Spatiotemporal Structure Features of Network Check-in Activities of Urban Residents and Their Impacting Factors: A Case Study in Six Urban Districts of Beijing

Abstract

In this paper, six urban districts of Beijing were used in a case study in which the check-in data of Sina Micro-blog (Weibo), a micro-blogging website, from September 24 to October 7, 2014, were acquired, and the spatial and temporal distributions of the check-in activities of urban residents and their impacting factors were investigated through GIS kernel density analysis and SPSS correlation analysis. The results showed that in a continuous time period, the check-in activities assumed a wavy periodic motion with a cycle of 24 hours and also time differentiation characteristics. The spatial variations in the check-in activities in spatial agglomeration centers among the districts were somewhat large, with Chaoyang District being the most concentrated area among the spatial agglomeration centers. The distribution of the check-in activities exhibited significant features of rating-scale and core-periphery. The factors affecting the time distribution of the check-in activities mainly derived from the regularity of human activities, and the distance attenuation law and the urban services industry exerted important impacts on the spatial structure of check-in activities.