Vertical Urban Functional Pattern Analysis Based on Multi-Dimensional Geo Data Cube

In a situation where cities are increasingly being developed vertically and complexly, a novel approach for analyzing vertical urban functional patterns is proposed. For this purpose, a multi-dimensional GDC (Geo Data Cube) consisting of spatial and temporal data x, y, z, t, and f dimensions containing layer information was created. At this time, the size of the GDC cell (interval in x, y, z dimensions) is calculated by cell point data using the three-dimensional (3D) Moran’s I index value calculated with the 3D Diversity Factor (DF) based on information entropy proposed to reduce the uncertainty of information for each cell. In other words, the cell with the smallest index value was chosen to minimize the influence of Modifiable Areal Unit Problem (MAUP) that occurs when mapping. The 3D land use index (3D LUI) is calculated as a linearly weighted sum of the spatial accessibility of uses between cells (3D KDF) and the enrichment of uses (3D EF), taking into account the first law of geography. Finally, the 3D LUI value for each use was calculated for each cell of the GDC, and the use with the highest value was determined as the urban function of the cell. As a result of applying this to Seocho-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea (ROK) in June 2024 and visually evaluating it using the street view provided by Kakao Map, it was confirmed that commercial and residential functions were vertically separated in buildings with residential–commercial complexes or shops on the ground floor. It was also confirmed that such characteristics did not appear in the two-dimensional (2D) urban functional patter analysis.