Identifying the Industry Structure and Industrial Relevance of Commercial Historic Cultural Districts Using Functional Co-Location Networks

Abstract Commercial functions are widely regarded as a key instrument for revitalizing historic cultural districts, yet functional mix decisions are often made on experiential grounds, resulting in heritage erosion, homogenized retail, and weakened district identity. This study develops a data-informed analytical framework to identify industry structure typologies and to uncover the industrial relevance mechanisms that shape functional co-location in commercial historic cultural districts. Drawing on 2023 Point-of-Interest data from Gaode Map for 50 well-performing commercial historic cultural districts across 29 cities in China, the study integrates industry structure indicators, hierarchical cluster analysis, and functional co-location network analysis. Four steps are undertaken: case selection, industry structure evaluation and classification, functional co-location network cluster identification, and abstraction of common industrial relevance mechanisms. The results identify seven industry structure types that each exhibiting a distinct functional-structural profile: balanced development, shopping and leisure dominant, overnight accommodation ancient town, specialty catering dominant, scenic attractions pulling, business and living services, and administrative and cultural services. Functional co-location network analysis further reveals eight characteristic clusters whose compositions and interrelations vary systematically across the seven types: shopping and leisure, catering and entertainment, culture and art, holiday accommodation, scenic sightseeing, local life, corporate business, and administrative office. Four recurring industrial relevance mechanisms are distilled: consumption behaviour relevance, environmental quality relevance, planning and administrative relevance, and production chain relevance. The framework extends industrial relevance analysis from macro-regional to neighbourhood micro-scales, offers a typological reference for benchmarking district positioning, and provides actionable guidance for fine-grained business mix regulation in heritage revitalization practice.