Urban spatial configuration and interactions with retail activities: An approach based on contact.

This paper explores the relationship between urban spatial configuration and retail location. We present the Contact model to quantify the capacity of diverse urban configurations to foster economic interactions. Employing a network approach, the model simulates potential interactions between residents and retail activities as they move through the city. The model computes the number of shortest paths, weighted by resident density, in a network loaded with retail activities. The method allows for ranking different urban networks based on their potential to stimulate or constrain interactions between inhabitants and retail establishments. The weighted Contact model is tested across various metric radii in a sample of 35 US cities, utilizing population data from US Census Bureau (c2020) and retail data from the ReferenceUSA database (NAICS, c2020). To validate the model, we correlate results with total retail sales data for each city. Our findings reveal that cities with higher weighted Contact values exhibit greater retail sales volume, particularly within smaller radii up to 1000 m. The differences and relevance of this measurement decreases at >1000 m radius showing that the Contact model is relevant at the local level. We conclude that the urban spatial configuration remains to play an important role in the urban economic environment, holding implications for business and service planning, as well as urban planning and design. • Urban spatial configuration and retail location relationships are explored. • Using a network-based approach, Contact model is presented. • Contact model quantifies how urban configurations promote economic interactions. • Urban spatial configuration plays a role in the number of economic interactions. • Contact model is flexible to build specific scenarios for different land uses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]