Structural Cities: Delimiting Retailing Center Boundaries and Their Hierarchical Characteristics in Urban China Based on GPS-Enabled Taxi Data

Previous behavioral studies on urban structure have been limited by the scale, accuracy, or promptness in obtaining statistical data used for delimiting retail center boundaries and hierarchical analysis. Using a large amount of GPS-enabled taxi data from Guangzhou, China, this research attempts to delimit the boundaries of retailing centers and explore their hierarchical characteristics. The identified retailing centers are verified with economic census data, and the retailing hierarchical structure is identified through assessing trip summation, travel distance, and travel time. Among these indicators, trip summation reveals hierarchical characteristics best. The urban retailing hierarchical structure also reveals the centrality of urban Guangzhou.