ANNUAL CONGRESS 2025

Caféscape in Transition: A Spatiotemporal Analysis of Hong Kong’s Emerging Coffee- Manifested Wanghong Geographies

Not scheduled

20m

Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul

Oral Track 16 | FOOD

Speaker

Dr Izzy Yi JIAN (Department of Social Sciences and Policy Studies, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong)

Description

The pervasive influence of social media is fundamentally reshaping the logic of urban space (re)production and (re)consumption. As physical spaces are increasingly mediated through social media platforms, their value and meaning become progressively contingent upon digital dissemination effects, transforming tangible spaces into consumable images and symbols. Within this digital-spatial nexus, cafés have evolved beyond their conventional role as dining establishments, emerging as crucial sites of social interaction and cultural production for Asian urban youth. Driven by platform economy and “check-in” culture, cafés, through their cultivated aesthetic distinction and role as spaces of cultural capital accumulation, have manifested as an emblematic spatial typology of “Wanghong Urbanism.” This phenomenon offers a compelling analytical lens for examine urban space (re)production in the digital age. Through a case study of Hong Kong, this research investigates the spatiotemporal evolution of café landscapes from 2014 to 2024 using POI data, exploring their dialectical relationship with socio-spatial restructuring processes and urban morphological characteristics through GIS analysis. The empirical findings reveal three key patterns: (1) café numbers have shown significant growth over the past decade, with particularly rapid expansion during 2018-2020; (2) spatial distribution patterns identify three typical models of “Wanghong” district development: established high-density zones (exemplified by Central-Wan Chai), rapidly transforming areas (notably the regenerated Kwun Tong industrial district and Sham Shui Po), and emerging clusters around new towns; (3) different types of cafés demonstrate distinct locational preferences—chain brands predominantly cluster in employment-intensive business districts, whilst independent speciality cafés tend to emerge in older neighbourhoods with lower rental costs. These findings not only reveal new logics of urban space (re)production in the social media era but also provide a novel interpretative framework for understanding contemporary urban cultural consumption transformation.

References

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