Assessing Urban Street Vitality Through Visual and Auditory Perception:

A case study of historic urban area in Guangzhou, China

Abstract

Urban streets serve as both transportation networks and public spaces, accommodating activity and travel demand. Evaluating street vitality is essential in assessing urban vitality. Existing studies usually employed indicators like population density through mobile phone signalling or app check-ins data to evaluate vitality intensity, but few have considered vitality quality from pedestrians' perspectives. Our study puts forward an approach to evaluate the vitality quality of urban streets based on the visual and auditory perception of pedestrians, using the historic urban area of Guangzhou, China, as a case. We collected multi-dimensional data, including street view images, videos, sound recordings, and user preference questionnaires. Streets were classified into nine types based on varying levels of vitality quality and intensity. Our primary finding revealed a spatial mismatch: areas with better street quality often have lower activity vitality, and vice versa. This suggests urban renewal should focus on improving both aspects. Different street types require targeted improvements, such as enhancing commercial atmosphere in tree-lined streets, increasing greenness in arcade streets, and managing noise levels on high-level motorized roads. These insights can provide valuable insights for the local government and urban planners to enhance urban street vitality.