Measurement of Street Network Structure in Strip Cities: A Case Study of Lanzhou, China

Xin Li,Junwei Zeng,Yongsheng Qian,Xiaoping Guang,Xuting Wei

doi:10.3390/su14052839

Abstract

As the foundation and skeleton of urban space, the street network is significant to the urban travel environment and socio-economic activities. To reveal the structural characteristics of the street network, this paper proposes a measurement index system to study the street network structure and urban travel characteristics. To illustrate the relationship between spatial accessibility of streets in strip cities and residents’ travel and service demands, we take Lanzhou, a typical strip city, as an example for network analysis and study the hierarchical structure of physical, functional, and environmental characteristics of the street topological network. The results show that Lanzhou City has formed a radial network structure with traffic-oriented streets as the backbone and interconnected living streets. However, the development of old and new urban areas is still uneven. In terms of street function distribution, streets with a high degree of diversity are more attractive to population clustering and show a polycentric clustering feature in space related to the regional functional orientation and travel characteristics. Much of the structural difference in the centrality core-periphery of the street network under pedestrian and vehicular travel patterns are influenced by the street’s type and function. In addition, as part of the contribution, we provide an evaluation methodology that enables the analysis of street network centrality. These findings advance our understanding of strip city development.

Highlights

Academic Editor: Simon Elias BibriSince reforms were undertaken in China and the opening of the economy, the acceleration in urban development has led to an increase in demand for mobility
We propose a metric measurement system that reflects the physical, functional, and environmental characteristics of streets to reflect the spatial parameters of street places using topological network accessibility
The study confirms the importance of street networks for aggregating facilities and travel patterns in strip cities, which is conducive to improving the functional compounding of street spaces and enhancing street accessibility in cities

Summary

Introduction

Academic Editor: Simon Elias BibriSince reforms were undertaken in China and the opening of the economy, the acceleration in urban development has led to an increase in demand for mobility. The urban street network, a skeleton of a city, has both physical and social attributes and is a crucial factor for sustainable urban development. The layout of urban streets directly affects the spatial distribution, facilities, environment, and gathering of the population . The street network serves the demands of human activities as it is the main carrier of the flow of material elements in urban space that supports the orderly and efficient operation of urban social activities [2]. The hierarchy, layout, and functional–structural characteristics of strip cities have a continuous impact on the spatial and temporal sustainability of the urban population and facilities. As street networks confer spatial distribution, attractiveness, and order to cities, they are crucial to the sustainability of a city

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