Popularity Trajectories and Mixing Patterns of Urban Venues in Two European Cities
The study analyzed Foursquare data from London and Barcelona to find six recurring popularity shapes for urban venues: Fall, Rise, Rise & Fall, Steady, Ephemeral, and Underdogs. It found that neighborhood characteristics don't predict a venue's shape; instead, local proximity strongly predicts trajectory type. Urban vibrancy emerges at the block-level through specific social and historical contexts.