Framework Analysis of E-Commerce Induced Shift in the Spatial Structure of a City

With the operational advancement of e-commerce, the need for retail stores and facilities in commercial cores is somewhat challenged. The shift toward virtual shopping limits the need for physical and purpose-oriented trips to prime shopping locations. Such spaces are being replaced by warehousing, retail outlets, or other types of storage facilities away from downtown locations. While a growing consensus exists to support this spatial transformation, not much has been done in terms of an academic inquiry and a critical analysis of the nature and impact of the shift from physicality to virtuality. This paper theoretically investigates the impacts of transition on spatial organization by analyzing contemporary city structures and key determinants while studying the expanding operational breadth of e-commerce and its resulting impacts. The paper also develops a framework for understanding the current and potential consequences of e-commerce on contemporary intellectual constructs of land use and sheds light on the transition. The framework will cause urban planners and policy makers to (re-)think current planning approach(es) and investment opportunities in the future or transitional cities.