Spatial Inequality in Urban Functional Systems and Subjective Well-Being: Evidence from Chinese Cities

The spatial allocation of urban functional resources is closely linked to residents’ well-being. However, conventional macro-level approaches that emphasize the equalization of aggregate resource provision may not fully capture inequalities in the spatial distribution of functional resources relative to population within cities. To address this limitation, this study combines large-scale point-of-interest data from Amap with gridded population data to construct an index of urban functional spatial inequality, capturing the spatial alignment between resource provision and population distribution within the urban functional system, and examines its association with residents’ subjective well-being. The results show that greater urban functional spatial inequality is significantly associated with lower levels of residents’ subjective well-being. This association remains robust across a series of sensitivity tests, while instrumental-variable estimates have the same direction. Moreover, subgroup analyses suggest that the association may vary by socioeconomic resources, childcare responsibilities, and health status. Further analyses show that greater urban functional spatial inequality is associated with stronger perceived inequality of opportunity, lower satisfaction with public services, and weaker social capital. These findings suggest that the welfare performance of urban functional systems depends not only on aggregate resource provision but also on its spatial coordination with population distribution. Accordingly, efforts to enhance residents’ well-being should consider a more equitable spatial distribution of functional resources, better spatial coordination between functional resources and population distribution, and broader sharing of the benefits of urban development.