Knowledge of the patterns of location of retail stores in urban areas supports the development of effective urban planning and the reasonable allocation of commercial facilities. Using point of interest data and consumer survey data in three main commercial districts in Changchun, China, this study investigates the spatial structures of commercial districts and the patterns of distribution of retail stores to assess the determinants of the development of retail stores in commercial districts. Kernel density estimation, nearest neighbor index, and Pearson’s correlation analysis were used for this study. The following conclusions are drawn. (1) The spatial distribution of retail stores in Changchun commercial districts generates the coexistence of a concentration in the core area and diffusion in the peripheral area. The emergence of shopping malls has challenged the traditional single-center structure, resulting in the transformation of commercial districts from single-center to multicenter layouts, while also producing a hierarchical trend in development. (2) The Chongqing Road and Hongqi Street commercial districts have a relatively high spatial concentration of retail stores. Retail stores in Guilin Road exhibit distinct characteristics, namely, stores selling textiles, clothing, and daily necessities show the highest concentration, and food, beverage, and tobacco outlets as well as integrated stores show the lowest concentration. (3) The selected locations of the differing categories of stores on Chongqing Road strongly correlate, and textile, clothing, and daily necessity stores show a high correlation with other retail categories. (4) Four main factors affect the development and spatial layout of retail in the commercial districts. First, the interaction between consumer behavior and location choice in retail stores promotes the evolution of retail formats and trends in the development of comprehensive, specialized, and hierarchical retail commercial spaces. Second, the retail format determines the spatial layouts and the historical inheritance of the format. Third, governmental planning and policies lead to the agglomeration and diffusion of commercial activities in different areas. Fourth, such spatial clustering effects are an external driving factor for integration and aggregation among retail formats.

Northeast China has seen a remarkable transition from rustbelt to economic revival over the past decade. However, promoting sustainable economic growth is a major issue facing Northeast China after entering the middle‐income stage of development. Based on a panel data set of 34 prefecture‐level cities in Northeast China from 2001 to 2018, this paper constructs a human capital index in terms of both quantity (educational capital) and quality (health capital) and uses the generalized method of moments (GMMs) to explore the spatial–temporal effects of human capital on economic growth under the “middle‐income trap.” The results show that a key factor keeping Northeast China in the middle‐income stage is the loss of highly qualified labor and that the previous attribution of the economic downturn to the population exodus is inaccurate. Although the results of this study indicate that the demographic dividend during the demographic transition period has ended in Northeast China and that the associated low‐cost advantage has been lost, the “talent dividend” can still be obtained by improving the level of human capital and thus promoting sustainable economic growth.

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