Modeling Urban Narrative Structures and Feature Generation Pathways Driven by Korean UGC

This study investigates how Korean user-generated content (UGC) on Instagram constructs and communicates urban narratives of Shanghai in a cross-cultural digital context. Moving beyond state-centric communication paradigms, the study explores the bottom-up formation of city image narratives, emphasizing affective resonance, visual aesthetics, and community interaction. Utilizing semantic network analysis and content analysis on over 13,000 Korean-language comments under the hashtag #상해여행, we identify a multi-layered narrative model composed of landmark visualization, experiential storytelling, and emotional co-creation. The research further reveals how grassroots media practices contribute to an algorithm-driven visibility of urban features, ultimately informing the organic transmission of urban and national imagery. Our findings offer a methodological pathway for modeling decentralized city image construction driven by foreign audiences in the social media era.