Growth rates in e-commerce, changing consumer behaviors, and COVID-19 have all
put pressure on local retailers worldwide, threatening the resilience of city centers. Local online
platforms (LOPs) have been considered as a solution to help local retailers increase their visibility and
survive on the market. However, most platforms fail to attract a significant number of stakeholders.
Simultaneously, digital platform solutions with more holistic urban perspectives, such as urban
data platforms (UDPs), have emerged. However, a question remains: how can the integration of
retail data (e.g., product availabilities) into a UDP succeed? Therefore, in this paper, we explore
stakeholder-oriented networking processes to integrate local retail data into a UDP in Leipzig,
Germany. Leipzig has increased its population by 26% since 2000, but presents the highest retail
vacancy rate, compared to other major German cities. To investigate the networking process in
Leipzig, we conduct a social network analysis which combines qualitative interviews, mapping, and
ethnographic research. We interview ten stakeholders and uncover conflicts within the networking
process: First, all stakeholders have different understandings of UDPs and how to integrate local retail
data; second, the interviewees acknowledge the importance of, but none of them feel responsible for,
initiating or managing the process; and third, the city administration has shown diverging interest, in
terms of taking on more responsibility.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:87223 |
| Date | 27 September 2023 |
| Creators | Schade, Katrin, Hübscher, Marcus, zur Lage, Felix, Schulze, Juana, Ringel, Johannes |
| Publisher | MDPI |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion, doc-type:article, info:eu-repo/semantics/article, doc-type:Text |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | 5900, 10.3390/su14105900 |
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