Speaker
Description
The community life circle is a key unit in urban built-up areas and serves as the daily spatial domain through which individuals interact with the city. It supports diverse human activities and, as an urban design concept, emphasizes density, mixed-use, and pedestrian accessibility, becoming increasingly popular for its sustainability and livability benefits. In high-density cities, community life circles are interconnected through shared facilities and functional linkages due to construction limitations. The hierarchical structure and spatial configuration of these circles shape the area's functional structure and potentially influence its carbon emissions. While existing studies primarily focus on how spatial morphology and infrastructure configurations influence carbon emissions through regional microclimates and human mobility behaviors. Less attention has been given to the differentiated carbon emission effects arising from the interrelationships between community life circles, as well as the spatial fragmentation caused by community life circle clusters and its manifestation in urban carbon emissions.
The present study uses Nanjing, China, as a case to investigate community life circle clusters formed based on facility-sharing patterns, examining their spatial distribution characteristics and impacts on carbon emissions. First, community activities are classified into self-sufficient, neighborhood, and shared categories based on typical activity areas, and linked to specific facility types (3 categories, 15 facility types) along with their spatial locations using urban point-of-interest (POI) data. Second, based on Nanjing's community life circle planning, 611 community points in the central urban area are identified, and facility packages are formed for each point, consisting of facilities within 5-, 10-, and 15-minute walking distances, along with the nearest facilities meeting the activity requirements. Next, after analyzing the facility overlap within the 611 facility packages, including the number and types of overlapping facilities between any two packages and their categorized proportions, shared clusters with high overlap are identified and categorized. Subsequently, using carbon emission data at the block scale from the ODIAC Fossil Fuel Emission Dataset, the impact of carbon emissions on each shared cluster is analyzed based on indicators such as cluster type, the proportion of shared facilities, and facility types. Finally, Nanjing's natural landscape and spatial elements are considered to discuss the external factors that contribute to the formation of community life circle clusters, and recommendations for community building to promote urban sustainability and social equity are proposed.
Preliminary results indicate significant differences in the extent of facility sharing among different types of community life circle clusters. The carbon emission levels of shared clusters vary according to the types of shared facilities, with the sharing of higher-level activity facilities (e.g., large commercial and entertainment facilities) typically leading to increased carbon emissions. Clusters with more basic shared facilities tend to maintain relatively low carbon emission levels. Additionally, higher facility overlap may contribute to increased carbon emissions. Certain facility types, such as green spaces and public transportation stations, appear to have a more direct positive effect on reducing carbon emissions. Future analysis will further explore the specific impact of facility sharing on carbon emissions and, considering Nanjing’s natural landscape and urban structure, offer targeted community optimization recommendations to promote sustainable urban development and equitable service provision.
References
Abbiasov, T. et al. (2024) The 15-minute city quantified using human mobility data, Nature Human Behaviour, 8(3), pp. 445–455.
Bruno, M. et al. (2024) A universal framework for inclusive 15-minute cities, Nature Cities, 1(10), pp. 633–641.
Dong, Q. et al. (2023) How building and street morphology affect CO2 emissions: Evidence from a spatially varying relationship analysis in Beijing, Building and Environment, 236, p. 110258.
Mouratidis, K. (2024) Time to challenge the 15-minute city: Seven pitfalls for sustainability, equity, livability, and spatial analysis, Cities, 153, p. 105274.
Song, L., Kong, X. and Cheng, P. (2024) Supply-demand matching assessment of the public service facilities in 15-minute community life circle based on residents behaviors’, Cities, 144, p. 104637.
| Keywords | Community life circle; Facility sharing; Carbon emissions; Urban sustainability |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
