Unraveling the impact of urban morphology on building sustainable cities: A case study of 54 cities in China

Rapid global urbanization has led to increasingly prominent issues of disharmony and imbalance in urban development. The impact of urban morphology on sustainable development requires further in-depth study. This study selects 54 cities in China to assess their sustainability and analyzes the level of coordinated development across economic, social, and environmental dimensions. By utilizing the interpretable machine learning methods, we investigated the relationship between urban morphology and sustainability. The study reveals that high-income and megacities generally score higher on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), indicating a positive correlation between economic development and the effectiveness of SDG implementation. In terms of regional differences, cities in the Eastern and Central-Southern regions outperform those in Northwest, North, and Northeast China in overall sustainable development. The Southwest region stands out in environmental sustainability, benefiting from its natural resource advantages. Urban morphology shapes sustainability, with land use as a core element across its three dimensions. In the built environment, building form is crucial for economic and social sustainability, while plot characteristics support social sustainability. Additionally, urban configuration affects economic development. Overall, land use and building form are key factors shaping SDG scores across cities of different income levels, sizes, and regions. This study aspires to offer novel insights and empirical evidence for sustainable urban development, and furnish reference for urban planning and policy-making. • The study analyzed the economic, social, and environmental (ESE) sustainability of cities with different characteristics, as well as their overall performance in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). • It elucidated the multi-dimensional urban morphology factors that drive sustainability across ESE subsystems. • Spatial disparities in SDG performance were identified in relation to income levels, urban sizes, and geographical locations. • Urban sustainability is influenced by a complex interplay of factors, including land use, urban vegetation, building form, plot characteristics and urban configuration.