Abstract

How Friends Share Urban Space: Evidence from Mobile Phone Data
Track: Research & Sciences
Authors: Yang Xu

Using a mobile phone dataset collected in Singapore, this study proposes a framework to investigate the roles of urban spaces in connecting social contacts ('friends'). A comparative analysis is performed to understand how friends share urban space differently from random people. Then, we derive two metrics to quantify the 'bonding' and 'bridging' capabilities of places in the city. The two metrics reflect the potential of a place in connecting friends versus chance encounters.