Evolution Characteristics and Causes—An Analysis of Urban Catering Cluster Spatial Structure

Studying the development characteristics of the urban catering industry holds significant importance for understanding the spatial patterns of cities. In this manuscript, according to the characteristics of the distribution of catering points and based on catering point of interest (POI) data of 106 cities in China in 2016 and 2022, we propose the Natural Nearest Neighbor Single Branch Model (NNSBM) to identify catering points by adaptive clustering, which improves the efficiency of identifying catering clusters. Subsequently, a catering spatial structure division model is constructed to classify the spatial structure of catering clusters into 3 major categories and 17 subcategories, and the evolution pattern of urban catering clusters is analyzed. In addition, based on the population density raster data, a bivariate spatial autocorrelation model is employed to analyze the complex relationship between the distribution of urban catering clusters and population density, revealing the distinctive characteristics of urban catering cluster evolution. The results showed that (1) In the initial stage of catering cluster formation, catering activities tend to gather first in a specific area of the city, giving rise to the main catering cluster. However, as the catering industry progresses, the phenomenon of “central fading” occurs within the main catering cluster. (2) The overall trend of the catering spatial structure of most cities showed an evolution toward low primacy–high concentration (Lp-Hc), and cities at different stages of catering capacity exhibited different evolution characteristics of catering clusters. (3) The influence of population density on catering distribution was staged, with a varying impact on cities with different types of catering spatial structures.