Unravelling retail diversity through its spatial relationship with social vulnerability and tourism pressures in Barcelona

Figures & data

Figure 1. Study area: the conurbation of Barcelona and its different urban shapes.

Source: The authors.

Figure 2. Built environment and socioeconomic characteristics of the study area: a) population density, b) contact opportunity, c) accessibility, d) urban vulnerability, e) concentration of tourist accommodations.

Source: The authors.

Table 1. Summary of the data.

Type of variable	Variable	Original resolution	Transformations
Outcome	Retail and Facility Mix Indicator (0–1)^1,2,3	points	point count (sum)
	Proportion of retail/facility type (n type/ n total)^1,2,3	points	point count (sum)
Built environment covariates	Commercial ratio (% commercial use/built surface)^4	block	spatial join (mean)
	Net Density of Population (n inhabitants/ km^2)^5	grid (quadtree)	spatial join (mean)
	Acessibility (z-score)^6	grid (100x100m)	spatial join (mean)
	Contact opportunity (z-score)^6	grid (100x100m)	spatial join (mean)
Socioeconomic covariates	Urban vulnerability index (1 low−10 high)^7	Metropolitan Statistical Areas	spatial join (mean)
	Tourist accommodation ratio (% tourist accommodation units/total housing units)^8	census tract	not applicable

Sources: ¹Retail inventory in a Ground level of the City of Barcelona 2019, Opendata BCN 2019; ²Census of Businesses in Catalonia CAMERDATA 2019, Chamber of Commerce. ³Facilities Viewer 2019, Metropolitan Area of Barcelona. ⁴Municipal Cadaster 2017, National Statistical Institute (INE). ⁵Georeferenced population of Catalonia 2016, Statistical Institute of Catalonia (IDESCAT). ⁶ Gómez-Varo, Delclòs-Alió, and Miralles-Guasch (2022). ⁷Antón-Alonso and Porcel (2021). ⁸Measurement of the number of tourist dwellings in Spain and their capacity 2020 (INE 2020).

Table 2. Generalized linear model regression (binomial distribution and a logistic link) of the retail and facility mix score.

	Std. Coef (S.E.)
Built environment characteristics
Commercial ratio (% commercial use/built surface)	0.18   (0.069)**
Net population density (n inhabitants/ km^2)	0.168 (0.070)*
Accessibility (z-score)	0.224 (0.161)
Contact opportunity (z-score)	0.901 (0.161)***
Social environment characteritics
Urban vulnerability (1 low −10 high)	−0.128 (0.063)*
% touristic accommodation	−0.111 (0.057)

Note: Significance test: *p-value < 0.05, **p-value < 0.01, ***p-value < 0.001 Source: The authors.

Figure 3. Clusters according to diversity, vulnerability, and proportion of tourist accommodation scores.

Source: The authors.

Table 3. Summary of clusters.

Type	Key characteristics	Location
Cluster 1 Mostly Peripheral high-density and vulnerable everyday neighbourhoods (n = 674; 40% of census tracts)	Socially disadvantaged populations with limited tourist activity that maintain high retail and amenity diversity, closely linked with daily needs and social reproduction.	Conurbated towns of Barcelona, such as L’Hospitalet de Llobregat (14), Cornellà de Llobregat (12), Santa Coloma de Gramenet (19), northwest of Sant Adrià del Besòs (16), and Badalona (11). Peripheral districts of Barcelona such as Sant Martí (10), Horta Guinardó (7), and Nou Barris (8). Exceptionally, the Raval neighbourhood in the central historic district of Ciutat Vella (1).
Cluster 2 Diverse and socially privileged historic hospitality cluster (n = 143; 9% of the census tracts)	Neighbourhoods with socially privileged population and considerable presence of tourism. High diversity, but the most prominent activities are restaurants and bars, leisure retail, and personal and household equipment.	The inner-city urban expansion of Barcelona, the district of Eixample (2). West of the historic central district of Ciutat Vella (1). Historic inner-city cores of Sants-Montjuic (3), Gràcia (6), and Sant Martí (10).
Cluster 3 Infrastructure and Facilities-focused in Limiting areas (n = 207; 12% of the census tracts)	Low diversity areas with moderate vulnerability and minimal presence of tourist activity. Prominent proportion of basic services such as health, education, and cultural and sports facilities.	In limiting areas bordering natural boundaries (mountains, rivers). Within the urban fabric, close to large infrastructures, industrial areas and large parks. Seafront of Sant Martí (10), Sant Adrià del Besòs (16), and extremities of Badalona (11).
Cluster 4 Well-balanced and socially privileged in decentralized urban cores (n = 597; 36% of the census tracts)	Neighbourhoods with socially privileged population and scare relative presence of tourist activity. High diversity, where primary retail and services (food retail) and less essential activities (leisure, cultural facilities) are found.	Ring around central Barcelona: Les Corts (4), Sarrià-Sant Gervasi (5), north of Gràcia (6), Horta-Guinardó (7), Sant Andreu (9), and Sant Martí (10). Central coastal areas of Badalona (11). Central part of Sant Joan Despí (17) and Sant Just Desvern (18).
Cluster 5 Historic tourism hub (n = 45; 3% of the census tracts)	Specific areas with moderated social vulnerability and extremely high presence of tourist accommodation, where most of retail activities are dedicated to hospitality, food, and beverage services.	Historical town of Ciutat Vella (1). Central streets of the inner orthogonal expansion of Eixample (2). Poblesec historical neighbourhood in Sants-Montjuic (3) district.

Table 4. Proportion (%) of retail and facility activities, per cluster.

		Cluster
Category	Subcategory	1	2	3	4	5	Total
Basic services and equipment	Convinience food retail	18.44	13.52	11.23	14.18	11.94	15.42
	Education	5.93	4.14	12.74	5.78	4.89	6.54
	Health and Social Assistance	5.06	4.56	8.42	7.07	3.11	6.1
	Convinience goods (non food)	5.31	5.04	6.1	5.57	4.89	5.47
Personal	Personal services	11.17	9.33	5.38	11.16	6.7	10.17
	Personal equipment	4.71	8.44	2.71	6.64	11.95	5.67
Household	Household equipment	5.41	5.73	3.99	5.27	2.69	5.13
	Reparing	4.44	2.78	5.39	4.14	1.75	4.23
	Cleaning services	2.79	0.38	2.95	1.16	0.42	1.96
Entertainement	Cultural facilities	3.56	2.61	7.02	2.35	4.02	3.49
	Leisure	1.76	4.12	1.19	3.15	3.47	2.44
	Sports	0.91	1.36	2.86	1.64	1.09	1.46
Restoration & Hospitality	Food, beverage, and hospitality	20.45	29.07	19.21	20.45	37.63	21.49
Finances	Real Estate Agencies	4.3	2.01	5.15	3.43	0.98	3.81
	Banks	2.86	2.62	2.21	3.29	1.36	2.87
Others	Motor vehicle goods and services	1.16	0.69	1.51	1.2	0.35	1.16
	Others	1.73	3.57	1.91	3.48	2.69	2.56
	Total	100	100	100	100	100	100

Source: The authors.

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