What causes the spatiotemporal disparities in greenway use intensity? evidence from the central urban area of Beijing, China

Abstract

The reasonable layout of green sports space has positive significance for promoting residents’ outdoor sports. Existing studies rarely use large-scale trajectory data to analyze urban greenway physical activity; they mostly use on-site research and questionnaires to conduct research. This study, using central Beijing as a case study, identified the spatiotemporal relationships of greenway use intensity with the social, economic, and built environment. A multiscale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) model was used to explore the temporal heterogeneity of the factors, compensating for the lack of cross-sectional data in existing studies. The results demonstrated significant differences in the spatiotemporal patterns among the core, central and inner suburban areas, and they revealed residents’ preferences in different periods. The MGWR model indicated that there were obvious scale differences and spatial heterogeneity in the greenway use intensity among social, economic, and built environment factors. Housing prices, residential density, historical resource density, and greening quality of greenways contributed to greenway use intensity, which was weak in the core area and strong in the inner suburban area. The reason for the difference in the temporal dimension was related to commuting and the separation of workplaces and residences. The layout of the greenway should be combined with rivers, historical resources, and green space to improve its attractiveness. This paper improved the spatial awareness of greenway use and facilitated the ability of urban planners to generate appropriate strategies to improve land use efficiency in different regions and promote green spatial justice to meet the needs of green, healthy cities.