Boba Shop, Coffee Shop, and Urban Vitality and Development—A Spatial Association and Temporal Analysis of Major Cities in China from the Standpoint of Nighttime Light

Abstract

Nighttime light (NTL) is a critical indicator of urban vitality and development. Using NTL as a representation of urban vitality and development, the study explores how different fresh-made beverage shops, namely boba and coffee shops, proxy various facets of urban vitality and development in four megacities in China. Existing studies mostly discuss urban vitality as a broad concept and seldom investigate the diverse urban vitality and development represented by different indicators. This study selects Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen as case study regions and explores (1) their urban vitality pattern represented by NTL. (2) the heterogeneous spatial distribution of boba and coffee shops; (3) how boba and coffee shops represent urban vitality differently; and (4) how boba and coffee shops portray the economy and population growth aspect of urban development differently. We acquired NTL data from remote sensing images to measure urban vitality and development. Cross-sectionally, the majority of urban vitality and development represented by NTL concentrates in urban centers. The distribution of coffee shops assimilates the spatial pattern of urban vitality represented by NTL while boba shops have a greater spatial extent in metropolitan fringes. Longitudinally, from 2012 to 2020, the global and local bivariate Moran’s I analysis between NTL and beverage shops shows that the coffee shops capture urban vitality and development better than boba shops in Beijing, while the pattern is reversed in Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Examining the evolving spatial dynamics between beverage shops’ growth and urban development using bivariate Moran’s I and Getis–Ord Gi/Mann–Kendall emerging hot spot analysis, we found that the locations with the most intense economic growth have seen the most spatial expansion of coffee shops. In contrast, those with the fastest population growth have seen the greatest spatial development of boba businesses. These results indicate that coffee shops represent the economic aspect of urban vitality while boba shops emphasize the population growth aspects. By examining the dynamic spatio–temporal relationship between small beverage shops and urban vitality and development represented by NTL data, this study broadens the usage of remote sensing data in urban studies and expands on previous research and offers insights for urban planners and geographers to reference when choosing indicators of urban vitality and growth.