Mapping mobile service usage diversity in cities

Abstract: The ubiquitous use of mobile devices and associated Internet services generates vast volumes of geolocated data, offering valuable insights into human behaviors and their interactions with urban environments. Over the past decade, mobile phone data have proven indispensable in various fields such as demography, geography, transport planning, and epidemiology. They enable researchers to examine human mobility patterns on unprecedented scales and analyze the spatial structure and function of cities. The relationship between mobile phone data and land use has also been extensively explored, particularly in inferring land use patterns from spatiotemporal activity. However, many studies rely on Call Detail Records (CDR) or eXtended Detail Records (XDR), which may not capture specific mobile application usage. This study aims to address this gap by mapping mobile service usage diversity in 20 French cities and investigating its correlation with land use distribution. Utilizing a Shannon diversity index, the study evaluates mobile service usage diversity based on hourly traffic volume data from 17 mobile services. Furthermore, the study compares temporal diversity with land distribution both within and among cities.