Urban vitality in the context of shrinkage: spatiotemporal patterns and influencing factors at urban and regional scales

Ling Han, Ye Wei () and Guangliang Xi
Additional contact information
Ling Han: Yanbian University
Ye Wei: Northeast Normal University
Guangliang Xi: Nanjing University

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 2025, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: Abstract Urban shrinkage has become a critical global concern, prompting growing calls to enhance urban vitality as a pathway toward sustainable development. Focusing on the Harbin–Changchun Urban Agglomeration (HCUA) in Northeast China, a region marked by widespread shrinkage, this study proposes a dual-scale analytical framework that bridges urban and regional levels to evaluate spatiotemporal vitality patterns and their influencing factors. At the urban scale, a multidimensional index system encompassing economic, social, environmental, and cultural dimensions is constructed to assess vitality levels, identify temporal dynamics, and diagnose systemic obstacles. The findings reveal a persistent ‘dual-core–satellite’ structure, highlighting both spatial concentration in core cities and peripheral disparities. At the regional scale, multi-source geospatial big data and a grid-based method are employed to capture the diurnal rhythms and seasonal fluctuations of urban vitality, revealing the interplay among human activities, the built environment, and spatial vitality. Crucially, the relationship between shrinkage and vitality is shown to be non-linear and heterogeneous. Some shrinking cities demonstrate dimension-specific resilience in cultural and environmental domains, challenging the dominant view that shrinkage entails inevitable decline. This study contributes an adaptable framework that transcends administrative boundaries, offering methodological and empirical insights into the evaluation and enhancement of urban vitality, while supporting context-sensitive governance strategies in shrinking urban regions.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41599-025-05761-4 Abstract (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palcom:v:12:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-025-05761-4

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/palcomms/about

DOI: 10.1057/s41599-025-05761-4

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Humanities and Social Sciences Communications from Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().