Assessing the livability within the 15-minute city concept based on mobile phone data

TL;DR

This study uses mobile phone data to empirically evaluate how walkability and livability indicators relate to human activity patterns in Helsinki, revealing temporal and spatial variations that impact urban planning for 15-minute cities.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method linking literature-based livability indicators with real-world mobile data, highlighting the temporal instability and spatial heterogeneity of these relationships.

Findings

Walkability correlates with activity patterns more than attractiveness.

The livability-activity relationship weakens at night.

Spatial variation affects the strength of these relationships.

Abstract

Many cities promote walkability through concepts such as the compact city and 15-minute city to enhance urban livability, yet few methods link spatial walkability features to empirically measured livability and account for temporal dynamics. The method developed for this study uses mobile phone data from the Helsinki Metropolitan Area (Finland) to assess whether commonly used, literature-derived livability indicators (diversity, density, proximity, accessibility) predict observed human activity patterns across different times of day. We constructed two key dimensions of livability: attractiveness and walkability with quantifiable sub-indicators that were selected based on literature. Our analysis shows that walkability, and even more so the combined livability index, correlates with activity patterns, outperforming the pure attractiveness perspective. However, this relationship is temporally unstable, significantly weakening at night and fluctuating daily. Moreover, based on Geographically Weighted Regression analysis, our results reveal significant spatial variation in the relationship between livability and the intensity of human activities. The findings suggest that traditional urban planning goals, such as functional diversity to enhance walkability, contribute to livability but have a limited impact on the 15-minute city's overall sustainable mobility objectives, necessitating a larger-scale perspective and more functionally profiled approaches for urban development.