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<p>The digital era has reshaped urban commercial spaces, driving the emergence of less-visible shops in non-ground-floor and non-street-facing areas. To deepen the investigation of this transformation, this study analyzes the spatial evolution of commercial establishments across 287 Chinese cities from 2015 to 2023, using data from Dazhong-Dianping—a leading public review and rating platform for commercial premises. The results reveal a widespread trend of establishments expanding horizontally within street blocks and vertically across building floors (excluding shopping centers). In particular, the proportion of non-street-facing and non-ground-floor shops increased steadily, with accelerated growth post-COVID despite an overall decline in shop numbers. This shift was particularly prominent in experiential consumption sectors, such as entertainment, exercise and beauty services, which exhibited robust expansion. Higher socioeconomic tier cities experienced these changes earlier and more intensely. These findings provide critical insights for mixed-use development, adaptive urban governance and retail innovation in the digital era.</p>

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The form of China’s urban commercial expansion in the digital era

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年6月11日

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  • Enjia Zhang,
  • Jingxuan Hou,
  • Ying Long

摘要

The digital era has reshaped urban commercial spaces, driving the emergence of less-visible shops in non-ground-floor and non-street-facing areas. To deepen the investigation of this transformation, this study analyzes the spatial evolution of commercial establishments across 287 Chinese cities from 2015 to 2023, using data from Dazhong-Dianping—a leading public review and rating platform for commercial premises. The results reveal a widespread trend of establishments expanding horizontally within street blocks and vertically across building floors (excluding shopping centers). In particular, the proportion of non-street-facing and non-ground-floor shops increased steadily, with accelerated growth post-COVID despite an overall decline in shop numbers. This shift was particularly prominent in experiential consumption sectors, such as entertainment, exercise and beauty services, which exhibited robust expansion. Higher socioeconomic tier cities experienced these changes earlier and more intensely. These findings provide critical insights for mixed-use development, adaptive urban governance and retail innovation in the digital era.