Evaluating Shanghai new towns' maturity of urban form: an exploration index based on new urban data

The natural evolution of urban forms over time is a key issue in urban morphology. With the rapid development of 7quantitative analytical tools and new urban data, new research potential has emerged. This study attempts to develop an analytical framework for evaluating the urban maturation process. Using street blocks as the analytical unit, this study integrates the spatial design network analysis (sDNA), Spacematrix, Points-of-Interests (POIs), and Open Street Map (OSM) in the geographical information system (GIS) to calculate the urban maturation index in the context of big data. Shanghai, a metropolitan city with a long urbanisation history and a series of new towns, was selected as the case study. The validation of this new index was first achieved by comparing this maturation index between several districts located in the city centre and suburban new towns. Insights in this direction would help generate new urban design guidance for creating vibrant urban places. This study also aimed to introduce new quantitative thinking into the previously qualitative and intuition-based fields of urban morphology and urban design.