The Relationship between Urban Functional Structure and Insomnia: An Exploratory Analysis in Beijing, China

Abstract

Insomnia is a prevalent sleep disorder that causes serious harm to individuals and society. There is growing evidence that environmental factors may be associated with sleep disorders, but few studies have explored the relationship between insomnia and urban functional structure from a spatial perspective. This study collected multi-source big data (e.g., insomnia posts on Weibo, locations of urban facilities on Baidu) and explored the effects of different urban spatial element configurations on residents’ insomnia. The ordinary least squares (OLS) and geographically weighted regression (GWR) models were used to quantify the global and local effects of urban functional categories on residents’ insomnia. The results showed that the quantity of catering service facilities accounted for the largest proportion, and the consumer function was the most consistent with the distribution of insomnia. There is a domain relationship between the incidence of insomnia and urban functional zones. It has the strongest correlation with employment mixed functional zones and the weakest with residential mixed functional zones. These findings could serve as references for the functional structure and layout of urban space for improving the sleep health of residents and benefit for urban health.

Keywords

• insomnia
• multi-source big data
• urban functional facilities
• functional zones
• Beijing
• GWR