Hierarchical accompanying and inhibiting patterns on the spatial arrangement of taxis' local hotspots (2310.11806v3)

Abstract: The spatial arrangement of taxi hotspots indicates their inherent distribution relationships, reflecting spatial organization structure and has received attention in urban studies. Previous studies mainly explore large-scale hotspots by visual analysis or simple indexes, where hotspots usually cover the entire central business district, train stations, or dense residential areas, reaching a radius of hundreds or even thousands of meters. However, the spatial arrangement patterns of small-scale hotspots, reflecting the specific popular pick-up and drop-off locations, have not received much attention. This study quantitatively examines the spatial arrangement of fine-grained local hotspots in Wuhan and Beijing, China, using taxi trajectory data. Hotspots are adaptatively identified with sizes of 90m*90m in Wuhan and 105m*105m in Beijing according to identification method. Findings show popular hotspots are typically surrounded by less popular ones, though regions with many popular hotspots inhibit the presence of less popular ones. We term these configurations as hierarchical accompany and inhibiting patterns. Finally, inspired by both patterns, a KNN-based model is developed to describe these relationships, successfully reproducing the spatial distribution of less popular hotspots based on the most popular ones. These insights enhance understanding of local urban structures and support urban planning.