A Geospatial-Enabled Multidimensional Framework for Livability Evaluation in High-Density Cities: Evidence from Hong Kong

A Geospatial-Enabled Multidimensional Framework for Livability Evaluation in High-Density Cities: Evidence from Hong Kong | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article A Geospatial-Enabled Multidimensional Framework for Livability Evaluation in High-Density Cities: Evidence from Hong Kong Mingzhen Liu, Xiaolin Zhu This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7239875/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 13 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Hong Kong faces pressing high-density urban challenges, including high population density, aging demographics, and socio-spatial inequalities. However, traditional methods often lack resident subjectivity and cannot accurately show the distribution of livability within a city, necessitating a refined approach to urban livability assessment. This study developed a multidimensional geospatial framework integrating physical environment, socio-economic, and spatial walkability metrics. Utilizing PCA-AHP hybrid weighting, we calculated a fine-scale objective livability index (OLI), validated against subjective survey data. Results revealed moderate spatial autocorrelation (Moran’s I = 0.469, p < 0.01) of OLI with disparities between central and peripheral areas. And antagonistic tradeoffs emerged where high-density zones sacrifice environmental quality for walkability. Residual analysis further revealed statistically significant spatial mismatches between objective conditions and residents’ perceived well-being, i.e., subjective livability index (SLI), and indicated that areas with balanced dimensions usually had higher SLI. Overall, this study contributes to urban planning by enabling geospatial analytics and objective-subjective comparison, with future extensions incorporating social media data and other types of subjective indicators for people-centric evaluation. Livability High-density cities Spatial analysis Spatial inequality Urban informatics Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 24 Aug, 2025 Reviews received at journal 24 Aug, 2025 Reviews received at journal 24 Aug, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 24 Aug, 2025 Reviews received at journal 23 Aug, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 22 Aug, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 15 Aug, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 15 Aug, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 15 Aug, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 14 Aug, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 01 Aug, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 01 Aug, 2025 First submitted to journal 29 Jul, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7239875","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":502871533,"identity":"7009d933-b7d5-4516-b05f-b7fadb98ae37","order_by":0,"name":"Mingzhen Liu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"The Hong Kong Polytechnic University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mingzhen","middleName":"","lastName":"Liu","suffix":""},{"id":502871534,"identity":"bec60bda-d8b5-4926-8518-ed39c18b6e7f","order_by":1,"name":"Xiaolin Zhu","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABCUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACZiB+YAAkJBgYHzAwWIAFJRgYDhjg1ZIA0cJsAFZMUAsIJECUsUkQpcXgOPPDBwkFdxjkZ/eYVRdUSCRuOMB88DYPwx1jXFokm9mMDRIMnjEwzjljdnvGGZAWtmRrHoZnZri08DMzmEkkGBxmYJbIMbvN2wbSwmMmzcNw2AaXFjZm9m9gLWxALcUQLfzf8GrhZ+aB2MID1MIMtYUNpAWnwySbeYqBfjnMIyGRViwN9IvxzMNsxpZzDA7j9L7B+eMbH3z4c1hOfkbyxs8FFTayfcebH954U3HYsAGXHijgARGgaHVsYAYbRUA9DIAU2xOpdhSMglEwCkYQAAAbxE2GfbsubwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"The Hong Kong Polytechnic University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xiaolin","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhu","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-07-29 06:54:09","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7239875/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7239875/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":89677757,"identity":"53896c07-acdf-42bf-a620-fb4780b0cb2e","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-08-22 13:58:59","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1177521,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ICUILIUMingzhenzhu.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7239875/v1_covered_5d7b8c90-455f-4493-a5ae-0e1d929a9ab9.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"A Geospatial-Enabled Multidimensional Framework for Livability Evaluation in High-Density Cities: Evidence from Hong Kong","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"urban-informatics","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"Learn more about [Urban Informatics](https://link.springer.com/journal/44212)","snPcode":"4212","submissionUrl":"https://submission.springernature.com/new-submission/44212/3","title":"Urban Informatics","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Open","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Livability, High-density cities, Spatial analysis, Spatial inequality, Urban informatics","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7239875/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7239875/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eHong Kong faces pressing high-density urban challenges, including high population density, aging demographics, and socio-spatial inequalities. 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