Applying the tourist life cycle concept to the evolution of commercial areas using density, diversity, and land price

Abstract

It is a globally recognized phenomenon that commercial areas serve as spaces of affluent, leisure consumption. Nonetheless, the topic of retail change remains poorly theorized. Views on commercial area changes are beginning to be challenged, however, with the acknowledgement that the fundamental importance of retail change is in instigating gentrification. From the perspective of the business life cycle, retail changes can affect the opening, closing, and duration of businesses. With the growth of tourism worldwide, commercial locations have the potential to transform, gentrify, and become urban attractions and tourist destinations. The tourist attraction life cycle model (TALC) may be applicable to commercial areas when they are thus conceptualized as tourist attractions. This study examined the applicability of a life cycle model—development, consolidation, stagnation, and decline to the process of change of commercial areas to identify patterns. We attempted to define change in commercial areas in terms of business density, diversity, and changes in land prices using micro data from business enterprises in Seoul (1996-2016) from the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The results showed that there were four patterns of commercial area change in the portfolio analysis. Applying the TALC, we found that commercial areas passed through four life cycle stages in a manner that might be best explained using the complexity theory.