MotifGPL: Motif-Enhanced Graph Prototype Learning for Deciphering Urban Social Segregation

Abstract: Social segregation in cities, spanning racial, residential, and income dimensions, is becoming more diverse and severe. As urban spaces and social relations grow more complex, residents in metropolitan areas experience varying levels of social segregation. If left unaddressed, this could lead to increased crime rates, heightened social tensions, and other serious issues. Effectively quantifying and analyzing the structures within urban spaces and resident interactions is crucial for addressing segregation. Previous studies have mainly focused on surface-level indicators of urban segregation, lacking comprehensive analyses of urban structure and mobility. This limitation fails to capture the full complexity of segregation. To address this gap, we propose a framework named Motif-Enhanced Graph Prototype Learning (MotifGPL),which consists of three key modules: prototype-based graph structure extraction, motif distribution discovery, and urban graph structure reconstruction. Specifically, we use graph structure prototype learning to extract key prototypes from both the urban spatial graph and the origin-destination graph, incorporating key urban attributes such as points of interest, street view images, and flow indices. To enhance interpretability, the motif distribution discovery module matches each prototype with similar motifs, representing simpler graph structures reflecting local patterns. Finally, we use the motif distribution results to guide the reconstruction of the two graphs. This model enables a detailed exploration of urban spatial structures and resident mobility patterns, helping identify and analyze motif patterns that influence urban segregation, guiding the reconstruction of urban graph structures. Experimental results demonstrate that MotifGPL effectively reveals the key motifs affecting urban social segregation and offer robust guidance for mitigating this issue.