Bettering the Functionality of the Streets in the Historic Urban Areas: A Quantitative Method of Identification

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Figure 9.

The histogram of the difference in intensity

Histogram of calculated values	|SProtection-SAccessibility|$\left| {{S}_{Protection}}\text{-}{{S}_{Accessibility}} \right|$
	|SProtection-SAccessibility|$\left| {{S}_{Protection}}\text{-}{{S}_{Accessibility}} \right|$
	|SProtection-SService|$\left| {{S}_{Protection}}\text{-}{{S}_{Service}} \right|$

Example of weighted evaluation of protection functions

1	import arcpy	Data enter
2
3	# Set the workspace
4	arcpy.env.workspace = r”D:\your_workspace”
5
6	# Input raster layers representing the indicators
7	raster_layers = [”Distribution density of historical heritage “, “Protect the coverage of construction control zones “, “Preservation requirements for historic cities “]
8
9	# Set the raster weights	Weighting operations
10	weights = [0.528, 0.332, 0.140]
11
12	# Create the output raster
13	output_raster = arcpy.sa.WeightedSum(raster_layers, weights)
14
15	# Set the workspace	Result output
16	output_raster.save(“street_ protection function_evaluation.tif”)

The importance ranking principles for establishing the judgement matrix

Urgency for the protection	According to the historical value of the protected elements, the size of the protection level, and so on, the distribution density of historical heritage is more important in this study.
Efficiency for the accessibility	Use shorter time and routes to arrive at destination, street accessibility is more important in this study.
Concentration for Service	The service facilities that more concentrated and continuously distributed in the street are more important.

A comparison of the multiple functional co-existent streets identified by the method with the Urban Conservation Plan of Shangqiu Ancient City

The results obtained by the Method	The sectoral schemes of Urban Conservation Plan	The streets coincident with their functional definition in Urban Conservation Plan
		2
		17
		8

The Indicators and their significance for the Principal Functions

Function	Indicators	Significances
Protection	The distribution density of historical heritage	The quantity and density of historic buildings and other heritages along the Street.
	The coverage ratio of buffer zone area	Area of the street within the buffer zone area of the protection heritage.
	The protection requirements for historic city streets	According to the street protection guidelines, it is essential to strictly adhere to the requirements and avoid altering the street cross-section and facades.
Accessibility	The motor vehicle traffic volume	Concentration of motor vehicle traffic volume.
	The street accessibility	The ease with which people can reach and navigate urban streets.
	The parking facility density	Density of facilities such as parking lots and parking spaces around the street.
	The accessibility to public transportation hubs on the periphery of the historic urban area	Accessibility to public transportation facilities such as nearby bus stops and metro stations from the historical urban area.
Service	The distribution of active population	Density of active population in the street.
	The density of living service facilities	The density of commercial, educational, medical, sports and other life service facilities along the street.
	The density of tourist service facilities	The number and density of tourist attractions, visitor centers, cultural and entertainment and other tourism service facilities around the street.

Dominant functional street types and identification

1	# Prompt the user to input the evaluation scores	Data enter
2	protection_score = float(input(“Enter the protection function evaluation score: “))
3	accessibility_score = float(input(“Enter the accessibility function evaluation score: “))
4	service_score = float(input(“Enter the service function evaluation score: “))
5
6	# Determine the dominant functional type	Functional analysis
7	if protection_score >= accessibility_score and protection_score >= service_score:
8	dominant_function = “Protection-Oriented”
9	elif accessibility_score >= protection_score and accessibility_score >= service_score:
10	dominant_function = “Accessibility-Oriented”
11	else:
12	dominant_function = “Service-Oriented”
13
14	# Print the result	Result output
15	print(f”The dominant functional type of the street is: {dominant_function}”)

The judgment matrix of the identification indicators of the street functions in historic urban areas

Table 5 (a)
Protection	Distribution density of historical heritage	Coverage ratio of the buffer zone areas	Protection requirements for historic city streets
Distribution density of historical heritage	1	3	3
Coverage Ratio of buffer zone areas	1/3	1	2
Protection requirements for historic city streets	1/3	1/2	1

Weight values of the functional indicators for the streets in historic urban areas

The principal functions	Importance ranking principle	The indicators	Weight value
Protection	urgency	Distribution density of historical heritage	0.528
		Coverage Ratio of the Protection and Construction Control Zone	0.332
		Protection requirements for historic city streets	0.140
Accessibility	efficiency	Motor vehicle traffic volume	0.091
		Street accessibility	0.508
		Parking facility density	0.135
		Accessibility to public transportation hubs on the periphery of the historic urban area	0.266
Service	centralization	Distribution of active population	0.143
		Density of living service facilities	0.286
		Density of tourist service facilities	0.571

Description of quantifying indicators data

Indicator	Data type	Analytical tools	Description
Distribution density of historical heritage	Distribution of historical heritage .shp	Kernel density analysis	Calculate the density of historical heritage. The denser the streets, the more historical heritage there is, and the stronger the responsibility for conservation.
Coverage Ratio of the Protection and Construction Control Zone	Protection of construction control zones .shp	Buffer analysis	Conduct a buffer zone analysis for historical heritage that needs strict protection, and calculate the proportion of adjacent streets covered by the protected construction control zone. The larger the proportion of streets, the stronger the responsibility to protect.
Protection requirements for historic city streets	Historic City Street Preservation Plan.jpg	Statistics	According to the requirements for the protection of streets in historic cities, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 are assigned to the protected historic streets, general historic streets, traditional streets, general streets, and other streets, so as to distinguish the importance of street protection.
Motor vehicle traffic volume	Statistical table of field surveys	Site surveys	According to the survey data of motor vehicle traffic flow in road sections, the larger the traffic of the street, the stronger the traffic responsibility.
Street accessibility	Streets in historic urban areas .shp	Network analyst	Through the network analysis tool, the accessibility analysis method based on least impedance proposed is used to calculate the overall accessibility of streets in historic urban areas without considering the purpose of travel.
Parking facility density	Entrance and exit of the parking lot .shp	Kernel density analysis	Calculate the density of parking facilities, and in areas with higher density, the more vehicles travel and the stronger the traffic responsibilities.
Accessibility to public transportation hubs on the periphery of the historic urban area	Bus transit facilities .shp	Network analyst	Collect public transit facilities and road vector data. Calculate the accessibility of public transport hubs such as bus stops and subway stations at any point in the historic city area through network analysis tools.
Distribution of active population	Daytime population distribution .shp	Kernel density analysis	Calculate the density of the distribution of people during the day, and the higher the density area, the more concentrated the crowd activity.
Density of living service facilities	Living service facilities .shp	Kernel density analysis	Calculate the density of service facilities such as commerce, education, healthcare, sports, and more. In areas with higher density, the more concentrated the living service facilities.
Density of tourist service facilities	Tourist service facilities.shp	Kernel density analysis	Calculate the density of tourist service facilities such as scenic spots and visitor centers. In areas with higher density, the more concentrated tourism service facilities are.

The proportion scales commonly used in Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP)

Conventional Scales	Definition	Explanation
1	Equally important	Two factors have the same importance
3	Moderately important	One factor is slightly more important than the other
5	Strongly important	One factor is obviously more important than the other
7	Very strongly important	One factor is strongly more important than the other
9	Extremely important	One factor is extremely more important than the other
2, 4, 6, 8	Intermediate values	Intermediate values of above adjacent comparisons

The identified streets of a single dominant function

The streets identified by the Method		The streets coincident with their functional definition in the Urban Conservation Plan	The new identified Streets differentiated with their functional definition in the Urban Conservation Plan
Name	The Total Amount
The conservation dominant	25	12	13
The accessibility dominant	52	36	16
The service dominant	18	9	9

The sources of data used in this research

Data	Source	Collection time	Data types	Instruction
Administrative division data of Shangqiu historic urban areas	Guihuayun sharing platform, the website: http://www.guihuayun.com/maps/region_amap.php	2024.04	Vector	A coordinate system for georeferencing and unifying spatial data.
Street network data of Shangqiu historic urban areas	OSM open-source map platform, the website: www.openstreetmap.org	2024.04	Vector	It is used to calculate street traffic indicators and accessibility indicators.
Motor vehicle traffic in Shangqiu historic urban areas	Field observation and survey collection	2023.10	Vector	It is used to analyze motor vehicle traffic volume indicators.
POI data of service facilities in Shangqiu historic urban areas	Shuweiguancha platform, the website: https://www.swguancha.com/	2024.04	Vector	Used to calculate density indicators.
Population heatmap data in Shangqiu historic urban areas	Shuweiguancha platform, the website: https://www.swguancha.com/	2024.04	Vector	It is used to calculate the distribution index of human density.
Historical heritage distribution data in Shangqiu historic urban areas	Field observation and survey collection	2022	Tiff	It is used to calculate the index of the density of historical heritage and the control zone of protection and construction.
Protective street distribution data in Shangqiu Ancient City	Field observation and survey collection	2022	Tiff	Used to calculate street protection indicators.

A comparison of the single functional dominant streets identified by the method with the Urban Conservation Plan of Shangqiu Ancient City

The results obtained by the Method	The sectoral schemes of Urban Conservation Plan	Comparison by overlaying the results and the sectoral schemes