Can mixed land use promote social integration? Multiple mediator analysis based on spatiotemporal big data in Beijing

Abstract

Social isolation has caused several problems, such as increasing income disparities, aggravated mental problems, and rising crime rate; therefore, various methods have been explored to overcome social isolation. Among them, mixed land use is a significant concern of many researchers. Many previous studies have focused on the impact of isolated land use on social isolation; however, few studies profoundly explore the connection between mixed land use and social integration. Therefore, this study constructed a three-dimensional impact path framework of "attraction mobility tolerance" based on the succession theory and explored the impact of mixed land use on social integration within the Sixth Ring Road area of Beijing based on the Location-based Service Data (LBS) from 2017 to 2020. We determined that mixed land use will influence social integration through the simultaneous mediation of functional attraction, spatial mobility, and species tolerance. The impact of mixed land use on social integration is not always positive, and there are deviations in the paths between the two systems. Therefore, the mixed land use policy should pay more attention to those paths with inconsistent objectives, reverse the contradictory path, and enhance the path-transmit impact to promote social integration.