysis hood community amenities and services are limited. In addition, urban form's effects on community facility
Urban form distribution patterns under the constraints of pedestrian access to urban road networks remain poorly under-
High density
stood. Hong Kong, with an average population density of 68,500 persons/km2, has one of the world's densest
Livability
urban environments. This study investigated community facility distribution through a comprehensive network
analysis using fine-scale dataset. Results showed that highly dense urban form ensured access to certain facilities
and services and that daily service and amenities provision was positively correlated to building density and
performance of community spatial characteristics. The findings provide insights for planning and designing to
provide better facility services to meet people's daily needs regarding amenities and services and for the con-
figuration of a dense urban form.

1. Introduction accessibility. Urban planners are also hard to evaluate, and to what
degree community facility distribution is equitable and contributes to a
The quality of the urban built environment is a critical concern in satisfactory quality of life is attributed to different urban form settings.
urban planning. A well-built environment should balance urban form Hong Kong is well-known for its high density and compact urban
and activities occurring in neighborhoods (Dempsey, 2008). Service- form. In a highly dense city, neighborhood service access is associated
based communities provide a more modern living standard and lifestyle with the unique characteristics of centralized demand, which enables
that correspond to people's diverse needs and offer a wide range of high livability and sustainability due to the adequacy of facility service
recreational activities within specific geographic areas (Altschuler, provision (Tang, 2017). While several studies have focused on Hong
Somkin, & Adler, 2004). Issues of community facilities' spatial equity Kong's dense built environment (e.g., Cheung & Tang, 2016; Lee &
have been examined during the last decades (Chang & Liao, 2011; Chan, 2008; Yuen & Yeh, 2011), few have addressed how dense urban
Chen, Hui, Lang, & Tao, 2016; Forsyth, Hearst, Oakes, & Schmitz, 2008; form affects community facility service distribution at the neighbor-
Lotfi & Koohsari, 2009; Talen & Anselin, 1998; Tsou, Hung, & Chang, hood scale as well as individuals' daily lives.
2005; Van Kamp, Leidelmeijer, Marsman, & De Hollander, 2003). The present study aimed to measure how urban form affects com-
Furthermore, satisfactory access to community facilities and adequate munity facility distribution, using Hong Kong as an example of a dense
provision of daily services and amenities within walking distance from urban city, with a focus on pedestrian accessibility. The specific re-
homes or workplaces are fundamental standards of a good living en- search objectives were: 1) identify community facility distribution
vironment and closely linked to people's livability standards (Jacobs, patterns in the high-density city of Hong Kong; 2) perform a compre-
1961). However, there has been scant interest in urban form's effect on hensive analysis measuring characteristics of neighborhood-level ser-
assessing access to community facilities with respect to pedestrian vices on the basis of pedestrian mode using the actual street network; 3)

⁎
Corresponding author at: Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Sun Yat-sen University, D212, School of Geography and Planning, No. 135, Xingangxi
Road, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, 510275, China.
E-mail address: [email protected] (T. Chen).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2018.07.003
Received 22 January 2018; Received in revised form 23 April 2018; Accepted 10 July 2018
0264-2751/ © 2018 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Please cite this article as: Lang, W., Cities (2018), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2018.07.003
W. Lang et al. Cities xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

explore the relationship between community facility spatial distribution 2.2. Spatial access to community facilities
and dense urban form; and 4) provide insights for planners on ex-
amining urban development and planning community facilities to Community facilities refer to daily services provided to the public to
achieve a livable built environment and quality of place. support urban neighborhoods' social and community life (Borgatti,
The rest of this paper is organized as follows: first is an overview of Mehra, Brass, & Labianca, 2009). The hierarchy of community facilities
related literature, followed by the Methodology and Data sections. The is typically service-based rather than catering to mega-event venues or
Exploratory Results section presents the findings of the analysis of civic functions drawing citywide users (e.g., heritage and cultural at-
centrality measures in network analysis and spatial autocorrelation. tractions, city libraries). These facilities include service centers, shops,
Finally, the Discussion and Conclusion sections present the results and restaurants, markets, cafes, and bars. Generally, community service
their implications for urban planning. accessibility measures are critical in assessing whether current urban
planning satisfies residents' needs and desires, in other words, spatial
equity and quality (Smith, Nelischer, & Perkins, 1997). However, cur-
2. Literature review rently urban planners are inadequately informed on how to design a
quality community or equitably provide community facilities for daily
2.1. Form and function in urban spaces activities (Chen et al., 2016).
Community facility access is multidimensional. Typically, access is
Urban form and function have been studied extensively in urban characterized in terms of spatial externalities, including urban land-use
geography and planning (Crooks et al., 2015). While studies at city- and patterns, transport networks, people's mobility, the frictional effect of
metropolitan-scale are prevalent in the U.S. and Europe (Batty & travel distance, and facility property (Chang & Liao, 2011). In addition,
Longley, 1994; Burton, 2000; Clifton, Ewing, Knaap, & Song, 2008; spatial determinism and other spatial limitations have long been a
Schwarz, 2010), few studies handle community scale and understand deep-rooted issue in urban planning (Lynch & Rodwin, 1958). In
compact development. Knaap et al. (2007) and Song and Knaap (2004) Lynch's (1981) concept, access (meaning citizens can indulge in activ-
measured community scale variables for a comparative study in the U.S. ities, buy goods, see places, and gather information) was identified as
and found that urban form varies across different areas and over time. one of five dimensions of “good city form” (Montgomery, 1998).
Crooks et al. (2015) utilized social media, trajectory, and traffic data to Clearly, the availability and spatial distribution of community facilities
analyze and capture the evolving nature of a city's form and function. along a street network are significant for examining how urban form
Nedovic-Budic, Knaap, Shahumyan, Williams, and Slaev (2016) applied affects spatial patterns of human activities on streets.
community-level measures of connectivity, density, and land use mix in Recent efforts to evaluate community facilities' spatial access have
the European context to measure urban form. Empirical studies of concentrated on one type of facility or its accessibility, service, or im-
urban form at the local community scale are sporadic in European, pact range issues, for example public playgrounds (Singleton, Longley,
American, and Asian research. Allen, & O'Brien, 2011), urban parks and green space (Oh & Jeong,
Urban form in a particular context can limit community facility 2007), and recreational facilities (Chen et al., 2016). Limited studies
access. The interaction between urban form and community facility have considered a systematic, quantitative approach for evaluating
distribution depends on various spatial factors that affect people's ac- spatial access to numerous related community facilities (Dadashpoor
tual use of services and amenities (Fan & Khattak, 2009). Urban form et al., 2016; Taleai, Sliuzas, & Flacke, 2014). Consequently, it is hard to
introduces geometric constraints on facilities' location. Locations with answer whether community facilities' spatial access and distribution is
better access are more likely to be chosen as facility locations in cities. equitable and satisfies residents' preferences and daily needs (Tsou
The exogenous effects of urban form on location characteristics are et al., 2005).
hypothetically considered important in a dense urban environment.
However, to date, relatively few studies have measured community- 2.3. Compact development and community facility distribution
scale urban form where livability impact is most powerfully manifested
and experienced (Nedovic-Budic et al., 2016; Song & Knaap, 2004; Bourne (1992) directs attention to “more compact and humane”
Southworth & Owens, 1993). urban forms in the face of challenges from urban sprawl and rapid
Urban form, at the community scale, is often defined in terms of urbanization. Urban growth's pace requires urban and community fa-
connectivity and accessibility (street network, transportation); land use cilities supporting development to coincide with urban form's impact.
types, intensity, mix, and proximity; population, employment, and However, Bourne provides little empirical evidence for his argument
amenities' density and distribution (clustering, scatter); and contiguity that compact urban form tends to be more dense and equitable with
(dispersion, fragmentation) and built environment shape. Many studies better urban quality of life (Bardhan, Kurisu, & Hanaki, 2015; Burton,
have focused on the accessibility metrics that capture the quality of 2000; Gordon & Richardson, 1997). The paradox of high-density com-
services that reflect the urban environment's interfaces (Jiang, pact development in Hong Kong or other similar cities, like Kolkata,
Claramunt, & Batty, 1999; Lotfi & Koohsari, 2009). Pasaogullari and Bandung, Tokyo, and Beijing, often insinuates a compromise with li-
Doratli (2004) investigated urban amenities' spatial distribution, such vability and quality of life. Thus, many studies have examined the re-
as public space utilization and accessibility, which are influenced by lationship between compactness and urban environmental quality
location, proximity, travel time, and street's physical characteristics. (Burton, 2000; Burton et al., 1996; Calthorpe, 1993; Newman &
Cervero and Kockelman (1997) constructed micro-level attributes of Kenworthy, 1989; Pacione, 1989; de Schiller & Evans, 2000; Thomas &
land and urban form (3Ds, density, diversity, and design) associated Cousins, 1996). Yet, previous literature has not paid particular atten-
with mode choice (walking, non-motorized travel) and show that built tion to whether compact urban form benefits the concentration and
environment's attributes are strongly associated with neighborhood distribution of community facilities and activities that may help exploit
walkability. Porta, Crucitti, and Latora (2005) show that amenity economies of scale for public services and environment externalities
choice and service quality the built environment offers are achieved not (Burton, 2000; Chen, Jia, & Lau, 2008; Rudline & Falk, 1999).
only through higher densities but also through pathway configuration. Density is positively related to service quality in the particular
Regardless of micro-level data availability, more researchers have re- context of an urban environment (Carruthers & Ulfarsson, 2003).
duced the difficulties in measuring travel paths and capturing con- Denser cities generate higher levels of interaction between people and
nected locations along actual road networks (Kang, 2015; Lang, Radke, their living environment (Talen & Duany, 2006) and impose lower
Chen, & Chan, 2016; Long, 2016; Oh & Jeong, 2007). transportation costs. However, density alone is insufficient to warrant
desirable interactions for living, working, and recreation (Larice, 2006).

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W. Lang et al. Cities xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

Table 1
Densities and facilities at neighborhood level in Hong Kong.
Communities Population Land area (km2) Density (people per hectare) Facilities counts People per facilities No. buildings

Tseung Kwan O (TKO) 316,329 3.6 879 1026 308 1112

Tin Shui Wai (TSW) 258,301 3.1 833 921 280 907
Chai Wan 164,143 2.2 746 1040 158 960
(CW)
Total 738,773 8.9 830 2987 247 2979

To sustain a healthy, livable community with appropriate and necessary 3.2. Data
facility services accessible to all neighborhood residents, it is vital to
determine compact urban form's effects on the distribution pattern of The study used various data sources to examine community facil-
community facilities in the existing urban fabric (Lin et al., 2017). ities' dense urban form and distribution in Hong Kong. Data were de-
rived from: 1) spatial data: building layers (including building volume
and geographical coordinates) and neighborhood boundaries; 2) net-
3. Methodology work data: road and pedestrian characteristics; and 3) georeferenced
data: community facility locations. Community facilities were geor-
3.1. Study area eferenced and added as a separate layer from which addresses were
extracted from Google Maps APIs and combined with the official data
The following communities were examined in Hong Kong as case from the Hong Kong Planning Department and Lands Department for
studies: Tseung Kwan O (TKO), Tin Shui Wai (TSW), and Chai Wan facility locations.
(CW). These three neighborhoods in Kowloon Peninsula (TKO and Community facilities of a neighborhood scale refer to the kind of
TSW) and Hong Kong Island (CW) are spatially well-defined and simi- facilities that typically represent inhabitants' daily needs from a specific
larly sized. They represent the highly dense urban environment typical community. The Community Facilities Standards of the Planning
in Hong Kong neighborhoods. Furthermore, the neighborhoods' in- Department presented 12 categories: community halls and social wel-
tegrity, self-sufficiency, well-defined boundaries, and contextual re- fare; education; medical and health; ambulance service; police stations;
presentativeness of development were the criteria for selection in this correctional; post office; fire service; art venues; magistracies; public
study. The land areas of TKO, TSW, and CW are 3.6, 3.1, and 2.2 km2, mortuaries and funeral depots; and parlors. In addition, facilities were
with a population of 316,329, 258,301, and 164,143, respectively. classified into two groups: (a) Group A refers to facilities of territory-
Their average population densities are 879, 833, and 746 people per wise importance, providing government public services for the general
hectare, respectively (Table 1). Fig. 1 provides a graphic representation public rather than specific users and those not dependent on the facil-
of the study areas on the left side. The three neighborhoods are shown ities' services; (b) Group B refers to facilities of greater local im-
in satellite imagery on the right and bottom. portance, serving specific users' recreation activities and those who
frequently use these facilities. Based on data availability, actual con-
ditions, and standards from the Planning Department and City Council

Fig. 1. Location map of the neighborhoods in this study.

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W. Lang et al. Cities xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

Urban Form
Reach
High-density cities Gravity
Network analysis Betweenness
Daily services and Closeness
amenities at Spatial Metrics Straightness
neighborhood level

ArcGIS
Python
Spatial correlation OLS Model
Community facilities

Road networks

Planning Buildings
Planning for livable
standards Google API/ Official
dense urban
Incentives dataset (facilities)
environments
Guidelines
Fig. 2. Schematic framework of this study for spatial analysis at neighborhood level.

(Group B), selected community facilities were utilized for quantitative defined with buildings weighted:
assessment in this study, including nursery classes and kindergartens,
primary schools, community halls, child care centers, integrated chil-
Reachr [i] = ∑ W [j]
j ∈ G − {i}, d [i, j] ≤ r (2)
dren and youth services centers, study rooms, post offices, grocery
shops, coffee shops, and restaurants. where W[j] is the weight of the building node. A limited-radius buffer
area is calculated from a building i in all directions along the street
3.3. Neighborhood-level spatial metrics network until the distance r is reached. Reach refers to the number of
total destinations j (defined as black dots) found within the limited
Fig. 2 illustrates this study's research framework. Initially, we pre- reach distance's radius along the street network. This index illustrates
pared a vector layer of the Hong Kong base map from which we ob- the number of buildings (by volume) reachable from each building in a
tained the spatial data set from the Hong Kong Lands Department's 500-m walking distance in all directions. In high Reach value areas,
shape files. After creating the community facilities and road network buildings are large and densely spaced, and/or street networks are
layers, we ran the spatial network analysis and produced maps com- dense.
bining the geographical information and showing the areas best for
services. Previous studies have suggested that most facility visits for 3.3.2. Gravity
daily services and amenities are done on foot and that neighborhood Within a given “Search Radius” weighting by building size in “Node
quality is shaped by street character (Jacobs, 1993). Therefore, the Weight Attributes,” the Gravity index measures the spatial accessibility
analysis focused on foot travels to neighborhood facilities to determine constrained by spatial impedance in traveling to the destinations. In
pedestrian access from various origins (e.g. residences, workplaces, and high Gravity value areas, building volumes are large, road networks are
leisure facilities). This method not only quantifies walk accessibility dense, and buildings are located close together.
and walkable proximity to service facilities but also captures the spatial Hansen (1959) first developed the Gravity measure assuming that
qualities of neighborhoods providing such services. accessibility of building i is proportional to the weight of the destination
The analysis diagram is calculated from 5 to 10 min by foot (ap- building j but inversely proportional to the distance between building i
proximately a 500-m path radius) along actual road networks in Hong and j:
Kong (Waddell & Ulfarsson, 2003). Previous studies suggest a 10-min W [j]
walking radius is conducive for most pedestrian travels to neighbor- Gravity r [i] = ∑
j ∈ G − {i}, d [i, j] ≤ r
e β ∙ d [i, j] (3)
hood destinations (Canepa, 2007; Handy & Niemeier, 1997; Zacharias,
2001). Thus, the network radius was set at 500 m for each building's where Gravity measures building i within graph G within a search ra-
geodesic distance from origin to destination. dius r, by weighting travel destination j - W[j], d[i, j] is the geodesic
To capture neighborhood fine-scale spatial characteristics, this distance between buildings i and j, and exponent β adjusts the effects of
study applied five measurements of urban form from the “Urban distance decay. This measure captures the weighted attraction of the
Network Analysis Toolbox” in ArcGIS (Sevtsuk, 2010, 2014; Sevtsuk & travel destinations (W [j]) and the spatial impedance to travel to those
Mekonnen, 2012): Reach, Betweenness, Gravity, Closeness, and Straight- buildings (d [i, j]). The distance decay is applied with exponent β spe-
ness, shown in detail below. cified from the assumed travel mode for walking measured in “min-
utes,” when β falls to around 0.1813 (Handy & Niemeier, 1997).
3.3.1. Reach
The Reach centrality Reachr[i] measured building i reaches within 3.3.3. Betweenness
walking-distance radius along the road networks in a graph G, which Betweenness characterizes the number of trip frequencies each con-
indicates the number of surrounding buildings that can be reached from nection is passed along the closest routes from origin to destination. It is
building i taking the closest route of distance r. This measure is defined defined as the fraction of all the shortest routes between pairs of other
in the following: buildings along the street network passing through building i (Freeman,
1977). Some facilities are located in frequently visited positions while
Rr [i] = ‖{j ∈ G − {i}: d [i, j] ≤ r }‖ (1)
others have few visitors. Betweenness refers to those facilities that are
where d [i,j] is the closest route distance between buildings i and j in G, between others and can be used randomly, with minimal plan or pur-
and ‖S‖is the cardinality of the set S. The reach measure can be also pose. The Betweenness measure is defined as follows:

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W. Lang et al. Cities xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

Fig. 3. Results of the five metrics to each building on road network in Tseung Kwan O (TKO), Hong Kong. (a) Satellite imagery; (b) Reach index; (c) Gravity index; (d)
Betweenness centrality; (e) Closeness centrality; (f) Straightness centrality.

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W. Lang et al. Cities xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

(caption on next page)

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W. Lang et al. Cities xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

Fig. 4. Results of the five metrics to each building on road network in Tin Shui Wai (TSW), Hong Kong. (a) Satellite imagery; (b) Reach index; (c) Gravity index; (d)
Betweenness centrality; (e) Closeness centrality; (f) Straightness centrality.

Fig. 5. Results of the five metrics to each building on road network in Chai Wan (CW), Hong Kong. (a) Satellite imagery; (b) Reach index; (c) Gravity index; (d)
Betweenness centrality; (e) Closeness centrality; (f) Straightness centrality.

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W. Lang et al. Cities xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

njk [i] 4. Exploratory results and findings

Betweennessr [i] = ∑ njk
∙W [j]
j, k ∈ G − {i}, d [i, j] ≤ r ; d [i, k ] ≤ r (4)
4.1. Access to buildings and location choices in the context of dense urban
where Betweennessr[i] measures building i within a search radius r; njk[i] form
accumulates the total number of trips from building j to building k
passing through building i along the shortest routes. Betweenness for Through five centrality measurements in the spatial network ana-
building i is computed by considering all pairs of buildings j and k that lysis, buildings as spatial units on road networks illustrated urban
are within a radius r from each other, and when the shortest path from j form's spatial characteristics and its overall exogenous effects on facility
to k (or k to j) that passes by building i is within r. Betweenness estimates location choices. Results shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5 indicate buildings
the potential passersby travel to visit facilities at different buildings with high scores for each measurement colored in red; in contrast,
along the street network (Porta et al., 2009), weighted by node weight buildings with low scores for each measurement were colored green.
attributes (building volume) (Brandes, 2001). Differently located facilities along the road network have different ac-
cessibility. Red areas highlight a favorable performance with respect to
high spatial accessibility.
3.3.4. Closeness Fig. 3 shows the overall results of the analysis on TKO. Fig. 3a
Closeness demonstrates the inverse of cumulative travel distance displays the actual bird's-eye image of this neighborhood with a clearly
from one building to all other buildings within a search radius r along defined red-dash boundary. TKO, with its urban area proximity, was
the street network on the shortest paths (Sabidussi, 1966). Closeness developed by the Hong Kong government as a new town. Planning of
indicates a building's proximity to all surrounding buildings within a the TKO new town clustered along the MTR-corridor with huge, con-
given distance threshold. The Closeness measure is denoted as follows: centrated residential complexes surrounding the MTR stations,
with > 80% of the population living within 5 min of an MTR station.
1
Closenessr [i] = Fig. 3b explicitly presents Reach, where three distinct cores in red colors
∑j ∈ G − {i}, d [i, j] ≤ r (d [i, j] ∙W [j]) (5) (high Reach) exhibit high clustering of accessibility with more facilities.
The agglomeration of places located in three MTR stations (Hang Hau,
where Closenessr[i] measures building i within a search radius r, d[i, j] Tseung Kwan O, Tiu Keng Leng Stations) comprised mostly building
defines the shortest travel distance between nodes i and j, and W[j] is complexes and an extensive network of mid-sized shopping arcades
the weight of the path destination building j. connected by footbridges. Fig. 3c demonstrates Gravity, the geometric
difference between road networks. Red areas are central gravitation
points. Fig. 3d displays Betweenness, and red-colored buildings are lo-
3.3.5. Straightness
cated in TKO community centers linked to public transport nodes,
Straightness indicates the extent of the total distance of the shortest
where there are better connections, pass-by traffic, and more commu-
paths from a place to all other neighborhood places against the total
nity facilities. Fig. 3e illustrates Closeness, in which dense clusters of
distance of straight Euclidean paths (Vragović, Louis, & Diaz-Guilera,
residential buildings and large commercial complexes in well-con-
2005). The Straightness index captures travel distances' positive devia-
tions resulting from the street network's geometric constraints com- nected locations, mainly located in TKO's north, are indicated by red-
colored areas. Fig. 3f displays Straightness as clustering centers of ac-
pared with straight-line distances in a featureless plane. Straightness is
formally expressed (Porta et al., 2005) as follows: cessibility in hot colors, showing a similar pattern as Reach, which in-
cluded more community facilities with densely spaced and directly
δ [i, j] linked road networks.
Straightness [i]r = ∑ ·W [j]
d [i, j] Fig. 4 shows the overall results of the TSW analysis. Fig. 4a shows
j ∈ G − {i}, d [i, j] ≤ r (6)
TSW's actual built environment, with its well-recognized boundary
where Straightness[i]r measures building i within a search radius r, δ[i, j] among rivers and highways, in a red dashed line. TSW, located in the
is the distance of the Euclidean straight-line between buildings i and j, northwestern part of Hong Kong, was developed in the 1980s through
and d[i, j] is the travel distance of the shortest paths between the same land reclamation as Hong Kong's eighth new town with a 2014 popu-
buildings. Straightness essentially indicates the length of the shortest lation of 292,000. Fig. 4b demonstrates Reach, in which the high reach
path connecting all building to surrounding nodes j compared with the of accessibility in the red-colored areas is largely concentered along
as-the-crow-flies distance. main streets. The hot-colored areas are clusters of public housing, with
an agglomeration of more facilities nearby. Fig. 4c illustrates Gravity, in
which the neighborhoods appear from a number of gravity centers in
3.4. Spatial autocorrelation hot colors. These Gravity central places are spatially scattered, hinging
on accessible streets and aggregated buildings. Fig. 4d presents Be-
Based on the centrality measurements' results, ordinary least tweenness, with relatively low discrepancies among places. Only a few
squares (OLS) linear regression was performed in ArcGIS to model the places have red-colored buildings, designating high bypass traffic and
relationships among the set of explanatory variables, including spatial no association with community facility locations. Fig. 4e displays Clo-
configurations (Reach, Gravity, Betweenness, Closeness, and Straightness seness as a clear spatial pattern. TSW's southern zone was occupied by
values), facility distributions (counts in cells), and density (buildings' largely developed public housing estates with large building volumes
volume). The three neighborhoods' study areas were gridded with connected by short distances to adjacent buildings, whereas community
fishnets at cells that were 100 by 100 m. Map layers of centrality facilities do not follow this distribution pattern. Considering the “new
measurements, facility geographical distributions, and building den- town + TOD” development mode adopted in TSW, community facilities
sities (volume) were used to define the “Input Feature Class” and in- concentrate in transit nodes and along corridors. Thus, high Closeness
terpolated into each cell. Statistically significant spatial autocorrelation areas are shown in hot colors around neighborhood peripheries and
in the OLS regression residuals indicates positive interactions among south side of community centers. Fig. 4f displays Straightness similarly
those factors and differentiates the predicted values in relation to ob- to Reach. High accessibility of straightness in hot colors clusters along
served values. The OLS model's diagnostics fully explain each relation two main streets, Tin Wah Road and Tin Shui Road, northwest of TSW,
by interpreting OLS regression results, inspecting the regression re- where more community facilities are concentrated. These areas are
siduals' over-prediction and under-prediction and identifying commu- characterized by directly linked roads and a high density of road net-
nity facilities' spatial clustering. works. Another mass of community facilities is situated in TSW's south,

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W. Lang et al. Cities xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

although this area has relatively low Straightness, shown in green, be- population would attract more facilities. Passing traffic was also a
cause a recently built MTR station is seen at the street entrance into crucial factor that affects facility location. Facilities were more likely to
TSW. be located in between other facilities with higher passing traffic and
Fig. 5 shows the overall analysis results on CW. Fig. 5a shows CW's footfall. In addition, Straightness was positively correlated with facil-
actual built environment with a red dashed line indicating the ities' location choices, where they were usually accompanied by dense
boundary between natural constraints and throughways. CW, located in networks and narrow straight roads, strongly linking blocks within the
the east end of Hong Kong Island's urban area, is a mosaic of industrial neighborhoods, and better visibility from different access routes.
and residential areas. It is served by two MTR rapid transit railway Furthermore, the positive relationship between the three neigh-
stations, Chai Wan Station and Heng Fa Chuen Station. Fig. 5b shows borhoods' community facility locations and Reach was moderately sig-
two clustering high Reach areas, with concentrations of more commu- nificant. Reach results indicated that locations close to adjacent desti-
nity facilities, where Chai Wan MTR station and the Siu Sai Wan area nations were more likely to cater to community facilities. The Reach
are located among building complexes. Fig. 5c presents Gravity gen- results in all three neighborhoods exhibited a spatially positive corre-
erally as random spatial patterns with high Gravitation of centrality in lation with community facility distribution.
red color scattered throughout CW. Community facility locations are Access to buildings within a 500-m radius along the road network
unrelated to Gravity's morphological result. Fig. 5d identifies Between- was positively correlated with building volumes, suggesting that den-
ness, with three clustering areas of high Betweenness in hot colors, si- sity probably increases as more community facilities become accessible
milar to Reach. These high Betweenness areas are distinguished by a within a 10-min walk along the streets. Clearly, a location with dense
large volume of building complexes with well-connected streets to urban form was more likely to contain more facilities for activities and
outside areas. The centers of these two clustering areas contain Chai services than a low-density built environment. Larger buildings were
Wan MTR Station and Siu Sai Wan feeder bus terminus. In Fig. 5e, superior to small-scale residential blocks for commercial entities.
Closeness displays a completely different spatial pattern, in which hot- Generally, these results coincided with the analysis of Figs. 3–5 in
colored areas have high Closeness to surrounding building destinations this section. Community facility spatial distribution in the three
along the streets. This representation is apparently unrelated to com- neighborhoods was highly related to (a) the communities' development
munity facility distribution. In Fig. 5f, Straightness exhibits the same factors for Reach, Betweenness, and Straightness, all of which appear to
spatial pattern as both Reach and Betweenness, wherein three clusters of cluster in highly dense building complexes; (b) population density and
high Straightness areas accommodate large volumes of building com- buildings volumes; and most importantly, (c) community spatial char-
plexes with dense, direct streets inside, linking the MTR stations to acteristics.
surrounding places, like Siu Sai Wan, a new residential area located in
CW's eastern zone, and Heng Fa Chuen, a private resident estate con- 5. Discussion
structed in the late 1970s.
5.1. Locational factors and agglomeration of facilities for service provision
4.2. Positive relationships of neighborhood spatial characteristics with the
spatial distribution pattern of community facilities The study has shown that Hong Kong's community facility dis-
tribution was significantly related to location, clustering, and spatial
We adopted an OLS model with the five measurements and locations characteristics. Location factor was an initial parameter to explain ob-
as independent variables and conducted diagnostics for spatial auto- served patterns in the three neighborhoods' pedestrian accessibility
correlation. The spatial autocorrelated OLS model allowed us to ex- from surrounding buildings to facilities. The emerging patterns could
amine whether facility location was related to a neighborhood's spatial be, in part, due to the large size of complex buildings around trans-
characteristics, that is, urban form. The OLS model results as shown in portation nodes, such as MTR stations, main street junctions, and
Table 2 indicated a few correlations are significant at the 90% level, community centers. Locations with better people access attracted more
where location choices of community facilities and neighborhood facilities, including themed dining and retail centers, cinemas, art
characteristics exhibited significant spatial autocorrelation. The prob- market areas, parks, open spaces, and the like. Particularly, numerous
ability of the standard residuals matched the normal curve, indicating facilities for daily services and amenities were located within walking
proper model structure. distance from transit nodes and complex buildings accommodating
Table 2 demonstrates that the Betweenness values were highly sig- them. This setup reflected a typical development mode of Hong Kong,
nificant and positive, meaning the probability of facilities was sig- that is, the Transit-Oriented Development (TOD). The TOD entities
nificantly higher in buildings in more trafficked locations on more-used concentrate a mix of pedestrian-friendly and moderately dense devel-
paths between other buildings. Places that aggregate a higher opment to attract diverse, vibrant community facilities around transit
nodes and corridors (Cervero, 2009; Cervero & Murakami, 2009)).
Table 2 Large building complexes were another prime reason for more
Summary of results of ordinary least squares (OLS) model for spatial auto- community facility aggregation. Choosing among the facilities depends
correlation between metrics and facility distribution. on facility features, categories, and people's interests rather than
Variables Probability Robust probability t-Statistic proximity: people prefer visiting facilities for various activities on the
same trip, giving rise to large buildings with multipurpose facilities,
Intercept 0.000⁎ 0.000⁎ 7.330 that is, a high concentration of services (Arentze, Oppewal, &
Reach 0.015⁎⁎ 0.174 2.424
Timmermans, 2005). This argument is consistent with tour results that
Gravity 0.520 0.630 0.644
Betweenness 0.000⁎⁎⁎ 0.028⁎⁎ 3.551 found facilities agglomerated around transit nodes and main streets, in
Closeness 0.303 0.352 −1.031 which these places are large building clusters with high centrality and
Straightness 0.002⁎⁎⁎ 0.116 −1.572 accessibility showing high scores of Reach, Straightness, and Betweenness
Building volume (density) 0.082⁎ 0.175 1.739 This agglomeration effect is also induced by Hong Kong's typical
TOD development mode, that is proximity of the dense mix of transit
Notes: ⁎indicates a statistically significant regression relationships p-value.
Number of Observations: 1090 cells, 2979 identified buildings, and 2987 se- stations, human-scale pedestrian network, and vibrant neighborhoods
lected facilities. (Cervero & Murakami, 2009).). CW is one of Hong Kong's oldest dis-
⁎ tricts and consists of more mixed land use in terms of commercial,
p < 0.1.
⁎⁎ business, and public facilities and services, along with wharfs and mass
p < 0.05.
⁎⁎⁎
p < 0.01. transit stations. In contrast, TSW and TKO are two typical new towns of

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W. Lang et al. Cities xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

residential districts, although TKO has relatively more functions and facilities is an important step toward developing livable, highly dense
mixed land use, with four MTR stations. In particular, TSW is oriented cities. This study comprehensively examined pedestrian access from
toward residential development with only one MTR station within the building origins to destinations of community facilities by making
community boundary, but it has a large number of public housing es- centrality measurements of Reach, Gravity, Straightness, Betweenness,
tates within the neighborhood. Clearly, developing dense and compact and Closeness. It employed spatial analysis in three typical neighbor-
urban form to achieve service agglomerations becomes more prominent hoods in Hong Kong weighted by building volume along actual road
in a city like Hong Kong with a high aggregation of urban population, networks and used the OLS model in a spatial autocorrelation analysis
sustained pressure infrastructure, and a limited supply of land use re- to investigate community facilities' spatial pattern for the provision of
sources. This outcome is quite different from urban form in American daily amenities and services in a high-density urban form.
cities in plain sight, in which facilities are distributed along streets. There were two key findings. First, spatial configuration affected a
place's quality. Spatial characteristics are significant for explaining fa-
5.2. Good urban form, good community life? cility service landscape. Areas with high Reach cater to more facilities,
indicating people prefer services and amenities easily accessible by
Urban form is critical for explaining community facilities' spatial foot. Facilities were found in places of intense Betweenness and passing
patterns and understanding community quality (Smith et al., 1997). traffic. This observation highlights that passersby access is more critical
Community facility accessibility depends on road network connectivity than a special trip to a facility located nearby. More facilities are si-
and building density. Clusters with high values of all three measure- tuated around areas with preferable Straightness, implying that people
ments in the three neighborhoods exhibited analogous spatial char- prefer services and amenities located in dense, directly linked streets.
acteristics (see Figs. 3–5). People had better pedestrian access to facility We could also assume people largely prefer going to places that are
services on a daily basis. Places with high Straightness are directly directly visible. High building density is also an important spatial factor
connected to their surrounding built fabric and potentially visible to for accommodating intensive facilities, implying that people like to
landmarks or traffic nodes from far distances (Lynch, 1960). The three choose activities or services in close, densely built environments for
aforementioned -high-density urban neighborhoods facilitated reduced efficiency and convenience.
transportation obstacles and increased likelihood of interactions. Fur- Second, the spatial autocorrelation analysis depicted significantly
thermore, people's increased facility access enabled them to carry out positive relationships between facility distribution and performance of
more socioeconomic activities through improving neighborhoods' spa- urban spatial characteristics in terms of Reach, Straightness, Betweenness,
tial characteristics, for example, increasing buildings heights, spacing, and building density. Urban form's consistent effect on facility prob-
and more connected street networks. Generally, high-density neigh- abilities emphasized the impacts of streets or road design layouts and
borhoods increase available amenities and services options, also po- urban densities on the daily services and amenities provision.
tentially enhancing people's sense of familiarity and safety within these This research is imperative to not only planning theory but also
areas (Yung, Ho, & Chan, 2017). practice. It explicitly described the exogenous conditions of sur-
rounding built environments in relation to daily service accessibility.
5.3. Planning incentive vs livable urban neighborhoods Vibrant streets and livable highly dense neighborhoods cannot be
achieved simply by zoning or providing a design layout, considering
Planning intervention is critical for facility service maintenance for that the correlation between neighborhood spatial configuration and
a communities' daily needs. In Hong Kong, the zoning effect (Outline urban movement contributes to individuals' daily activities. Moreover,
Zoning Plan of Hong Kong) may separate grocery shops, coffee shops, the results could help decision makers and planners determine which
and restaurants from residential areas, particularly in industrial areas, neighborhoods are worse off and should be preferential in planning for
and inadequately address the provision of daily amenities and service future community facility distribution and improvement facilities.
within residential areas (Tang & Tang, 1999). In the last decades, Hong Setting appropriate planning guidelines and policy incentives for fa-
Kong has weakened the zoning effect through many TOD projects that cility provision of daily amenities and services could provide urban
have created a functionally diverse and human-scale development planners and policymakers help in reducing zoning constraints to sup-
within walking distance of transit nodes and a core business area. port a location's potential for community facility services. The im-
Furthermore, the decision of community facility location is made ac- plication of this study also enlightens our rethinking about “Form-Based
cording to corresponding growth in community service provision and Codes for Zoning Reform to Promote Sustainable Development”, which
the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines. Nevertheless, pro- insights from the US cities can be taken away for developing countries
vision scale and amount of these facilities is determined by considering to build high-density cities with quality of life, such as China.
finance and other practical limitations, possibly leading to insufficient In future work, the nature of services, potential users and visitors,
provision of community facilities in less densely populated areas of the service usage frequency, human interactions, creating comfortable pe-
New Territories. destrian access and streetscape enhanced by citywide public transit,
People's decisions shape the built environment, which in turn and minimizing cross traffic neighborhood impacts would also be cri-
shapes people's behavior. Exerting careful planning controls can give tical for choices determining community facility location. Behavioral
urban planners leverage to enhance community facility access, but evidence of urban form and the spatial distribution pattern of study
whether they provide “eyes upon the street” and generate street vi- objects using big data from open media sources also should be explored.
brancy proposed earlier by Jacobs (1961) is still questionable and cri-
tical. Our results showed that many demand destinations are neither Acknowledgement
located within favorable walking distances nor visually connected to
buildings, e.g., TSW's low Straightness value. TSW's emerging pattern is This paper is prepared with funding support from the Research
that, due to the TOD development mode's advantages, community fa- Institute of Sustainable Urban Development (A/C No. 1-ZVD1), Hong
cilities prefer to locate in main centers or within a walkable distance Kong Research Grant Council (RGC) research funding (A/C No.
(average 500 m); yet walking distances over 500 m may be slightly 540512) of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, National Natural
inconvenient for daily activities. Science Foundation of China (No. 41271138, 41571118), the
Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities in China (Ref.
6. Conclusions and policy implications 17lgy39), and Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province,
China (A/C No. 2018A030313221). The authors would thank for the
Understanding urban form's efficacy and effects on community valuable suggestions of two anonymous reviewers and editors of the

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W. Lang et al. Cities xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx

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