Revealing the spatiotemporal pattern of urban vibrancy at the urban agglomeration scale: Evidence from the Pearl River Delta, China

Urban vibrancy research has largely focused on city-scale analysis, leaving urban agglomeration-level vibrancy underexplored. Using location-based service (LBS) data from the Pearl River Delta (PRD), China, this study quantified urban vibrancy through four indicators: density, variation intensity, day-night tide, and holiday-weekday tide. OLS and GWR models were employed to examine the relationships between built environment factors and urban vibrancy. The findings revealed distinct vibrancy patterns between core cities and fringe areas: core cities exhibited higher vibrancy density with lower temporal fluctuations than fringe areas. OLS results revealed that road density and distance to railway stations significantly influenced vibrancy density and variation intensity, while population density and GDP density were strongly linked to vibrancy density. Residential POI and NDVI significantly affected variation intensity. The GWR model highlighted spatial heterogeneity in how built environment factors impact vibrancy. This study provides insights into spatiotemporal vibrancy at the urban agglomeration scale, offering guidance for optimizing built environments to support balanced regional development.