Assessing parallel urban dynamics through local-scale morphological and activity indicators in German and Spanish cities

This research examines whether contemporary cities exhibit parallel urban phenomena, understood as similar socio-spatial dynamics emerging independently across different geographical contexts. While recent research introduces quantitative indicators to address urban morphology, such as plot area, compactness, and land-use ratios, such approaches typically rely on citywide metrics and rarely address finer spatial scales or relationships between morphological and activity-related indicators. Moreover, vertical correlations among these indicators remain unexplored. To address this gap, the land-system-science framework is adopted, proposing a combined horizontal (cross-city) and vertical (cross-indicator) correlation approach. Specifically, this research investigates how local-scale compactness relates to three activity-related indicators —density, diversity, and popularity— to identify recurring patterns in cities of Spain and Germany. By integrating both morphological and non-morphological indicators at small-scale levels, this approach enhances existing index-based methods that often overlook interactions between urban form, activity patterns, and intangible values. Findings reveal a significant correlation between compactness and the concentration, diversity, and popularity of urban activities across all case-study cities. Despite differences in historical development, cultural context, and economic structure, these relationships display notable convergence. This suggests that contemporary urban dynamics increasingly evolve in parallel across different geographical contexts, potentially influenced by digitally interconnected patterns of urban use. • Urban compactness is closely linked to activity density, diversity, and popularity. • Similar neighborhood-level dynamics appear across cities with different contexts. • Vertical and horizontal correlations reveal recurring urban spatial patterns. • Compactness–activity links persist despite differing urban backgrounds. • Digital practices strengthen convergent structures of urban activity.