Streetscape and business survival: Examining the impact of walkable environments on the survival of restaurant businesses in commercial areas based on street view images

Walkable environments within commercial areas can be an important factor that vitalizes consumers' walking access, thereby increasing stores' survival. Particularly, the survival of restaurant businesses may be more sensitive to surrounding walkability than that of other businesses. Despite many studies on the relationships between walkability and restaurants' survival, prior studies have identified walkable environments at a macro-scale, not at a pedestrian's eye-level view along the street. This study addresses these gaps by investigating the impact of macro- and micro-scale walkable environments on the survival of restaurant businesses in the commercial areas of Seoul, Korea. To identify micro-scale streetscapes in commercial areas, we used deep learning technologies utilizing 82,563 Google Street View panorama images. We employed spatial lag and multiple regression models to clarify the impact of walkable environments on restaurants' survival. This study also accounted for two types of commercial areas to examine how the impact of walkability varies across commercial areas' heterogeneity. We found that streetscapes play a key role in increasing the survival of restaurants in commercial areas. This study may help policymakers develop tailored approaches to vitalize the economies of local commercial areas by considering the environmental characteristics of commercial areas and the impacts of improving the walkable environment.