Intra-urban relocation patterns and correlation with built environment factors of population by age groups: A case study of Wuhan

Abstract

Intra-urban residential mobility has become increasingly frequent and is contributing to changes in urban spatial structure with the reform of China's urban housing system. Supported by multi-source data and taking life course theory as a research perspective, this study identifies the relocation network between research spatial units and relocation intensity within research units of residents of different age groups within the 4th ring road of Wuhan. Employing the community detection algorithm and spatial autocorrelation index, the differences in relocation features among different age groups are analyzed; based on the findings of the spatial lag model, a model of the relationship between the built environment factors and relocation intensity is proposed. This study finds that there are differences in relocation network and community structure between residents of different age groups, and the differences exhibit a distribution connected to age groups in their significance levels. Inflow and outflow intensity of residents in different age groups have differences in relocation frequency characteristics and location distribution. Built environment indicators are important influencing factors in relocation decisions, and the type of mechanism by which each factor influences the relocation intensity varies between different age groups.