The effects of buildings' physical characteristics on urban network centrality

Abstract

Urban centrality is critical for comprehending cities’ most significant locations. Conventionally, urbanists analyzed urban centrality by transforming urban spatial networks into graph objects, with nodes and edges reflecting network intersections and connections. However, the conversion techniques neglected the weights based on the physical qualities of urban buildings and plots. The preceding statement presents the following question: “Does the buildings' weight impact the spatial layout centrality?”. Accordingly, this article seeks to quantify the buildings' weights by establishing an urban centrality model that includes the buildings' physical characteristics and positions. The research methodology adopts the GIS analysis and consists of three steps: first, determine the buildings' weights; second, calculate the buildings' betweenness centrality using the R packages for calculating anti-betweenness centrality; and third, calculate the buildings' critical centrality or weighted anti-betweenness (ABtw). The research demonstrated that buildings' architectural traits influence urban centrality; the effect is negative when enhanced by implicit spatial network anti-betweenness, explaining that such sites are less accessible to the public and unfit for future growth.