热带地理2025，Vol.45Issue(11)：1939-1949,11.DOI:10.13284/j.cnki.rddl.20250240
"附近的插件":超大城市便利店的空间形塑与地方生成——以上海市全家便利店为例
Plug-Ins of Proximity:Spatial Shaping and Place-Making of Convenience Stores in Megacity Behemoth:A Case Study of FamilyMart in Shanghai
摘要
Abstract
The development of megacities corresponds to the macro-structure of social operations,while the lives of urban residents correspond to micro-level social practices.The interaction between these two dimensions requires the support of multi-scalar spaces to ensure the effective functioning of urban society and fulfill people's aspirations for a better life.Convenience stores have emerged as pivotal infrastructural nodes that meet daily consumption needs.The current research defines them as standardized non-place spaces.However,we found that convenience stores are often perceived as warm and therapeutic spaces,prompting us to explore how convenience stores serve as social intermediaries that connect the spatial structure of megacities with daily life.This study focuses on two core questions:How do people develop a sense of place in megacities through their interactions with convenience stores?What does the emergence of placeness in standardized non-place spaces reveal about the dynamics between people and the city?Grounded in Lefebvrian social space theory and humanistic geographical place theory,this article first establishes the conceptual relationship between spatiality and placeness through the lens of the"Proximity"concept,and then constructs an analytical framework based on material,social,and affective dimensions for qualitative research.The findings reveal that:1)Convenience stores function as"plug-in spaces"that optimize the metropolitan ecosystem.By providing material convenience and standardized services,they transform physical spaces into social spaces,thereby offering crucial social support to urban residents.This demonstrates the distinctive social value inherent in small-scale commercial spaces in urban contexts.Building on their unique standardized service protocols and spatial power dynamics,convenience stores provide consumers with customer-centric spatial experiences.2)While deeply embedded in the daily lives of megacity residents,convenience store spaces exhibit a dialectical combination of placeness and non-place characteristics.These stores extend across metropolitan areas through an extensive network of chain outlets.This process of placemaking serves as a means through which urban residents construct their individual life subjectivity.The emergence of convenience store placeness reflects people's proactive efforts to construct emotional anchors amid the hypermobile pace of metropolitan life.The emotional attachment to standardized spaces reflects a contemporary urban reality:the hypermobile nature of life in megacities weakens,or even eliminates,organic interpersonal connections,creating a pressing need for everyday consumption spaces that meet practical needs while also providing a sense of belonging.Based on this analysis,the study posits that understanding and enhancing the functions of such plug-in spaces in two key areas can contribute to the organic optimization of urban life:1)Beginning with the self-practice of urban individuals,it is essential to preserve human agency in daily routines and encourage the establishment of stable interpersonal connections in public life.2)From the perspective of urban spatial planning,commercial community spaces should be embedded in daily life,closely aligned with people's needs,and serve as nodes for constructing social bonds.Urban planning should be fundamentally oriented toward shared social development,forming a multidimensional,multi-scalar,and human-centered spatial system.关键词
超大城市/便利店/插件空间/空间形塑/地方生成/人本位/上海Key words
megacity behemoth/convenience store/plug-in space/spatial shaping/place-making/human-centered/Shanghai分类
社会科学引用本文复制引用
汪熹成.."附近的插件":超大城市便利店的空间形塑与地方生成——以上海市全家便利店为例[J].热带地理,2025,45(11):1939-1949,11.基金项目
国家社会科学基金项目"共同富裕进程中县域乡村振兴研究"(22VRC177) （22VRC177）
上海市人文社科重大项目"乡村振兴视野下的新型城乡关系研究"(2025GDSKZD01) （2025GDSKZD01）
