The Places–People Exercise: Understanding Spatial Patterns and the Formation Mechanism for Urban Commercial Fitness Space in Changchun City, China

Abstract

The fitness industry is rapidly developing due to the demand for fitness activities, and a large number of commercial fitness spaces have emerged in Changchun city. The distribution of commercial fitness spaces in the city is not chaotic; different types of fitness spaces should have different spaces to choose from. The purpose of this article is to summarize the spatial distribution characteristics and laws of urban commercial fitness spaces, to help better develop commercial fitness spaces. Using Changchun (a central city in northeastern China) as an example, the article divides commercial fitness spaces into five categories. Then, GIS tools are used to analyze the distribution patterns, level distributions, and agglomeration characteristics of commercial fitness spaces. The city’s commercial fitness space distribution patterns are subjected to further study, along with the influencing factors and forming mechanisms of the pattern. Moreover, based on the research results, this study provides targeted suggestions for the development of fitness spaces. The study found that the commercial fitness space in Changchun city has formed a multi-core spatial pattern. Various types of fitness spaces show significant spatial differentiation in many aspects, such as “center-periphery” characteristics, the spatial distribution form, and the specialized characteristics of each block unit. Fitness needs, national policies, transportation accessibility, spatial agglomeration, land rent, urban population distribution, etc., are the main factors affecting the spatial distributions of fitness spaces.

Spatial Distribution Characteristics of Public Fitness Venues: An Urban Accessibility Perspective

“…Yi and Horton [13] proposed that China has abundant open green spaces and residential parks whose potential value for fitness and sports has not been fully explored, and that effective integration of the quantity and quality of garden green belts, residential green spaces, and sports fields can promote the future level of utilization of green space resources in China. In addition, other scholars have studied public fitness venues from the perspectives of their social attributes [14], spatial distribution [15,16], and accessibility [17]. By studying the spatial distribution of gymnasiums in Germany, Wu et al [18] found that the main factor affecting residents' satisfaction with fitness venues is accessibility, followed by conditions such as fresh air and clean environment.…”

Optimization of spatial distribution of sports parks based on accessibility analysis

“…To date, the spatial distributions of sports parks in China, as well as the corresponding influencing factors, have been investigated by using different methods ( Table 1 ), including grid dimension analysis, spatial autocorrelation analysis, and kernel density estimation [ 17 , 18 ]. Indeed, the service capability of sports parks is closely related to their accessibility in a positive manner [ 19 ].…”

Spatio-Temporal Patterns of Fitness Behavior in Beijing Based on Social Media Data

“…Some scholars have taken a fitness population perspective, and more related studies have focused on the differences in the fitness behaviors of different populations, such as the elderly, children, men, women, the rich, and the poor [10][11][12][13][14]. From the perspective of fitness venues, relevant research has paid greater attention to the transport range, accessibility, distribution characteristics, utilization rate, carrying capacity, and other influencing factors of these locations [15][16][17][18][19][20]. Some geographers are more concerned with the changes in fitness spaces within cities, and they usually considered elements, such as land use, neighborhood environment, accessibility, and population density, as the main factors influencing the changes in the fitness space [21][22][23][24][25].…”