This Special Issue focuses on exploring the relationship between urban form, mobility, and social well-being across neighbourhoods, cities, and regions. Understanding more about these relationships is helpful in shaping integrated sustainable urban planning and transport development strategies. There is a growing body of research examining changes in well-being in response to social and spatial interventions (e.g., inequality, social exclusion, the built environment, land use, and transport development) and behavioural changes (e.g., travel preferences). However, there is a lack of understanding of the different types of well-being (e.g., social, hedonic, eudaimonic, short-term/long-term, or individual/collective well-being, as well as the spatial nature of well-being) and the variations in their impact. Furthermore, limited attention has been paid to the standardised measurement of well-being in both quantitative and qualitative terms in the field of social sciences, particularly regarding social and eudaimonic well-being, since they are abstract concepts and thus difficult to assess accurately. Therefore, there is an urgent need to further explore the relationship between urban form, mobility, and social well-being, as well as to examine the ways in which different types of well-being can be measured by applying various advanced models and research approaches within the broad field of urban planning and transport

Büttner, B.

Cao, M.

Papaix, C.

Yang, T.

English

WestminsterResearch

Citation: Cao, M.; Papaix, C.; Yang,T.; Büttner, B. Exploring theRelationship between Urban Form,Mobility and Social Well-Being:Towards an Interdisciplinary Field ofSustainable Urban Planning andTransport Development.Sustainability 2023, 15, 8498. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15118498Received: 5 May 2023Accepted: 15 May 2023Published: 24 May 2023Copyright: © 2023 by the authors.Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.This article is an open access articledistributed under the terms andconditions of the Creative CommonsAttribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).sustainabilityEditorialExploring the Relationship between Urban Form, Mobility andSocial Well-Being: Towards an Interdisciplinary Field ofSustainable Urban Planning and Transport DevelopmentMengqiu Cao 1,* , Claire Papaix 2 , Tianren Yang 3 and Benjamin Büttner 41 School of Architecture and Cities, University of Westminster, London NW1 5LS, UK2 Department of Management of Economy, Human Resources, Information Systems and Diversity,Montpellier Business School, 34080 Montpellier, France; c.papaix@montpellier-bs.com3 Department of Urban Planning and Design, The University of Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam,Hong Kong 999077, China; tianren@hku.hk4 Department of Civil Geo and Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Munich,80333 Munich, Germany; benjamin.buettner@tum.de* Correspondence: m.cao@westminster.ac.uk1. IntroductionThis Special Issue focuses on exploring the relationship between urban form, mobility,and social well-being across neighbourhoods, cities, and regions. Understanding moreabout these relationships is helpful in shaping integrated sustainable urban planning andtransport development strategies.There is a growing body of research examining changes in well-being in response tosocial and spatial interventions (e.g., inequality, social exclusion, the built environment,land use, and transport development) and behavioural changes (e.g., travel preferences).However, there is a lack of understanding of the different types of well-being (e.g., so-cial, hedonic, eudaimonic, short-term/long-term, or individual/collective well-being, aswell as the spatial nature of well-being) and the variations in their impact. Furthermore,limited attention has been paid to the standardised measurement of well-being in bothquantitative and qualitative terms in the field of social sciences, particularly regardingsocial and eudaimonic well-being, since they are abstract concepts and thus difficult toassess accurately. Therefore, there is an urgent need to further explore the relationshipbetween urban form, mobility, and social well-being, as well as to examine the ways inwhich different types of well-being can be measured by applying various advanced modelsand research approaches within the broad field of urban planning and transport.2. Discussion of the PapersThe first paper, entitled ‘The impacts of transportation sustainability on higher educa-tion in China’, written by Daqing Zu, Kang Cao, and Jian Xu [Contribution 1], uses a panelanalysis to examine how the impacts of transport sustainability can contribute to the exist-ing literature on the development of higher education in China. Four dimensions, namelythe political, environmental, social, and economic, are explored to assess the complex effectsof transport sustainability. The authors argue that there is a significant spatial dependenceand spatial clustering effect on county-level higher education attainment across differentprovinces, and demonstrate how sustainable transportation can be used to improve this.The second paper, ‘Deciphering property development around high-speed railwaystations through land value capture: Case studies of Shenzhen and Hong Kong’, by WeihangGong, Victor Li, and Mee Kam Ng [Contribution 2], applies a holistic power approach (therail-plus-property model) to analyse the railway financing strategies used in Shenzhen andHong Kong, focusing on the relationship between railway transport investment and thevalue capture of proximate land. They show that there is a significant difference betweenSustainability 2023, 15, 8498. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15118498 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainabilitySustainability 2023, 15, 8498 2 of 5the pivotal stakeholder role played by the Shenzhen transit company and that of the HongKong government regarding how railways are financed and how land values are capturedin these two cities. The findings of this study primarily contribute to the existing literatureon sustainable railway financing.The third paper, by Xuesong Gao, Hui Wang, and Lun Liu [Contribution 3], entitled‘Profiling residents’ mobility with grid-aggregated mobile phone data using Chengdu as acase study’, takes Chengdu, the capital of China’s southwest Sichuan Province, as a casestudy, and uses mobile phone data to investigate the transformation of individual data-based mobility metrics to fit with grid-aggregate data in order to contribute to the existingknowledge on human mobility, as well as developing algorithms to measure mobilitymetrics more accurately. They also argue that even without relying on privacy-sensitiveindividual-level data, grid-aggregate mobility data could be used to help profile people’smobility patterns.The fourth paper, ‘Engaging smallholders in the flower agribusiness for inclusive ruraldevelopment: The case of Yunnan, China’, written by Jieming Zhu, Chen Chen, and LieYou [Contribution 4], discusses the issues of equitable and inclusive rural developmentin relation to flower growing among smallholders, social well-being, and the scarcity offarmland. They find that smallholders play a significant role in proactively contributing toflower agriculture, which in turn facilitates rural economic development. It is argued thatendogenous non-agricultural job opportunities can support rural development, increasefarm size, and improve social well-being.The fifth paper, written by Cong Liao and Teqi Dai [Contribution 5], is entitled ‘Isattending a nearby school actually near? An analysis of travel-to-school distances ofprimary students in Beijing using smart card data’ and examines the crucial issue ofchildren’s mobility and educational equity. They use smart card data collected fromstudents to explore the relationship between the spatial characteristics of school children’scommuting distances by public transport and the residence–school spatial patterns. It isfound that the policy of assigning children of primary school age to schools near theirplace of residence does not in fact ensure that they have a shorter commuting distanceto school. The findings could contribute to the existing literature on children commutingby public transport and on housing studies/house prices and their implications for thedistance children must travel from home to school (geography of education and geo bigdata analytics). They also point out that travel distance and housing and school locationsshould be taken into account in educational policymaking from a social equity perspective.The sixth paper, by He Zhu, Qianyun Ji, Ying Lin, Ting Wang, and Jingqing Lu[Contribution 6], is entitled ‘Street usage characteristics, subjective perceptions and urbanform in relation to the aging population group: A case study of Shanghai, China’. Theauthors highlight the trajectory of an aging society in China and examine the key deter-minants of older adults’ needs, as well as exploring the relationship between urban streetform and spatial perceptions, using Shanghai as a case study. They find that improvingurban form can facilitate the renovation of street spaces in a way that meets the needs ofthe older population, contributing to the existing literature on the significance of a needhierarchy for aging people and the understanding of different street forms and spatialperceptions among older people.The seventh paper, entitled ‘An empirical analysis of the benefits of opening a highwayin terms of changes in housing prices’, written by Wonchul Kim and Sung Hyo Hong[Contribution 7], investigates the social benefits of opening a new highway (the Pyeongtaek-Jecheon highway route in Korea) on changes in housing prices in the surrounding areas,using a treatment group living in close proximity to the new highway and a control groupwith no new highway development nearby. A difference-in-difference framework is appliedto examine the effects of the newly built highway. The average price is found to be betweenUSD 586 and 3075 per flat (i.e., between USD 10 and 53 per square metre). The maincontributions of this study involve complementing the existing literature on cost benefitanalysis (CBA).Sustainability 2023, 15, 8498 3 of 5The eighth paper, ‘Does high spatial density imply high population density? Spatialmechanism of population density distribution based on population-space imbalance’, writ-ten by Dian Shao and Weiting Xiong [Contribution 8], analyses how population density isinfluenced by different urban spatial characteristics and the distribution characteristics ofcity blocks, using Changzhou as a case study. The authors formulate a population–spacecorrelation algorithm and compare the association between vector spatial data and mobilephone data. The study shows that an unbalanced density distribution depends on thespatial characteristics of an area and the critical value of spatial density. This research con-tributes to the development of the existing algorithm employed to quantitatively measurepopulation density using big data, and its findings could also be used to suggest policyinterventions designed to balance population density and urban public resources.The ninth paper, by Dongho Han and Ji Hyun Kim [Contribution 9], entitled ‘Multiplesmart cities: The case of the Eco Delta City in South Korea’, investigates the notion ofsmart cities and sustainable urban planning with specific reference to a new waterfrontdevelopment in South Korea, using diverse archival sources and interviews. They find that,rather than the traditional government top-down policy, smart city mobilisation has in factemerged from complex bottom-up local relationships between actors. In addition, the studyfinds that policy mobilisation can be managed and evaluated via the assemblage approach.It contributes to the existing research on smart cities and sustainable urban regeneration.The tenth paper, ‘The effect of hukou accessibility on migrants’ long term settlementintentions in regard to destination’, written by Peilin Li, Yufeng Wu, and Hui Ouyang[Contribution 10], uses a nation-wide large-scale survey carried out in 46 Chinese cities toanalyse social equity issues relating to ‘hukou’ and migrants’ long-term settlement patterns.This study contributes to Lee’s 1966 theory of migration. It shows that hukou is still abarrier to people’s mobility and movement across different cities in China, although thereis also a non-linear trajectory regarding its adverse impacts on migrant workers’ intentionsto live in particular areas. In addition, it suggests that urban planners and policymakersshould pay more attention to migrant cohorts when it comes to future strategic urbandevelopment, particularly in terms of welfare, medical, and educational distribution.The eleventh paper, by Jiankun Yang, Min He, and Mingwei He [Contribution 11],entitled ‘Exploring group differences in the nonlinear relationship between commutingsatisfaction and commuting time’, takes Kunming as a case study and analyses the non-linear association between commuting time and commuting satisfaction by applying arandom forest approach. Using a k-means clustering algorithm, the authors identifythree different commuting group: short-, medium-, and long-duration-tolerant groups.In addition, factors such as educational attainment, income, job–housing distance, andcommuting modes are all shown to have significant impacts on the aforementioned clustergroups. Consequently, they argue in favour of using different planning strategies toaddress different commuting groups’ needs to improve their commuting satisfaction andsubjective well-being.The twelfth paper, by Gang Li, Ruining Zhang, Shujuan Guo, and Junyi Zhang[Contribution 12], entitled ‘Analysis of ride-hailing passenger satisfaction and life sat-isfaction based on a MIMIC model’, uses a multiple-indicators multiple-causes (MIMIC)model to explore the impact of various factors on passenger satisfaction with ride hailingin Dalian, China. Some positive impacts are identified, notably relating to service operationand perceptions of safety and service quality. The findings also show that passenger satis-faction has different effects on people’s overall level of well-being due to the heterogeneityin individual socio-economic characteristics. The study also contributes to research on theinteractive relationship between passenger and life satisfaction in relation to ride hailingfor a daily trip.Sustainability 2023, 15, 8498 4 of 5The thirteenth paper, by Maciej Kruszyna [Contribution 13], entitled ‘NOAH as aninnovative tool for modelling the use of suburban railways’, uses a novel approach, the Nestof Apes Heuristic (NOAH), to model a suburban railway system by combining the technicalaspects of transport systems with human decision making using Wroclaw, Poland, as acase study. It is argued that the proposed NOAH method can be used to observe differentsets of data and the interactions between them without requiring precise knowledge on theinfluence of a specific factor on the outcomes. This method is also able to take dynamicchanges of leadership into account and can thus be used to measure the effects of humandecision making in a transport context.The final paper, ‘Users’ preferences in selecting transportation modes for leisure tripsin the digital era: Evidence from Bandung, Indonesia’, written by Tri Basuki Joewono,Mohamed Yusuf Faridian Wirayat, Prawira Fajarindra Belgiawan, I Gusti Ayu Andani, andClint Gunawijaya [Contribution 14], focuses on the key determinants of leisure trips amongpeople who live in cities in the Bandung area. Applying a multinomial logit model, theauthors find that residents are more likely to choose buses and trains for leisure travel ratherthan private vehicles. Furthermore, the findings show that travel cost and time are the mostsignificant factors influencing people’s choice of travel mode. They also demonstrate howonline mobile apps could be used as a payment method for leisure travel in the currentdigital era.3. ConclusionsOverall, this Special Issue contributes to the existing literature on the interdisciplinaryfield of the impact of urban planning and transport on social well-being, and facilitatesnovel ways of measuring the abstract concept of well-being, particularly in Asian andEuropean countries. Further research could explore these themes in greater depth by meansof both theoretical frameworks and methodological developments in this integrated field.List of Contributions1. Zu, D.; Cao, K.; Xu, J. The Impacts of Transportation Sustainability on Higher Educa-tion in China.2. Gong, W.; Li, J.; Ng, M.K. Deciphering Property Development around High-Speed Rail-way Stations through Land Value Capture: Case Studies in Shenzhen and Hong Kong.3. Gao, X.; Wang, H., Liu, L. Profiling Residents’ Mobility with Grid-Aggregated MobilePhone Trace Data Using Chengdu as the Case.4. Zhu, J.; Chen, C.; You, L. Engaging Smallholders in Flower Agribusiness for InclusiveRural Development: The Case of Yunnan, China.5. Liao, C.; Dai, T. Is “Attending Nearby School” Near? An Analysis of Travel-to-SchoolDistances of Primary Students in Beijing Using Smart Card Data.6. Zhu, H.; Ji, Q.; Lin, Y.; Wang, T.; Lu, J. Street Usage Characteristics, SubjectivePerception and Urban Form of Aging Group: A Case Study of Shanghai, China.7. Kim, W.; Hong, S.H. An Empirical Analysis of the Benefits of Opening a Highway inTerms of Changes in Housing Prices.8. Shao, D.; Xiong, W. Does High Spatial Density Imply High Population Density? SpatialMechanism of Population Density Distribution Based on Population–Space Imbalance.9. Han, D.; Kim, J.H. Multiple Smart Cities: The Case of the Eco Delta City in South Korea.10. Li, P.; Wu, Y.; Ouyang, H. Effect of hukou Accessibility on Migrants’ Long TermSettlement Intention in Destination.11. Yang, J.; He, M.; He, M. Exploring the Group Difference in the Nonlinear Relationshipbetween Commuting Satisfaction and Commuting Time.12. Li, G.; Zhang, R.; Guo, S.; Zhang, J. Analysis of Ride-Hailing Passenger Satisfactionand Life Satisfaction Based on a MIMIC Model.Sustainability 2023, 15, 8498 5 of 513. Kruszyna, M. NOAH as an Innovative Tool for Modeling the Use of Suburban Railways.14. Joewono, T.B.; Wirayat, M.Y.F.; Belgiawan, P.F.; Andani, I.G.A.; Gunawijaya, C. Users’Preferences in Selecting Transportation Modes for Leisure Trips in the Digital Era:Evidence from Bandung, Indonesia.Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.Disclaimer/Publisher’s Note: The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individualauthor(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury topeople or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.

Exploring the Relationship between Urban Form, Mobility and Social Well-Being: Towards an Interdisciplinary Field of Sustainable Urban Planning and Transport Development

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Exploring the Relationship between Urban Form, Mobility and Social Well-Being: Towards an Interdisciplinary Field of Sustainable Urban Planning and Transport Development

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