Pub Date : 2026-01-06DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2025.106766
Yookyung Lee , Byunghak Min , Seungwoo Han
As South Korea faces unprecedented demographic decline, marked by the world's lowest fertility rate and rapid population aging, immigration has begun to feature in local political discourse. This study analyzes more than two decades of official council proceedings across administrative districts to examine whether demographic conditions influence rhetorical engagement with immigration, and whether such discourse exhibits ideological polarization. Using computational text analysis, the findings show that lower total fertility rates and population stagnation are associated with increased references to immigration, but not with greater partisan divergence in sentiment. Rather than serving as a site of ideological contestation, immigration tends to be addressed in pragmatic terms, often linked to labor shortages and regional sustainability. These results suggest that under conditions of centralized immigration policy, limited migrant presence, and acute demographic pressure, immigration can acquire salience in local politics without becoming a polarizing issue. This study contributes to broader debates on political demography and political responsiveness.
{"title":"Demographic decline, pragmatic talk: Local immigration discourse under demographic pressure in South Korea","authors":"Yookyung Lee , Byunghak Min , Seungwoo Han","doi":"10.1016/j.cities.2025.106766","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cities.2025.106766","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As South Korea faces unprecedented demographic decline, marked by the world's lowest fertility rate and rapid population aging, immigration has begun to feature in local political discourse. This study analyzes more than two decades of official council proceedings across administrative districts to examine whether demographic conditions influence rhetorical engagement with immigration, and whether such discourse exhibits ideological polarization. Using computational text analysis, the findings show that lower total fertility rates and population stagnation are associated with increased references to immigration, but not with greater partisan divergence in sentiment. Rather than serving as a site of ideological contestation, immigration tends to be addressed in pragmatic terms, often linked to labor shortages and regional sustainability. These results suggest that under conditions of centralized immigration policy, limited migrant presence, and acute demographic pressure, immigration can acquire salience in local politics without becoming a polarizing issue. This study contributes to broader debates on political demography and political responsiveness.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48405,"journal":{"name":"Cities","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 106766"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-01-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145939229","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-05DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2025.106757
Ashpreet Kaur , Mary Alice Haddad
Why are some municipalities diverting nearly 80 % of their municipal solid waste while others are putting everything into landfills? This article seeks to investigate the factors that explain variation in municipal solid waste diversion rates among cities that have publicly committed to ambitious climate action goals. It finds that cities that make a public commitment to reducing emissions, such as joining Cities Race to Zero, Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, ICLEI, or C40, commonly have zero waste plans and goals. Many of these cities are also home to universities and are often located in states with beverage container and food waste laws. However, none of these factors had a measurable influence on the extent to which cities diverted their waste from landfills. Using an original dataset of the 132 cities in the United States that had signed the Cities Race to Zero challenge (a global initiative in which participating municipalities pledge to reach net zero emissions by 2040 or sooner), we used OLS regressions to test which factors affected a city's waste diversion rates. We found that having a higher per capita income, proximity to the ocean, and being in California were the only factors that had a statistically significant effect on increasing a municipality's waste diversion rate.
{"title":"Do zero waste pledges and goals increase municipal waste diversion rates?","authors":"Ashpreet Kaur , Mary Alice Haddad","doi":"10.1016/j.cities.2025.106757","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cities.2025.106757","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Why are some municipalities diverting nearly 80 % of their municipal solid waste while others are putting everything into landfills? This article seeks to investigate the factors that explain variation in municipal solid waste diversion rates among cities that have publicly committed to ambitious climate action goals. It finds that cities that make a public commitment to reducing emissions, such as joining Cities Race to Zero, Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, ICLEI, or C40, commonly have zero waste plans and goals. Many of these cities are also home to universities and are often located in states with beverage container and food waste laws. However, none of these factors had a measurable influence on the extent to which cities diverted their waste from landfills. Using an original dataset of the 132 cities in the United States that had signed the Cities Race to Zero challenge (a global initiative in which participating municipalities pledge to reach net zero emissions by 2040 or sooner), we used OLS regressions to test which factors affected a city's waste diversion rates. We found that having a higher per capita income, proximity to the ocean, and being in California were the only factors that had a statistically significant effect on increasing a municipality's waste diversion rate.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48405,"journal":{"name":"Cities","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 106757"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-01-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145939231","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-03DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2025.106698
Diego Maximiliano Macall , Xavier Gabarrell Durany , Sergio Villamayor-Tomas , David Romero i Sànchez
As the world's population continues to urbanize, cities are uniquely positioned to lead a new wave of agricultural innovation by integrating the productive components of their food systems directly into their infrastructure. This study empirically measures the potential total production of three of the most consumed vegetables that can be attained through rooftop greenhouse (RTG) production in Barcelona. Three production scenarios are posited. Scenarios 1 and 2 are underpinned by a revenue-maximizing logic. While in Scenario 3, production is guided by Barcelonan vegetable consumption. Results show that on 65 ha of rooftop area, or 0.64 % of the total 101.4 km2 area over which Barcelona spans, a considerable amount of the vegetables Barcelonans consume could be produced. In illustration, in Scenario 3, a total of 5878 t of tomato, 507 t of bell peppers, and 78 t of lettuce can be produced within RTGs in Barcelona. Moreover, a comprehensive discussion on how to provide the water necessary for this urban horticultural system is also undertaken. Barcelona's food system could be significantly enhanced from implementing RTGs throughout the city. However, the city's citizens need to be consulted about their thoughts about altering the city's skyline to implement such a system.
{"title":"A food system innovation: Vegetable production in rooftop greenhouses in Barcelona","authors":"Diego Maximiliano Macall , Xavier Gabarrell Durany , Sergio Villamayor-Tomas , David Romero i Sànchez","doi":"10.1016/j.cities.2025.106698","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cities.2025.106698","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As the world's population continues to urbanize, cities are uniquely positioned to lead a new wave of agricultural innovation by integrating the productive components of their food systems directly into their infrastructure. This study empirically measures the potential total production of three of the most consumed vegetables that can be attained through rooftop greenhouse (RTG) production in Barcelona. Three production scenarios are posited. Scenarios 1 and 2 are underpinned by a revenue-maximizing logic. While in Scenario 3, production is guided by Barcelonan vegetable consumption. Results show that on 65 ha of rooftop area, or 0.64 % of the total 101.4 km<sup>2</sup> area over which Barcelona spans, a considerable amount of the vegetables Barcelonans consume could be produced. In illustration, in Scenario 3, a total of 5878 t of tomato, 507 t of bell peppers, and 78 t of lettuce can be produced within RTGs in Barcelona. Moreover, a comprehensive discussion on how to provide the water necessary for this urban horticultural system is also undertaken. Barcelona's food system could be significantly enhanced from implementing RTGs throughout the city. However, the city's citizens need to be consulted about their thoughts about altering the city's skyline to implement such a system.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48405,"journal":{"name":"Cities","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 106698"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-01-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145885062","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-01-02DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2025.106700
Jia Zhang, Nicholas A. Phelps, Julie T. Miao
The platform economy is increasingly digitally mediating a wide range of everyday practices, though its influence on spatial relationships of economic activities remains in the early stages of exploration. This study draws on data from 300 structured questionnaires collected from e-commerce businesses located in urban, suburban, and rural areas to identify and compare how e-commerce entrepreneurs interact with platform space and different physical places. Our analysis captures three distinct spatial interaction patterns of e-commerce firms in urban, suburban and rural areas. The power of platforms is geographically uneven. Platforms do not necessarily alleviate the challenges faced by rural areas. Nor do they only further concentrate activity in existing urban agglomerations. Instead, they further complicate the economic geographical landscape found between urban economic agglomeration and dispersion.
{"title":"The uneven power of the platform: Variations in E-commerce entrepreneurial behaviours in urban, suburban, and rural contexts","authors":"Jia Zhang, Nicholas A. Phelps, Julie T. Miao","doi":"10.1016/j.cities.2025.106700","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cities.2025.106700","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The platform economy is increasingly digitally mediating a wide range of everyday practices, though its influence on spatial relationships of economic activities remains in the early stages of exploration. This study draws on data from 300 structured questionnaires collected from e-commerce businesses located in urban, suburban, and rural areas to identify and compare how e-commerce entrepreneurs interact with platform space and different physical places. Our analysis captures three distinct spatial interaction patterns of e-commerce firms in urban, suburban and rural areas. The power of platforms is geographically uneven. Platforms do not necessarily alleviate the challenges faced by rural areas. Nor do they only further concentrate activity in existing urban agglomerations. Instead, they further complicate the economic geographical landscape found between urban economic agglomeration and dispersion.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48405,"journal":{"name":"Cities","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 106700"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2026-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145885110","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Car-free initiatives are increasingly recognized for boosting public transit use, retail sales, and physical activity. However, there remains a gap in research exploring such initiatives on diversity and social segregation, particularly within urban ethnic enclaves characterized by cultural, linguistic, and ethnic isolation from the broader society. This study delves into CicLAvia in Los Angeles, the largest car-free street program in the United States. By analyzing five million geotagged tweets, three-year Point-Of-Interest (POIs) data, and five-year community survey data, we aim to quantify the initiative's impact on urban diversity, measured by the entropy of language types expressed on Twitter, POI categories in proximity to Twitter users, the lexical richness within tweets themselves, and the ethnic diversity by American Community Survey. We adopted a quasi-experimental Difference-In-Difference analysis, seeking to ascertain the causal impact of nine CicLAvia events held between July 2016 and December 2018 on diversity metrics. Findings revealed that CicLAvia events, in general, significantly enhanced the diversity of the experiment groups, measured by language, surrounding POIs, and lexical richness expressed on Twitter, with consistent findings on ethnic diversity at the census tract level. Such effects were found to be insignificant in low-density suburbs away from the downtown, especially the Latino and Southeast Asian communities, indicating limitations of such initiatives in alleviating segregation. The study offers data analytical protocol and insights for planners and policymakers interested in fostering inclusiveness and diversity through car-free initiatives in the era of political polarization.
{"title":"Do car-free initiatives enhance urban diversity? Causal evidence from CicLAvia in Los Angeles","authors":"Haoliang Chang , Yuan He , Chu Chu , Jianxiang Huang","doi":"10.1016/j.cities.2025.106754","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cities.2025.106754","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Car-free initiatives are increasingly recognized for boosting public transit use, retail sales, and physical activity. However, there remains a gap in research exploring such initiatives on diversity and social segregation, particularly within urban ethnic enclaves characterized by cultural, linguistic, and ethnic isolation from the broader society. This study delves into CicLAvia in Los Angeles, the largest car-free street program in the United States. By analyzing five million geotagged tweets, three-year Point-Of-Interest (POIs) data, and five-year community survey data, we aim to quantify the initiative's impact on urban diversity, measured by the entropy of language types expressed on Twitter, POI categories in proximity to Twitter users, the lexical richness within tweets themselves, and the ethnic diversity by American Community Survey. We adopted a quasi-experimental Difference-In-Difference analysis, seeking to ascertain the causal impact of nine CicLAvia events held between July 2016 and December 2018 on diversity metrics. Findings revealed that CicLAvia events, in general, significantly enhanced the diversity of the experiment groups, measured by language, surrounding POIs, and lexical richness expressed on Twitter, with consistent findings on ethnic diversity at the census tract level. Such effects were found to be insignificant in low-density suburbs away from the downtown, especially the Latino and Southeast Asian communities, indicating limitations of such initiatives in alleviating segregation. The study offers data analytical protocol and insights for planners and policymakers interested in fostering inclusiveness and diversity through car-free initiatives in the era of political polarization.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48405,"journal":{"name":"Cities","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 106754"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2025-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145885061","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-30DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2025.106764
Hao Yu , Xuanyu Liu , Chonghao Zhang , Zhe Liu , Peng Cao , Xiao Luo
Ridesharing has gained global attention as a sustainable mobility strategy to reduce congestion, emissions, and vehicle use. However, most existing studies focus on single cities and define ridesharing potential narrowly through the sharing rate, limiting the ability to distinguish universal patterns from city-specific variations. This study redefines ridesharing potential as the theoretical upper bound of a city’s capacity to accommodate shared trips under idealized conditions, reflecting how demand intensity, travel efficiency, and passenger delay jointly determine structural feasibility. Using standardized trip density, we analyze large-scale GPS trajectory and road network data from four Chinese megacities (Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Chengdu), representing diverse urban forms from monocentric to polycentric and corridor-based structures. The results reveal four stable theoretical patterns governing ridesharing systems: temporal regularity with daytime peaks (8:00 to 18:00), spatial concentration around business and transit centers, a Pareto distribution in which 80% of shared trips occur within 20% of grids, and scaling saturation where sharing rate increases logarithmically with trip density (). The multi-city findings also reveal how urban morphology systematically modulates their manifestation. Monocentric and transit-oriented cities exhibit higher and more scalable ridesharing potential, while polycentric and spatially dispersed structures experience early saturation. This morphological dependence underscores that ridesharing efficiency is inherently structural and can be strategically enhanced through fine-grained land use coordination and hub-based urban design. A subset of the dataset is publicly released to support further research: https://anonymous.4open.science/r/multi-city-GPS-trajectory-dataset-3F3D.
{"title":"A unified framework for evaluating urban ridesharing potential: Spatiotemporal patterns, scaling effects, and multi-city evidence from China","authors":"Hao Yu , Xuanyu Liu , Chonghao Zhang , Zhe Liu , Peng Cao , Xiao Luo","doi":"10.1016/j.cities.2025.106764","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cities.2025.106764","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Ridesharing has gained global attention as a sustainable mobility strategy to reduce congestion, emissions, and vehicle use. However, most existing studies focus on single cities and define ridesharing potential narrowly through the sharing rate, limiting the ability to distinguish universal patterns from city-specific variations. This study redefines ridesharing potential as the theoretical upper bound of a city’s capacity to accommodate shared trips under idealized conditions, reflecting how demand intensity, travel efficiency, and passenger delay jointly determine structural feasibility. Using standardized trip density, we analyze large-scale GPS trajectory and road network data from four Chinese megacities (Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Chengdu), representing diverse urban forms from monocentric to polycentric and corridor-based structures. The results reveal four stable theoretical patterns governing ridesharing systems: temporal regularity with daytime peaks (8:00 to 18:00), spatial concentration around business and transit centers, a Pareto distribution in which 80% of shared trips occur within 20% of grids, and scaling saturation where sharing rate increases logarithmically with trip density (<span><math><mrow><msup><mrow><mi>R</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn></mrow></msup><mo>></mo><mn>0</mn><mo>.</mo><mn>94</mn></mrow></math></span>). The multi-city findings also reveal how urban morphology systematically modulates their manifestation. Monocentric and transit-oriented cities exhibit higher and more scalable ridesharing potential, while polycentric and spatially dispersed structures experience early saturation. This morphological dependence underscores that ridesharing efficiency is inherently structural and can be strategically enhanced through fine-grained land use coordination and hub-based urban design. A subset of the dataset is publicly released to support further research: <span><span>https://anonymous.4open.science/r/multi-city-GPS-trajectory-dataset-3F3D</span><svg><path></path></svg></span>.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48405,"journal":{"name":"Cities","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 106764"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2025-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145885063","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-29DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2025.106768
Lisa Marie Brunner , Pasi Aalto , Helge Hillnhütter , Christian A. Klöckner , Martin Steinert , Henrikke Dybvik
Promoting walking as a mode of transport is crucial to creating healthy, liveable cities. However, little research has examined how the built environment influences people's experiences, partly because of a lack of methods that directly capture this effect. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), an optical brain imaging technique, measures neurological responses by monitoring changes in blood oxygenation. Although fNIRS has been employed to compare built and natural environments, its application to studying built environments remains underexplored. This study addresses this gap by investigating how different built walking environments affect participants' emotional experiences and brain activation. The environments included 1) a mixed-use residential area, 2) a mixed-use old town street, 3) a monotonous residential street, and 4) a city centre environment. An expert panel assessed their quality using urban indicators. In an experiment (N = 51), participants watched four 20-s videos of each environment while we measured prefrontal cortex oxygenated and deoxygenated haemoglobin concentrations and collected data on emotional experiences. Results showed that pleasantly perceived walking environments (1 and 2) decreased prefrontal cortex activation, while unpleasantly perceived environments (3 and 4) produced the opposite effect. While our findings demonstrate cognitive differences between urban scenes, further research is needed to identify which environmental factors drive these effects. Overall, viewing different walking environments elicits measurable cognitive responses, highlighting the potential of fNIRS to study urban experiences. Evidence-based research on neurourbanism can inform the creation of urban spaces that promote walking and enhance emotional well-being and health.
{"title":"Pleasant walking environments enhance emotional experiences and reduce brain activation - an application of fNIRS in urban studies","authors":"Lisa Marie Brunner , Pasi Aalto , Helge Hillnhütter , Christian A. Klöckner , Martin Steinert , Henrikke Dybvik","doi":"10.1016/j.cities.2025.106768","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cities.2025.106768","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Promoting walking as a mode of transport is crucial to creating healthy, liveable cities. However, little research has examined how the built environment influences people's experiences, partly because of a lack of methods that directly capture this effect. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), an optical brain imaging technique, measures neurological responses by monitoring changes in blood oxygenation. Although fNIRS has been employed to compare built and natural environments, its application to studying built environments remains underexplored. This study addresses this gap by investigating how different built walking environments affect participants' emotional experiences and brain activation. The environments included 1) a mixed-use residential area, 2) a mixed-use old town street, 3) a monotonous residential street, and 4) a city centre environment. An expert panel assessed their quality using urban indicators. In an experiment (<em>N</em> = 51), participants watched four 20-s videos of each environment while we measured prefrontal cortex oxygenated and deoxygenated haemoglobin concentrations and collected data on emotional experiences. Results showed that pleasantly perceived walking environments (1 and 2) decreased prefrontal cortex activation, while unpleasantly perceived environments (3 and 4) produced the opposite effect. While our findings demonstrate cognitive differences between urban scenes, further research is needed to identify which environmental factors drive these effects. Overall, viewing different walking environments elicits measurable cognitive responses, highlighting the potential of fNIRS to study urban experiences. Evidence-based research on neurourbanism can inform the creation of urban spaces that promote walking and enhance emotional well-being and health.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48405,"journal":{"name":"Cities","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 106768"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2025-12-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145885109","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-29DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2025.106765
Enjia Zhang , Li Wan , Ying Long
This study investigates the evolving spatial patterns of urban commercial establishments in the digital era through a three-dimensional analytical framework. Using integrated data from Gaode Map and Dianping, we analyze traditional street-level businesses —retail, food and beverage (F&B), and daily service—across Beijing's Fifth Ring Road from 2012 to 2024. The results show ground-floor street-facing (street-level) establishments declined overall but proved more resilient during the pandemic with a partial rebound, while their non-street-facing counterparts grew steadily, and non-ground-floor businesses maintained overall growth despite a temporary drop during COVID, followed by partial recovery. Spatially, street-level business proportion decreased with distance from the urban core, whereas non-ground-floor establishments clustered within the 2nd–4th ring roads. Retail and F&B establishments strongly favored street-level locations, particularly after the pandemic, whereas daily service businesses showed relatively greater preference for non-street-level spaces. Notably, platform comparisons reveal distinct recording patterns: while Gaode captured more street-level establishments, Dianping registered higher proportions of horizontally/vertically expanded businesses. Vertically expanded establishments demonstrated higher online ratings and review volumes, suggesting digital platforms may help mitigate visibility limitations in physical space. National and local policies that may have facilitated commercial expansion are also discussed. These insights offer valuable implications for the operation of commercial establishments and urban policymaking in the digital era.
{"title":"Beyond street-level shops: Characteristics of three-dimensional commercial distribution dynamics in Beijing combining Gaode and Dianping data","authors":"Enjia Zhang , Li Wan , Ying Long","doi":"10.1016/j.cities.2025.106765","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cities.2025.106765","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates the evolving spatial patterns of urban commercial establishments in the digital era through a three-dimensional analytical framework. Using integrated data from <em>Gaode Map</em> and <em>Dianping</em>, we analyze traditional street-level businesses —retail, food and beverage (F&B), and daily service—across Beijing's Fifth Ring Road from 2012 to 2024. The results show ground-floor street-facing (street-level) establishments declined overall but proved more resilient during the pandemic with a partial rebound, while their non-street-facing counterparts grew steadily, and non-ground-floor businesses maintained overall growth despite a temporary drop during COVID, followed by partial recovery. Spatially, street-level business proportion decreased with distance from the urban core, whereas non-ground-floor establishments clustered within the 2nd–4th ring roads. Retail and F&B establishments strongly favored street-level locations, particularly after the pandemic, whereas daily service businesses showed relatively greater preference for non-street-level spaces. Notably, platform comparisons reveal distinct recording patterns: while <em>Gaode</em> captured more street-level establishments, <em>Dianping</em> registered higher proportions of horizontally/vertically expanded businesses. Vertically expanded establishments demonstrated higher online ratings and review volumes, suggesting digital platforms may help mitigate visibility limitations in physical space. National and local policies that may have facilitated commercial expansion are also discussed. These insights offer valuable implications for the operation of commercial establishments and urban policymaking in the digital era.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48405,"journal":{"name":"Cities","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 106765"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2025-12-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145885111","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
<div><div>The Walled City of Jaipur in India's northwestern state of Rajasthan, founded in 1727 CE by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II as the capital of the Dhundhar region of the Kachhwaha Rajputs, is a perfect example of medieval city planning. Jaipur Walled city is a UNESCO World Heritage City, inscribed in August 2019, with its outstanding universal value, synthesized in three criterias. Criteria ii- an exemplary development in town planning and architecture demonstrating an amalgamation and significant interchange of Hindu, Mughal and several contemporary western ideas over the late medieval period; Criteria-iv- a dramatic departure from extant medieval cities with its ordered, grid-like structure – broad streets, crisscrossing at right angles, earmarked sites for buildings, palaces, havelis, temples and gardens, neighbourhoods designated for particular castes and occupations and Criteria vi- historically, the city is said to have housed “chattis karkhanas” (36 industries), the majority of which included crafts like gemstones, lac jewellery, stone idols, miniature paintings, each with a specified street and market some of which continue to exist. This criteria also makes it a UNESCO Creative City of Crafts and Folk Arts (UCCN), inscribed in 2015, and Jaipur was the first city in India to join this network.</div><div>The city of Jaipur represents the continuity of traditional urbanism, which has evolved over centuries and in the 21st century continues to blend with the socio-economic parameters. The idea of 18th century city of Sawai Jai Singh II as a centre of trade and commerce and as a creative hub for arts and crafts, Jaipur city still maintains its identity witnessed in the culture and buildings. The Walled city of Jaipur has been populated for over 298 years since its inception, for 50,000 people. Currently the population density is 58,207 people per square kilometre, with more than 3000 tourists every day. As a result, with the city's urban growth, the developmental pressures have increased, combined with an exponential increase in population. Rapid urbanization has put forth the built heritage of Jaipur in jeopardy. With limited resources and the ever-rising economic prospects of urban areas, the Walled City of Jaipur, like many other historic cities, finds itself at a difficult crossroads. This paper aims to establish a comprehensive understanding of the impact of planning of Jaipur Walled City on its cultural identity by highlighting the chronological development, physical infrastructure and socio-cultural aspects of the walled city. It also aims to focus on existing developmental approaches, prominent challenges and issues about environmental aspects, building regulations and infrastructure. The Walled City of Jaipur shares similar concerns as other historic cities in India with respect to safeguarding of historic planning context and heritage management among other developmental issues. The proposed mitigation strategies will help guid
{"title":"City profile: Walled city of Jaipur","authors":"Shipra Goswami , Rushikesh Kolte , Ashwani Kumar , Satish Pipralia","doi":"10.1016/j.cities.2025.106760","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cities.2025.106760","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Walled City of Jaipur in India's northwestern state of Rajasthan, founded in 1727 CE by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II as the capital of the Dhundhar region of the Kachhwaha Rajputs, is a perfect example of medieval city planning. Jaipur Walled city is a UNESCO World Heritage City, inscribed in August 2019, with its outstanding universal value, synthesized in three criterias. Criteria ii- an exemplary development in town planning and architecture demonstrating an amalgamation and significant interchange of Hindu, Mughal and several contemporary western ideas over the late medieval period; Criteria-iv- a dramatic departure from extant medieval cities with its ordered, grid-like structure – broad streets, crisscrossing at right angles, earmarked sites for buildings, palaces, havelis, temples and gardens, neighbourhoods designated for particular castes and occupations and Criteria vi- historically, the city is said to have housed “chattis karkhanas” (36 industries), the majority of which included crafts like gemstones, lac jewellery, stone idols, miniature paintings, each with a specified street and market some of which continue to exist. This criteria also makes it a UNESCO Creative City of Crafts and Folk Arts (UCCN), inscribed in 2015, and Jaipur was the first city in India to join this network.</div><div>The city of Jaipur represents the continuity of traditional urbanism, which has evolved over centuries and in the 21st century continues to blend with the socio-economic parameters. The idea of 18th century city of Sawai Jai Singh II as a centre of trade and commerce and as a creative hub for arts and crafts, Jaipur city still maintains its identity witnessed in the culture and buildings. The Walled city of Jaipur has been populated for over 298 years since its inception, for 50,000 people. Currently the population density is 58,207 people per square kilometre, with more than 3000 tourists every day. As a result, with the city's urban growth, the developmental pressures have increased, combined with an exponential increase in population. Rapid urbanization has put forth the built heritage of Jaipur in jeopardy. With limited resources and the ever-rising economic prospects of urban areas, the Walled City of Jaipur, like many other historic cities, finds itself at a difficult crossroads. This paper aims to establish a comprehensive understanding of the impact of planning of Jaipur Walled City on its cultural identity by highlighting the chronological development, physical infrastructure and socio-cultural aspects of the walled city. It also aims to focus on existing developmental approaches, prominent challenges and issues about environmental aspects, building regulations and infrastructure. The Walled City of Jaipur shares similar concerns as other historic cities in India with respect to safeguarding of historic planning context and heritage management among other developmental issues. The proposed mitigation strategies will help guid","PeriodicalId":48405,"journal":{"name":"Cities","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 106760"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2025-12-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145841418","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-26DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2025.106740
Jia Yu , Jean Dubé , Cédric Brunelle
This study explores the economic impact of bike lanes on local commercial growth in Montreal, focusing on their influence on the number of restaurants (cafés, dining and nightlife establishments). While active transportation infrastructure is often promoted for its health and environmental benefits, its potential to drive economic development remains debated. Using an Event Study Analysis (ESA) framework, this research analyzes the relationship between bike lane implementation (2005–2020) and restaurant growth within a 150-meter radius. Results indicate that bike lanes do not consistently lead to increased restaurant numbers citywide. However, significant positive effects were observed in the Ville-Marie borough, where a sustained increase in the number of restaurants was detected for up to 10 years following implementation. This study highlights the importance of aligning active transportation planning with local economic conditions to enhance the effectiveness of such investments.
{"title":"From wheels to meals: Do bike lanes drive restaurant growth in Montreal? (2005–2020)","authors":"Jia Yu , Jean Dubé , Cédric Brunelle","doi":"10.1016/j.cities.2025.106740","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cities.2025.106740","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study explores the economic impact of bike lanes on local commercial growth in Montreal, focusing on their influence on the number of restaurants (cafés, dining and nightlife establishments). While active transportation infrastructure is often promoted for its health and environmental benefits, its potential to drive economic development remains debated. Using an Event Study Analysis (ESA) framework, this research analyzes the relationship between bike lane implementation (2005–2020) and restaurant growth within a 150-meter radius. Results indicate that bike lanes do not consistently lead to increased restaurant numbers citywide. However, significant positive effects were observed in the Ville-Marie borough, where a sustained increase in the number of restaurants was detected for up to 10 years following implementation. This study highlights the importance of aligning active transportation planning with local economic conditions to enhance the effectiveness of such investments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48405,"journal":{"name":"Cities","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 106740"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2025-12-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145841419","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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