Urban Commercial Space Vitality Evaluation Method Based on Social Media Data: The Case of Shanghai

Social media has rapidly intervened in the interaction between urban consumers and commercial space, further reshaping the structure of urban commercial space. This study employed the social, spatial, and subjective dimensions of geographies of consumption as the theoretical framework. Based on the...

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Main Authors: Yuwen Zhang, Mingfeng Wang, Xinyu Yang, Ruixuan Zhang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-03-01
Series:Land
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/4/697
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author Yuwen Zhang
Mingfeng Wang
Xinyu Yang
Ruixuan Zhang
author_facet Yuwen Zhang
Mingfeng Wang
Xinyu Yang
Ruixuan Zhang
author_sort Yuwen Zhang
collection DOAJ
description Social media has rapidly intervened in the interaction between urban consumers and commercial space, further reshaping the structure of urban commercial space. This study employed the social, spatial, and subjective dimensions of geographies of consumption as the theoretical framework. Based on the data from five social media platforms, including Douyin, REDnote, Weibo, Dianping, and Baidu Index, we constructed a multi-level evaluation method of “attention level–activity degree–experience quality” and applied it to measure the dynamics of the shopping malls in Shanghai to investigate their mechanism of generating urban commercial space vitality. The findings indicate that the “core + core–periphery + multi-center + circle structure, agglomeration, and balance” is the primary pattern of urban commercial space in Shanghai. The differences in business formats, consumer positioning, and consumption culture revealed by the social media data are conducive to clarifying the scale of the regional consumption space and the logic of urban commercial evolution. The main contribution of this study is the demonstration that this evaluation method rooted in social media has the potential to generalize the measurement of urban commercial space in major cities in China. We also propose corresponding countermeasures and suggestions for developing urban commercial space in Shanghai.
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spelling doaj-art-b0aa0aed04d54fa3a152df0f901562982025-08-20T02:18:14ZengMDPI AGLand2073-445X2025-03-0114469710.3390/land14040697Urban Commercial Space Vitality Evaluation Method Based on Social Media Data: The Case of ShanghaiYuwen Zhang0Mingfeng Wang1Xinyu Yang2Ruixuan Zhang3School of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, ChinaSchool of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, ChinaSchool of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, ChinaSchool of Geographic Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, ChinaSocial media has rapidly intervened in the interaction between urban consumers and commercial space, further reshaping the structure of urban commercial space. This study employed the social, spatial, and subjective dimensions of geographies of consumption as the theoretical framework. Based on the data from five social media platforms, including Douyin, REDnote, Weibo, Dianping, and Baidu Index, we constructed a multi-level evaluation method of “attention level–activity degree–experience quality” and applied it to measure the dynamics of the shopping malls in Shanghai to investigate their mechanism of generating urban commercial space vitality. The findings indicate that the “core + core–periphery + multi-center + circle structure, agglomeration, and balance” is the primary pattern of urban commercial space in Shanghai. The differences in business formats, consumer positioning, and consumption culture revealed by the social media data are conducive to clarifying the scale of the regional consumption space and the logic of urban commercial evolution. The main contribution of this study is the demonstration that this evaluation method rooted in social media has the potential to generalize the measurement of urban commercial space in major cities in China. We also propose corresponding countermeasures and suggestions for developing urban commercial space in Shanghai.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/4/697social mediaurban commercial spacegeographies of consumptionshopping mallspatial vitality
spellingShingle Yuwen Zhang
Mingfeng Wang
Xinyu Yang
Ruixuan Zhang
Urban Commercial Space Vitality Evaluation Method Based on Social Media Data: The Case of Shanghai
Land
social media
urban commercial space
geographies of consumption
shopping mall
spatial vitality
title Urban Commercial Space Vitality Evaluation Method Based on Social Media Data: The Case of Shanghai
title_full Urban Commercial Space Vitality Evaluation Method Based on Social Media Data: The Case of Shanghai
title_fullStr Urban Commercial Space Vitality Evaluation Method Based on Social Media Data: The Case of Shanghai
title_full_unstemmed Urban Commercial Space Vitality Evaluation Method Based on Social Media Data: The Case of Shanghai
title_short Urban Commercial Space Vitality Evaluation Method Based on Social Media Data: The Case of Shanghai
title_sort urban commercial space vitality evaluation method based on social media data the case of shanghai
topic social media
urban commercial space
geographies of consumption
shopping mall
spatial vitality
url https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/4/697
work_keys_str_mv AT yuwenzhang urbancommercialspacevitalityevaluationmethodbasedonsocialmediadatathecaseofshanghai
AT mingfengwang urbancommercialspacevitalityevaluationmethodbasedonsocialmediadatathecaseofshanghai
AT xinyuyang urbancommercialspacevitalityevaluationmethodbasedonsocialmediadatathecaseofshanghai
AT ruixuanzhang urbancommercialspacevitalityevaluationmethodbasedonsocialmediadatathecaseofshanghai