Spatial access to pedestrians and retail sales in Seoul, Korea

The retail sector plays a significant role in urban economic development, smart growth policies with mixed land use, and retail desert issues. In addition, urban policies and designs for pedestrian-friendly urban settings have become a dominant paradigm to reshape urban environments. As retail sales depend considerably on the volume of neighborhood pedestrians, the link between pedestrian mobility and retail sales has been a key issue in studies, designs, and economic development of urban areas. Despite the importance of the topic, few empirical studies have examined how pedestrian volumes along street networks affect retail prosperity in urban spaces. Hence, this study investigates the effect of accessibility and centrality to walking volume on retail sales in Seoul by considering pedestrian volumes and street network configuration concurrently. Multilevel regression models confirm that spatial access to pedestrians has differing effects on retail sales according to the type of retail sector. Specifically, a higher accessibility to and visibility of retail stores for walkers tend to improve the sales performance of all retail types. Further, the sales of the Medical Services and Education sectors are remarkably sensitive to the combined effects of pedestrian and street configuration, unlike those of the three other sectors, namely Food, Retail, and Services.