Statistical insights into syntactic properties of Sydney's Chinese ethnic communities: Variability, concentration, and balance

Ethnic communities play a vital role in the cultural richness, economic vitality, and social integration of cities. While past research has undertaken a comprehensive analysis of street networks in these communities, a notable gap persists associated with the in-depth interpretation of syntactic data. The present research addresses this gap through a study of six Chinese communities in Sydney, Australia, which are selected based on concentration and diversity census data. The primary research question asked is, "How are the social-spatial patterns of ethnic communities manifest in Sydney?" This research aims to reveal hidden socio-spatial characteristics, emphasising variability, concentration, and balance. Space Syntax, widely recognised for its applicability in urban street analysis, has provided multiple quantitative techniques, focusing on the presentation of syntactic maps and average syntactic properties. In contrast, the present research addresses the tendency to report average properties by introducing three statistical distribution indicators (variance, skewness, and kurtosis) to decode six syntactic properties (i_local, i_global, NAIN_local, NAIN_ global, NACH_local, and NACH_ global) derived from axial line and segment analyses. The findings indicate that the statistical distribution analysis effectively characterises the spatial patterns of six of Sydney's ethnic communities, providing valuable insights into socio-cultural organisation, distribution, and interactions in community settings. This advanced understanding of distributed patterns of spatial accessibility and connectedness contributes significantly to spatial planning and intervention efforts in street networks and socio-spatial contexts.