Global urban network analysis of luxury fashion brand stores for east asia cities

Abstract

Global urban network studies have selected the actors in various cities and analyzed the networks that mediate them. At the same time, the concept of consumer cities has emerged around global cities, and many city competitiveness indexes have begun to take notice of cities’ commercial amenities. Among such, luxury brands have engaged in globalization and established distribution systems that include various retail channels, such as flagship stores. This study determined that a luxury brand as an actor has the potential to form an urban network. This study analyzed the global city network of East Asian cities by selecting stores owned by global luxury brands as actors. The hierarchies of the cities on the network shows which city has a developed service industry and is culturally influential. Based on the results of this study, the development of the service and cultural industries in cities can be determined, and further research on new urban networks can be conducted by analyzing other globalized retail actors.