Understanding livable dense urban form for shaping the landscape of community facilities in Hong Kong using fine-scale measurements

Highly dense cities' livability has long been debated in the urban planning field, particularly regarding vibrancy, walkability, and day-to-day service access. However, studies on density's effects on the provision of neighborhood community amenities and services are limited. In addition, urban form's effects on community facility distribution patterns under the constraints of pedestrian access to urban road networks remain poorly understood. Hong Kong, with an average population density of 68,500 persons/km2, has one of the world's densest urban environments. This study investigated community facility distribution through a comprehensive network analysis using fine-scale dataset. Results showed that highly dense urban form ensured access to certain facilities and services and that daily service and amenities provision was positively correlated to building density and performance of community spatial characteristics. The findings provide insights for planning and designing to provide better facility services to meet people's daily needs regarding amenities and services and for the configuration of a dense urban form. •Landscape of community facilities clustered in dense cities like Hong Kong.•Important nodes of transit stations and shopping complexes agglomerated community facilities and activities.•More facilities assembled in areas with high value of Reach, Straightness, Betweenness, and building density.•Higher accessibility to facilities services contributes to higher liveability in highly populated cities.•Planning and design improve the accessibility to facilities services by shaping preferable urban form.