Decoding Retail Commerce Patterns with Multisource Urban Knowledge

Urban commercial districts, with their unique characteristics, serve as a reflection of broader urban development patterns. However, only a handful of studies have harnessed point-of-interest (POI) data to model the intricate relationship between retail commercial space types, land use function, walking coverage, and urban planning. This paper endeavors to bridge this gap, focusing on the influence of urban development factors on retail commerce districts through the lens of POI data. Our exploration underscores how commercial zones impact the density of residential neighborhoods and the coherence of pedestrian pathways. To facilitate our investigation, we propose an ensemble clustering technique for identifying and outlining urban commercial areas, including kernel density analysis (KDE), Density-based Spatial Clustering of Applications (DBSCAN), and geographically weighted regression (GWR). Our research uses the city of Manchester as a case study, unearthing the relationship between commercial retail catchment areas and a range of factors (retail commercial space types, land use function, walking coverage). These include land use function, walking coverage, and green parks within the specified areas. As we explore the multiple impacts of different urban development factors on retail commerce models, we hope this study acts as a springboard for further exploration of the untapped potential of POI data in urban business development and planning.