The Dynamic Heterogeneous Relationship between Urban Population Distribution and Built Environment in Xi’an, China: A Case Study

The interaction between the population and built environment is a constant topic in urban spaces and is the main driving force of urban evolution. Understanding urban population distribution and its relationship with the built environment could provide guidance for urban planning, traffic, and disaster management. Following this line of thought, this study conducted an empirical analysis in Xi’an, a rapidly developing western city in China. Well-permeated mobile phone location data were used to represent the spatiotemporal dynamics of the population, and the built environment was characterized from five perspectives—transportation, location, building, greenery, and land use—using multisource geospatial data. Finally, the dynamic heterogeneous influence of built environment factors on population distribution was examined using multiscale geographically weighted regression (MGWR). Overall, the influencing coefficients exhibited a significant dynamic changing process from a temporal perspective and simultaneously demonstrated spatial nonstationarity. Moreover, the specific findings about the influence of each built environment factor facilitate a deeper insight into dynamic population distribution and its determinants.