Urban features of Lingnan town analyzed using multi-source online image: A case study of 81 central towns in the Pearl River Delta, Guangdong, China

Abstract

The advancement of digital technology has greatly improved the accessibility and convenience of public participation via the internet, enabling the quantitative evaluation of urban imagery. To quantitatively analyze urban features from an internet-based perspective, this study integrates image and text data from 81 central towns in the Pearl River Delta, Guangdong, China, selected based on their eligibility for image retrieval from search engines. By examining the relationships between image types, high-frequency words, and regional spatial patterns, the study identifies typological differences among the towns, aiming to systematically categorize and comprehensively evaluate their urban landscape characteristics. Building on Kevin Lynch’s city image theory, this article presents a detailed exploration and empirical analysis of urban image, specifically focusing on small- and medium-sized towns in the Lingnan region.

Keywords

Town image / Central town / Pearl river delta / Types / Landscape characteristics

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation Project: “Study on the development mechanism of Lingnan town image under the participation of network society” (Grant number: 52178037).

Conflict of interest

Miaoxi Zhao is an Editorial Board Member of this journal but was not in any way involved in the editorial and peer-review process conducted for this paper, directly or indirectly. Separately, other authors declared that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have influenced the work reported in this paper.

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