What Local Environments Drive Opportunities for Social Events? A New Approach Based on Bayesian Modeling in Dallas, Texas, USA

In-person social events bring people to places, while people and places influence where and what social events occur. Knowing what people do and where they build social relationships gives insights into the distribution and availability of places for social functions. We developed a Bayesian Network...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yalin Yang, Yanan Wu, May Yuan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-03-01
Series:ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/13/3/81
_version_ 1797240781473316864
author Yalin Yang
Yanan Wu
May Yuan
author_facet Yalin Yang
Yanan Wu
May Yuan
author_sort Yalin Yang
collection DOAJ
description In-person social events bring people to places, while people and places influence where and what social events occur. Knowing what people do and where they build social relationships gives insights into the distribution and availability of places for social functions. We developed a Bayesian Network model, integrating points of interest (POIs) and sociodemographic characteristics, to estimate the probabilistic effects of places and people on the presence of social events. A case study in Dallas demonstrated the utility and performance of the model. The Bayesian Network model predicted the presence likelihoods for seven types of social events with an R<sup>2</sup> value around 0.83 (95% confidence interval). For both the presence and absence of social events at locations, the model predictions were within a 20% error for most event types. Furthermore, the model suggested POI, age, education, and population density configurations as important contextual variables for place–event associations across locations. A spatial cluster analysis identified likely multifunctional hotspots for social events (i.e., socially vibrant places). While psychological and cultural factors likely contribute further to local likelihoods of social event occurrences, the proposed conceptually informed geospatial data-science approach elucidated intricate place–people–event relationships and implicates inclusive, participatory places for urban development.
first_indexed 2024-04-24T18:12:53Z
format Article
id doaj.art-d8743cc2389a4091a95da661b8c60334
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2220-9964
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-24T18:12:53Z
publishDate 2024-03-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information
spelling doaj.art-d8743cc2389a4091a95da661b8c603342024-03-27T13:44:53ZengMDPI AGISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information2220-99642024-03-011338110.3390/ijgi13030081What Local Environments Drive Opportunities for Social Events? A New Approach Based on Bayesian Modeling in Dallas, Texas, USAYalin Yang0Yanan Wu1May Yuan2School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, TX 75081, USASchool of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, TX 75081, USASchool of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, TX 75081, USAIn-person social events bring people to places, while people and places influence where and what social events occur. Knowing what people do and where they build social relationships gives insights into the distribution and availability of places for social functions. We developed a Bayesian Network model, integrating points of interest (POIs) and sociodemographic characteristics, to estimate the probabilistic effects of places and people on the presence of social events. A case study in Dallas demonstrated the utility and performance of the model. The Bayesian Network model predicted the presence likelihoods for seven types of social events with an R<sup>2</sup> value around 0.83 (95% confidence interval). For both the presence and absence of social events at locations, the model predictions were within a 20% error for most event types. Furthermore, the model suggested POI, age, education, and population density configurations as important contextual variables for place–event associations across locations. A spatial cluster analysis identified likely multifunctional hotspots for social events (i.e., socially vibrant places). While psychological and cultural factors likely contribute further to local likelihoods of social event occurrences, the proposed conceptually informed geospatial data-science approach elucidated intricate place–people–event relationships and implicates inclusive, participatory places for urban development.https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/13/3/81social eventsPOIsBayesian networkMAUPplace–event relationships
spellingShingle Yalin Yang
Yanan Wu
May Yuan
What Local Environments Drive Opportunities for Social Events? A New Approach Based on Bayesian Modeling in Dallas, Texas, USA
ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information
social events
POIs
Bayesian network
MAUP
place–event relationships
title What Local Environments Drive Opportunities for Social Events? A New Approach Based on Bayesian Modeling in Dallas, Texas, USA
title_full What Local Environments Drive Opportunities for Social Events? A New Approach Based on Bayesian Modeling in Dallas, Texas, USA
title_fullStr What Local Environments Drive Opportunities for Social Events? A New Approach Based on Bayesian Modeling in Dallas, Texas, USA
title_full_unstemmed What Local Environments Drive Opportunities for Social Events? A New Approach Based on Bayesian Modeling in Dallas, Texas, USA
title_short What Local Environments Drive Opportunities for Social Events? A New Approach Based on Bayesian Modeling in Dallas, Texas, USA
title_sort what local environments drive opportunities for social events a new approach based on bayesian modeling in dallas texas usa
topic social events
POIs
Bayesian network
MAUP
place–event relationships
url https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/13/3/81
work_keys_str_mv AT yalinyang whatlocalenvironmentsdriveopportunitiesforsocialeventsanewapproachbasedonbayesianmodelingindallastexasusa
AT yananwu whatlocalenvironmentsdriveopportunitiesforsocialeventsanewapproachbasedonbayesianmodelingindallastexasusa
AT mayyuan whatlocalenvironmentsdriveopportunitiesforsocialeventsanewapproachbasedonbayesianmodelingindallastexasusa