Work

Exploring the impact of urbanization intensity on human perception through street view imagery

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Conventional remote sensing–based measures of urbanization characterize built–unbuilt patterns at coarse spatial scales, limiting their ability to capture localized, human-scale features that shape how cities are experienced. To address this gap, we propose a street-view–derived Urbanization Intensity Index (UII) that operationalizes urbanization as a dual-channel construct combining built-environment exposure and streetscape functional diversity. Using New York, Hong Kong, and Mumbai, we compare UII with three remote-sensing indicators (ISA, UDL, LUI) and relate them to six perceptions (safety, liveliness, wealth, beauty, boredom, depression) predicted by a validated SVI model. Across cities, UII correlates positively with liveliness, safety, and wealth and negatively with boredom, while beauty exhibits context-dependent trade-offs in denser settings. Nonlinear fits further reveal threshold-like regimes: perception scores change most strongly as UII rises through ≈0.2–0.7, whereas beyond a risk zone (often >0.7) the curves flatten and can become adverse (downturns in safety/liveliness/wealth and rebounds in boredom/depression). Cross-validated calibration against human judgments shows UII aligns more closely with perceived urbanization than conventional overhead indicators. Spatial analyses indicate that UII hotspots co-locate with lively/wealthy/safe clusters—and cold spots with boring/depressing clusters—at finer corridor scales than remote-sensing proxies. Overall, these findings highlight the dual role of urbanization in covarying with positive and negative perception dimensions in city-specific ways, and underscore the need for planning strategies that balance development exposure with streetscape diversity, visual openness, and natural elements.

Source: Cities

DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2026.106910

Authors: Zhitao Deng, Tong Qin, Bing He, Weihua Dong, Jing Ma, Haosheng Huang

Institutions: Beijing Normal University, Ghent University

Language: English

Topic: Urban Design and Spatial Analysis

Subfield: Building and Construction

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Sustainable cities and communities

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,000