Multimodal Deep Learning Framework for Profiling Socio-Economic Indicators and Public Health Determinants in Urban Environments

Bibliographic Data

ID13114112
AuthorsEsaie Dufitimana (0000-0001-6817-4419, University of Kigali, corresponding author), Jean Pierre Bizimana (0000-0001-9098-416X, University of Rwanda), Ernest Uwayezu (0000-0002-6172-6089, University of Rwanda), Paterne Gahungu (0000-0002-3335-4716, African Institute for Mathematical Sciences), Emmy Mugisha (0000-0001-8897-6486, University of Rwanda)
Year2026
Volume10
Issue4
Pages177-177
Publication date2026-03-25
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueUrban Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2413-8851 • E-ISSN: 2413-8851
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/urbansci10040177
OpenAlexW7151613364
LanguageEN
References cited72

Urbanization significantly enhances socio-economic conditions, health, and well-being for many by improving access to services, education, and economic opportunities. However, socio-economic and public health disparities are also being exacerbated by urbanization. The reliable data required to monitor these conditions are often unavailable, outdated, or inconsistent. This study introduces a multimodal deep learning framework that integrates satellite imagery with street network datasets to predict urban socio-economic indicators and public health determinants at the sector level as a political administrative unit of public health planning in Rwanda. We extracted latent visual and topological embeddings of the urban built environment, using a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and Graph Neural Network (GNN). These embeddings were fused through an attentional mechanism to train a multi-task regression model that simultaneously predicts multiple socio-economic indicators and public health determinants. This framework was applied to the City of Kigali in Rwanda. Overall, the multimodal fusion model achieved the best average performance across targets, with an average correlation of 0.68 and MAE of 1.26 for socio-economic indicators, and 0.68 and 1.46 for public health determinants, demonstrating the benefit of integrating visual and topological information. The learned fused embedding space arranges socio-economic indicators and public health determinant deciles along a continuous morphological gradient from sparsely built rural settings to dense urban settings, demonstrating that the urban form encodes latent signals that capture socio-economic indicators and health determinants. Moreover, the study reveals a strong relationship between socio-economic indicators and the public health index, with education, cooking materials, and floor materials exhibiting a correlation above 0.96. This work demonstrates the utility of an integrated framework for socio-economic indicator profiling and public health planning in data-scarce urban contexts, offering a scalable approach for monitoring the indicators of Sustainable Development Goals in rapidly changing urban environments

Convolutional neural network · Deep learning · Graph · Health indicator · Profiling (computer programming · Public health · Public health surveillance · Urban planning · Human Mobility and Location-Based Analysis · Urban Design and Spatial Analysis · Urban Transport and Accessibility

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