A Research on Urban Spatial Morphology and Land Use Type Based on Space Syntax:

A Case Study on Lujiazui Functional Area of Shanghai

Shouyi Lin

Jianhua Xu

The Research Center for East-West Cooperation in China,

East China Normal University, 200062
Shanghai, Peoples Republic of China
linshouyi86@163.com

The Research Center for East-West Cooperation in China,

East China Normal University, 200062
Shanghai, Peoples Republic of China
jhxu@geo.ecnu.edu.cn

Qi Shen

Yang Yang

School of Business, East China University of Science and

Technology, 200237
Shanghai, Peoples Republic of China
Shenq03@163.com

The Research Center for East-West Cooperation in China,

East China Normal University, 200062
Shanghai, Peoples Republic of China
51080801042@ ecnu.cn

AbstractSpace syntax theory has been applied to urban

research in many aspects, but many remain a simple
understanding of the city morphology, lacking in-depth
analysis of syntactic parameters. Using Space syntax theory,
Geographic information system (GIS) technology and Geostatistical methods, this paper deeply analyzed the spatial
morphology of Lujiazui functional area, and explained the
relationship among road network, people flow and land use
type. Major findings are as follows: In Lujiazui functional
area, with Century Avenue as the principal axis, the area of
high global integration roads is wide and its distribution
presents a multi-polar development model. In the Finance and
Trade Zone, a unipolar development mode was presented, the
global integration value is low, and viewpoint movement is
particularly important for spatial cognition. Nearly 85% of the
road accessibility is good, so the transmission of people,
logistics and information flow is convenient; the entire road
network is conducive to the coordinated development of
commercial, residential, education, industry and other land
use types, and there is still room for improvement.

impact to the study area. Today, the functional area

construction has been basically completed. The specific
relationship among urban spatial structure, road network and
land use type need to be studied and analyzed from the
actuality. Many studies have shown that the space syntax
theory contributes to the understanding of urban space and
the interpretation of simulation, will help in-depth
understanding of the nature and functions of urban space [2,
3, 4]. At present space syntax as a tool for understanding
spatial structure is applied to many aspects of urban
research, including road network analysis [13,15,17], traffic
flow [16], land grading [7], urban spatial morphology
[5,11,12], geometric accessibility [8,9] and some other fields
[10,14], but most are lack of a great insight into the syntactic
parameters. This paper tried to use the space syntax theory
and GIS technology to quantitatively analyze the Lujiazui
urban spatial pattern, and attempted to get a comprehensive
understanding of the relationship among urban road
network, pedestrian flow and land use type through in-depth
analysis of syntactic parameters.

Keywords- space syntax; urban spatial morphology; road

network; land use type

I.

INTRODUCTION

The road is the first element and the ontological factor of

urban spatial morphology. Urban road network is not always
passive, which restricts the spatial distribution of land use
type and guides the evolution of urban spatial pattern [1]. In
Lujiazui functional area, the traffic network is subjected to
the impact of the planning ideology and urban land use
conditions, and is the result of the original road structure
reorganization and transformation. The urban spatial
morphology of this area is the appearance of planning idea.
Historical change and evolution of urban space are in less

c
978-1-4244-6350-3/10/$26.00 2010
IEEE

II.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A. Study Area Overview

Lujiazui Functional Area, founded in October 2004, is
located in northwest of the Pudong New Zone in Shanghai
of China. The scope of the study is the whole Lujiazui
functional area, east to Luo Shan Road, south to the
Longyang Road, west and north to the Huangpu River. The
functional area includes five parts, which are Meiyuan
Street, Weifang Street, Tangqiao Street, Yangjing Street and
a part of Huamu town, has an area of about 31km2. As the
core zone of the finance, trade and administrative office, the
number of office buildings, building concentration level and
the economy development are all the greatest in Shanghai.
Lujiazui functional area, which plays an important role in
the development of Pudong New Area, is the ties of Pudong

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and Puxi, and covers the only financial trade zone of china
called Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone. Urban planning
concept is the most important factor that influences the
spatial morphological structure of the study area. Amidst the
Expo environment, people are paying even more attention to
the impact of urban space pattern.
B. Method
1) Space syntax theory
Space syntax theory was put forward by Hiller at the
University of London and his partners. One basic viewpoint
of space syntax is that any city system is composed of two
parts, namely spatial objects and free space. Spatial objects
mainly mean buildings; and free space is the space between
spatial objects, in which people can reach any other space
[5]. Space syntax emphasized the free-space representation
[6], effectively combined space structure and human
movement and communication.
Five steps are included in Space Syntax model, which are
identifying study areas, dividing the space, establishing the
axial lines, calculating and analyzing the variable and
outputting the axial map. Spatial segmentation methods
include axial map, convex polygon and the visual zone. At
present, axial map abstracted from the road distribution is
broadly used in urban space analysis [7].
2) Main parameters in space syntax
Today, Space Syntax has achieved a number of
successful cases. In the long time development, the
syntactic variables got renew [17]. Now widely used
parameters are:
(1) Connectivity ( Ci ). Connectivity is the number of
nodes directly linked to each individual node. A node refers
to the intersection of axis.
(2) Control value ( Ctrli ). The control value for an axial
line is determined according to the following calculation.
k

1
j =1 C j

Ctrli =

Where: k is the number of immediate neighbors of a

space, and Cj is the connectivity of the jth immediate
neighbor of the space.
(3) Mean Depth ( MDi ). For each axial line, all other
lines should be traversed in order to retain the so called
mean depth.
n

MDi =

(5) Correlation co-efficient ( R ).

R2 =
Where:

[ ( I (3) I (3) )( I (n) I ( n ) )]2

(I

( 3)

I ( 3) ) 2 ( I ( n ) I ( n ) ) 2

namely, local integration;

integration;

(4)

I ( 3) is the value of the three-step integration,

I ( 3) is the average three-step

I (n ) is the global integration of each axial line;

I (n ) is the average global integration [18].

The variables above can be used to describe the spatial
patterns at different scales, Ci Ctrli
MDi describes
'

the spatial morphology on the local level, while RA i

expresses the ability to perceive the whole space through a
2
node. R is used to describe the part-whole relationship
within the spatial configuration.
C. Data processing
Land use map and road planning map are the main data.
The former reflects the distribution and construction of land
use type in study area at the end of 2008; Land use type can
be divided into commercial land, residential land, public
facilities, green, et al.; and construction land includes the
vacant land and the constructed land. The latter contains the
information of highway, main road, sub-trunk road and slip
road. Road axial map was established using Axwoman4.0
which is an analytical tool based on the space syntax theory.
And then the space syntax variables were calculated,
including Ci, ctrli, MDi, and GInteg (Global Integration) and
LInteg (local integration). Finally, R2 was obtained using
LInteg and GInteg.
To play the spatial data visualization advantages of GIS,
the axial lines with different color were shown in thematic
maps. The axial lines can be divided into two scales. Firstly,
the whole study area is as a research scale. Then considering
the special role and status of Lujiazui Finance and Trade
Zone, all the axils lines that within and intersect with the
zone are as the other scale.
III.

j =1

(2)

(n 1)
n

ij

is the total

j =1

depth of the ith axial line.

(4) Integration ( RAi ).

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'

small, which is incompatible with the fact, so RA i is more

widely used for it is in line with the actual situation and
people's habits.

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

ij

Where: n is the number of spaces and

RAi =

According to (3), the integration of shallow node is

2( MDi 1)
n2

A. Morphology analysis on different scales

The high integration line is the most accessible road,
which is the link between the regions inside and the
neighboring area, and is the most active area of human
activity. Making near 10% of the total axial lines are with
high integration, 2.1 was taken as the threshold. They are
shown as red lines in Fig.1. It shows that the high global
integration roads including Century Avenue, Zhangyang,
Yanggao, Jinxiu, Minsheng, Dongfang, Shangkeng and
Yuanshen. From the distribution and structure of the point of

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view, the distribution of high integration roads is reasonable

in the study area for that its coverage is nearly the whole
functional space. From the position of the high integration
roads point of view, Century Avenue plays a special role,
which directly connects with other high integration lines. It
means that the area along Century Avenue not only is the
hub of human activity, but also has tremendous appeal for
other districts far away. The study found that the areas with
low integration roads are the Finance and Trade Zone and
the south of Tangqiao Street, Huamu town, indicating the
overall space reachability is relatively low in these regions.
The irregular blocks and the high bending degree of roads
are the main reasons for the low space accessibility of
Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone. There are two reasons for
the low global integration of Tangqiao Street and Huamu
town. On the one hand, the existence of Century Park makes
a large area blank existing in the traffic network. On the
other hand, many roads in this area, which are bending or
ring, are not connected with the high integration roads.

Figure 1.

morphology of the Financial and Trade Zone is more

readable. The Financial and Trade Zone as a Businessoriented area, most people come here for sightseeing and
shopping. The road network with high R2 is great useful for
people to get different visual taste in the area where the
space is split by discrete buildings.
TABLE I.

STATISTICS OF SYNTACTIC PARAMETERS ON TWO

SCALES

The Finance and Trade

Zone
The whole Functional
Area

Axis
Num

LInteg

GInteg

R2

38

2.85

1.56

0.85

184

2.78

1.65

0.73

B. Statistical analysis base on syntactic parameters

The writer tried to analyze the deep relationship of the
different integration roads through geo-statistical methods.
As the global integration is the most effective parameter to
reflect the accessibility of urban space, it was selected to
make further research.
Bias coefficient and kurtosis coefficient are two
important parameters in describing the distribution
characteristics of geographic data. The former depicts a
mean-centric bias, and Kurtosis coefficient shows the
concentration of geographic data near the mean value.
Statistical results are shown in Fig.2 and Fig.3. The bias
coefficient in the Financial and Trade Zone is 1.14, which is
greater than that of the whole region, illustrating that the
mean value is on the right side of the peak on the two scales,
and the deviation in the Financial and Trade Zone is greater.
Kurtosis coefficient reflects the concentration of geographic
data is somewhat higher in the Financial and Trade Zone. By
contrast, in the Finance and Trade Zone, there are a lot of
low integration roads and the integration is concentrated in a
small range.

Axial map of traffic network

In Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone, Century Avenue is

the highest integration line and the other lines radially
outward spread. Integration value gradually reduces from
Century Avenue to the surrounding zone, showing a typical
center development model. It means on different spatial
scales, the layout and spatial development model have taken
place tremendous changes. Finance and Trade Zone is a
unipolar development, but a multi-nuclear development
model was taken in the whole study area. I ( 3) is 2.85 in the
Finance and Trade Zone whose area is about 2 km2, which is
higher than that of the whole study area, indicating that in
the three-step distance, the space accessibility is better in the
Financial and Trade Zone. In addition, R2 is 0.85 in the
Finance and Trade Zone, which is also significantly higher
than that of the whole study area. It implies that the spatial

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Figure 2.

Global integration frequency map of the whole

Functional Area.

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hinterland of high integration roads cover all types of land,

and residents traveling is convenient. The whole study area
is connected tightly with the Financial Center and Century
Park by some high integration roads.
Educational infrastructure sites spread throughout the
region, mixing with residential land. It is easy to arrive these
places through the secondary trunk roads or the nearest
streets whose integration maybe high or not. The trend that
industrial land distributes along the river is clear. This land
use type mainly depends on the transport capacity of the
Huangpu River, and the road accessibility is relatively
weaker than other regions. Specific distribution was shown
in Fig.4. In the south of functional area, the road
accessibility is poor; there are a lot residential land and more
vacant land. Rational utilization of the vacant land, balance
development of land use type, and coordinative relations of
road network and land will be the focal point of the
development in the region.

Figure 3.

Global integration frequency map of the Financial

and Trade Zone

The fitting curve likes a normal distribution in the whole

area (Fig.2). By comprehensive consideration of the
integration and frequency of axial lines, all the lines can be
divided into three sections: The low integration lines with
integration less than 1.3, the medium with between 1.3 and
2.1, and the high with greater than 2.1. These three sections
occupy the 15%, 75% and 10% of the axial lines
respectively. It shows that the road network is reasonable;
middle and high integration roads account for 85% of the
lines; the traffic network will greatly promote the
transmission of people flow, logistics and information flow.
In the Financial and Trade Zone (Fig.3), from high to low
integration, the number of axial lines shows three step-type
distributions, unipolar trend is clear. The results indicate that
in the Financial and Trade Zone, the accessibility of a large
number of roads is poor, and viewpoint movement is
particularly important for the spatial awareness.
C. The relations of road network and land use type
The relationship of high integration roads and land use
type reveals that the whole study area, with Century Avenue
as the principal axis, highlights the viewpoint movement and
space sequence. Starting from the buildings on the Huangpu
beach, passing through the New Shanghai Commercial City,
Zhu Yuen trade zone and some other turning nodes, the
viewpoint reaches the climax at Century Square, Shanghai
Science and Technology Museum and the Administrative
Committee of Pudong, and then end with a large area of
green in Century Park. The study found that people often
take advantage of the most prosperous region for maximum
exposure, so commercial sites tend to be located in places
with a high integration. Commercial and some other public
facilities are strongly developed in the Century Avenue 200
meters buffer zone. In Lujiazui functional area, the

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Figure 4.

Congruent map of axial lines and land use types

IV.

CONCLUSION

Using the space syntax theory, GIS technology and geostatistical methods, this paper deeply analyzed the spatial
morphology of Lujiazui functional area, and explained the
relationship among road network, people flow and land use
type. Major findings are as follows:
1) The distribution area of high global integration road is
large. Century Avenue has a prominent position in the
high integration roads, not only services for the nearby
district, but also for the whole area. In the Lujiazui
Financial and Trade Zone and the south of Huamu and
Weifang streets, the road accessibility is poor. The
former is mainly because of the road curvature, the
latter is the combined result of the Century Park and
road structure.

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2)

3)

4)

Significant differences exist in spatial patterns on the

two scales. In Lujiazui functional area, with Century
Avenue as the principal axis, shows a multi-polar
nuclear trend. In the Finance and Trade Zone, a unipolar
development mode was present. The road network
layout in the region is reasonable. This can effectively
promote the people flow in the area. As a business and
tourism area, Finance and Trade Zone includes a lot low
integration roads. The road pattern indirectly impels the
viewpoint movement to perceive the Trade Zone spatial
morphology.
Land use type and road network are closely linked. The
entire road network is conducive to the coordinated
development of commercial, residential, education and
industrial land. A certain amount of inactive land will
be helpful for the improvement of the road network and
the coordinated development of different land use types.
The results revealed the spatial morphology of Lujiazui
functional area and the relationship of road network and
land use type. However, space syntax is not suitable for
the underground transport and overhead road. To
analyze the urban spatial morphology through the
comprehensive consideration of all kinds of traffic
model needs further study.

[5]

[6]
[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]
[13]

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The study is supported by Shanghai Key Laboratory of
Urbanization and Ecological Restoration, and Shanghai
Academic Discipline Project (Human Geography, B410).
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