Study on the Spatial Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Night-Time Economic Forms from the Perspective of the Integration of Culture and Tourism

Abstract

As a driver of growth for the urban economy, the night-time economy plays an irreplaceable role in promoting the high-quality development of cities. However, research on the night-time economy within the context of cultural and tourism integration remains insufficient, particularly regarding its industrial and spatial characteristics and influencing factors. This study used a spatial analysis method to explore the spatial differentiation characteristics of the night-time economy, and Geodetector to explore the influencing factors of its spatial differentiation in the main urban area of Zunyi City. The results indicate that (1) night-time economic formats exhibit an overall central agglomeration pattern; (2) various formats generally show a spatial trend of “central concentration–peripheral dispersion”; (3) among the three administrative urban districts of Zunyi, Bozhou District and Huichuan District exhibit notably higher agglomeration levels of night-time economic activities, while Honghuagang District presents a relatively lower level of such agglomeration; and (4) economic, social, environmental, and transportation factors collectively shape the spatial heterogeneity of the night-time economy across the three districts, with GDP, residential density, and transportation accessibility standing out as the most influential determinants. The results are intended not only to facilitate the development of Zunyi City’s night-time economy and the prosperity of its tourism sector from the perspective of the integration of culture and tourism, but also to provide an empirical basis for the night-time economy development of this renowned historical and cultural city.

1. Introduction

The night-time economy (NTE) has become an increasingly vital component of modern urban systems, representing not only an extension of daily economic activities but also an indicator of a city’s cultural vibrance and quality of life. In China, as urbanization accelerates and consumption patterns diversify, the NTE has emerged as a key driver of domestic demand and a new growth pole for local economies. It plays a dual role: stimulating employment and income growth while enriching the urban cultural landscape through night-time leisure, tourism, and cultural experiences. Against this backdrop, the integration of culture and tourism, guided by the principle of “using culture to define tourism and tourism to enhance culture”, offers a strategic framework for fostering a unique, sustainable NTE that aligns with local identity and underpins high-quality urban growth.

The existing research on the NTE has made significant progress in exploring its spatial patterns, industrial forms, and governance mechanisms. Scholars have explored key themes in this field, including spatial agglomeration analyzed via point of interest (POI) and remote sensing data, socio-cultural impacts and implications associated with gender and leisure, and policy responses for night-time urban governance. Meanwhile, studies exploring the integration of culture and tourism have highlighted its key role in regional balance, rural revitalization, and heritage conservation, which is driven by the synergistic development of cultural resources and tourism industries. However, the existing research has predominantly centered on either the economic and spatial aspects of NTE or the strategic implications of the integration of culture and tourism. Consequently, there has been little systematic inquiry into their interactions, resulting in a limited understanding of how the integration of culture and tourism influences the spatial organization and differentiation of the NTE within urban settings.

Addressing this gap is particularly relevant in the case of Zunyi city, Guizhou Province, which is a historical and cultural city with rich red tourism resources and a strong regional influence in western China, as its unique attributes make it a compelling case for this investigation. While Zunyi has actively promoted night-time cultural and tourism consumption clusters as part of its urban renewal strategy in recent years, little is known about the resultant spatial differentiation and the underlying mechanisms of its NTE from the integration of culture and tourism. A robust understanding of these spatial dynamics can offer valuable insights for optimizing urban functional layouts, boosting cultural vitality, and fostering sustainable tourism development in other historic cities with similar contexts.

Accordingly, this study aims to investigate the spatial characteristics and influencing factors of the NTE in Zunyi’s main urban area from the perspective of the integration of culture and tourism. By integrating POI data, spatial methods, and Geodetector modeling, this study reveals the spatial differentiation patterns of various night-time economic forms and quantifies the driving effects of economic, social, environmental, and transportation determinants. The findings seek to extend the theoretical framework for the integrated culture–tourism economy, provide empirical evidence for planning night-time economy clusters, and offer actionable policy insights for steering high-quality urban development in China’s historic and cultural cities.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Night-Time Economy

The night-time economy (NTE) refers to a complex system of social and economic activities that occur after dark, encompassing leisure, culture, consumption, and governance [1,2]. Its connotation is twofold: on the one hand, it extends the temporal scope of tourism and urban vitality [3], offering diversified experiences beyond daytime [4]; on the other hand, it functions as a mechanism for enhancing employment [5], stimulating urban competitiveness [6], and reshaping lifestyle structures [7,8]. The implications of NTE are, therefore, not only limited to economic output but also involve issues of urban safety [9], inclusiveness [10], cultural identity [11], and sustainable development [8].

Research on the NTE employs diverse methodologies that can be grouped into four categories: (1) Spatial–quantitative approaches: Utilizing remote sensing data [12], POI datasets [13], and spatial econometric techniques [14] to evaluate vitality [15], clustering, and distribution patterns [16,17]; (2) Qualitative and sociocultural methods: Employing interviews and discourse analysis to investigate subjective experiences [18], gendered spaces [19], and social perceptions [20]; (3) Governance and policy studies: Analyzing institutional responses [21], consultative governance [22], and regulatory frameworks [3], especially under crises such as COVID-19 [23]; (4) Consumer behavior and psychology research: Exploring alcohol consumption [24], pre-drinking habits [25], multisensory experiences [20], and brand attachment within the NTE [11].

The findings reveal several consistent patterns. First, the NTE tends to be spatially uneven, often concentrated in city centers or areas with strong accessibility, while peripheral zones remain underdeveloped [14,17]. Second, experiential and emotional factors, including pleasure, solidarity, and multisensory engagement, significantly influence both tourist satisfaction [26] and residents’ support [27]. Third, governance structures and local safety conditions strongly shape the sustainable growth of night-time activities [8,26].

Despite economic performance and social dynamics having been studied, the role of night-time activities as integrated cultural practices and tourism drivers remains underexplored. This neglect limits our understanding of how NTE can reinforce cultural identity, contribute to rural revitalization, and create synergistic value within culture–tourism integration frameworks. Exploring this integrated role is a key objective of this study.

2.2. Cultural and Tourism Integration

The integration of culture and tourism refers to the systematic blending of cultural resources, practices, and narratives into tourism activities in order to enhance both symbolic and economic value [28,29]. Its connotation lies in repositioning culture from an independent backdrop to an active driver of tourism growth [30,31], while its implications extend to poverty alleviation [28,32], regional balance [33,34], heritage conservation [35,36], and national image-building [37]. Within China’s policy framework, culture–tourism integration is a strategic response to disparities in development and a pathway to promote rural revitalization [38,39], common prosperity [40], and cultural confidence [41].

The existing research methods fall into several categories: (1) Spatial econometrics and panel models, which measure spillover effects [42,43], poverty alleviation mechanisms [44], and income redistribution outcomes [33,45]. (2) Digitalization and symbiosis models, which focus on how technologies such as e-commerce [46,47], smart monitoring [48], and scenario-based platforms enable sustainable integration [31]. (3) Efficiency and performance evaluations, which assess how resources are reallocated dynamically across regions via DEA and related models [49,50]. (4) Case-based approaches, which apply to agricultural heritage sites or urban destination to uncover spatial disorder [51,52], governance mechanisms [53,54], and synergy models [55,56].

The results collectively demonstrate that culture–tourism integration (1) promotes rural revitalization by stimulating new urbanization [38,57], and upgrading value chains [58,59]; (2) encourages regional balance, narrowing urban-rural income gaps while showing clear heterogeneity across provinces [33]; (3) enables innovation through digitalization [46], though challenges such as security risks [60], talent shortages, and the digital divide remain [31].

Nonetheless, few studies explicitly connect culture–tourism integration with the night-time economy. These observations point toward promising areas of further research: Why should China emphasize culture–tourism integration in examining the NTE? The rationale is threefold. First, integration allows night-time activities to meet tourists’ diverse travel demands, including cultural immersion [61] and leisure beyond daytime hours [20]. Second, it stimulates industrial economic growth by linking tourism with catering, retail, creative industries, and entertainment sectors [3,62]. Third, it promotes diversified and sustainable tourism development [63], ensuring that night-time activities support not only consumption but also cultural continuity and regional identity [20].

Thus, situating the night-time economy within the framework of culture–tourism integration offers a novel lens to understand its role in China’s socio-economic transformation and contribution to high-quality development.

3. Study Area

As a prefecture-level city under the jurisdiction of Guizhou Province, Zunyi is the deputy central city of Guizhou Province. The city has jurisdiction over three districts, including Honghuagang District, Huichuan District, and Bozhou District (see Figure 1), with a total area of about 5396 square kilometers. According to the data of the 7th National Census, the resident population of the three districts is about 2.36 million (including 970,000 in Honghuagang District, 620,000 in Huichuan District, and 760,000 in Bozhou District). (1) Honghuagang District, as the old city of Zunyi City, has the highest population density and urbanization rate among the three main urban areas. It has always been the political, economic, and cultural center and transportation hub of Zunyi. The development of tourism in this district mainly relies on red resources and Long March culture to build a “red meeting room”, and the Zunyi Conference Memorial Hall is located in this district. (2) Huichuan District is Zunyi City’s economic, political, and cultural center, with a unique geographical location in Chongqing called the “one-hour economic circle” and the core area of the North Guizhou Comprehensive Economic Zone. The 2023 Huichuan District GDP per capita is higher than the average of the whole city of Zunyi GDP per capita, and in terms of economic development, it has a significant advantage. In accordance with the planning and development ideas of “one core leading and three districts linkage”, the district has the “Su Fu Guang Zhu” urban leisure business circle, which integrates the development of “scene, accommodation, multi-formats”, gradually covers 30 communities, and accelerates the cultivation of night consumption formats and night consumption gathering areas focusing on commercial streets. (3) Bozhou District is located in the core economic zone of Qianzhong Economic Zone and Qianbei Economic Cooperation Zone, and is the strategic hinterland of Guizhou’s “Golden Triangle” and “Tale of two Cities”, and is also praised as “a place to find nostalgia”. The district has experienced development of tourism based on the “nostalgia broadcast state production city new area” development positioning, through the “agricultural stage, cultural opera, tourism income” mode, to create 25 rural tourism villages, driving more than 30,000 people engaged in rural tourism, and has always been closely linked to the image positioning of “rural city nostalgia Bozhou” and constantly achieved leapfrog development.

Figure 1. Overview map of the research area.

In recent years, the districts in the development of urban night-time economy continue to move forward, always following the “government guidance, departmental linkage, market-led, classification cultivation” principle, in order to shape the “light and colorful night Guizhou” night-time economy brand as the goal. At present, Zunyi has been selected as three national night-time cultural and tourism consumption gathering areas and five provincial night-time consumption gathering zones. With its long history and rich cultural background, Zunyi City, in the development of the city’s night-time economy, in addition to the traditional tourism, shopping, entertainment, catering and accommodation night-time economic business, has also developed diversified night-time consumption business, such as exhibitions, literature, and performances; under the integration of culture and tourism, the city image and economic benefits have achieved great results.

4. Methodology

This study adopts a mixed-method approach combining spatial analysis and Geodetector modeling (see Figure 2) to explore the spatial characteristics and influencing factors of the night-time economy (NTE) in Zunyi City from the perspective of culture–tourism integration. This mixed approach provides both descriptive visualization of spatial patterns and quantitative identification of their driving mechanisms. The methodology was designed to ensure scientific rigor, spatial interpretability, and theoretical consistency with the cultural tourism framework.

Figure 2. The framework of the method.

4.1. Rationale for the Methodological Approach

The spatial differentiation of NTE is inherently geographic, involving complex interaction among economy, society, environment, and transport networks. Spatial analytical techniques allow these multidimensional data to be represented and measured effectively within a GIS environment. Meanwhile, the Geodetector method offers an innovative means to quantify the explanatory power of various factors affecting the observed spatial heterogeneity. By integrating these two methods, this study enables a more comprehensive understanding of both “where” night-time economic activities cluster and “why” they do so, aligning with the study’s objective to reveal spatial logic under the lens of culture–tourism integration.

4.2. Spatial Analysis

Four GIS-based analysis tools were employed: Kernel Density Estimation, Average Nearest Neighbor, global Moran’s I, and local Moran’s I, each serving a distinct analytical purpose:

Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) visualizes the intensity and spatial distribution of different NTE business types, identifying hotspots of activity such as entertainment or catering clusters. KDE is appropriate because it translates discrete points of interest (POIs) data into a continuous surface, enabling comparison among various industries.

Average Nearest Neighbor (ANN) tests whether the spatial distribution of businesses follows a clustered, random, or dispersed pattern. This provides statistical confirmation for the observed patterns from KDE, supporting conclusions about spatial agglomeration or diffusion.

Global Moran’s I measures overall spatial autocorrelation—whether the NTE across Zunyi’s districts tends to cluster globally. Positive Moran’s I values indicate concentration of similar values, consistent with urban centers having stronger economic activity.

Local Moran’s I detects local clusters and outliers, allowing analysis of intracity heterogeneity. This method reveals localized concentrations or anomalies of NTE that reflect urban morphology and the cultural tourism dynamics at the neighborhood scale.

4.3. Geodetector Analysis

While spatial analysis identifies where clustering occurs, Geodetector identifies why it occurs. This method quantitatively assesses how different explanatory variables contribute to spatial differentiation of a dependent variable. It measures the q-value, representing the proportion of spatial variance explained by each factor. A higher q-value denotes a stronger influence.

This study categorizes influencing factors into four dimensions reflecting the multilayered nature of NTE development: economic (e.g., GDP per capita and ATM density), providing the material foundation for night-time business vitality; social (e.g., residential density and population urbanization rate), capturing human demand and consumption potential; environmental, (e.g., NDVI and river density) reflecting ecological attractiveness and quality of leisure space; transport (e.g., road network, bus station, and parking density), indicating accessibility, a key enabler of night-time mobility.

The Geodetector framework is suitable because it does not assume linear relationships and can handle both quantitative and categorical data, making it effective for spatially heterogeneous urban systems. And it complements GIS analysis by statistically validating the degree to which each dimension drivers spatial clustering of NTE, thereby linking the observed spatial patterns to their socio-economic interpretations.

4.4. Integration Under the Cultural Tourism Perspective

From the perspective of cultural and tourism integration, this methodological combination allows the study to move beyond mere spatial mapping to interpret how culture-related, economic, and infrastructural factors jointly shape night-time urban space. Spatial analysis elucidates the form of culture–tourism integration, visible in clustering around cultural landmark or leisure corridors, while Geodetector explains the mechanism behind such integration by quantifying the influence of economic vitality, accessibility, and environmental quality. The results together contribute to understanding how NTE can promote high-quality, culturally grounded urban development.

5. Data Source and Pretreating

5.1. POI Data and Pretreating

The POI data are from Amap (http://www.amap.com, accessed on 20 December 2024), utilizing Python 3.1 to write the program and grabbing relevant kinds of night economic business form data in Amap depending on the administrative division [64,65,66,67]. The attributions of data include name, address, business hours, longitude, and latitude, which underwent a series of pretreatment steps such as eliminating redundancy, correcting deviation, excluding outliers, and spatial matching. Ultimately, seven night economic business formats were defined: accommodation, catering, culture, entertainment, shopping, sightseeing, and sport; meanwhile, a total of 5952 relevant POIs were selected for these categories within the study area (Table 1).

Table 1. Classification of night economic business in Zunyi’s main urban area.

Type	Main Forms	POI/Unit	Percentage
Accommodation	Star hotel, Express inn, Apartment, Youth hostel	656	11.02%
Catering	Restaurant, Snack, Noodles, Dessert cake, Night market, Coffee, Milky tea	1979	33.25%
Culture	Library, Museum, Gallery, Bookstore, Theater, Cultural acting	163	2.74%
Entertainment	Pleasure ground, KTV, Pub, Escape room, Home party, Internet bar, DIY, Chess and card room, Bath, Massage, Play place, Cinema, Talk show	1249	20.98%
Shopping	Plaza, Shopping mall, Bazaar, Supermarket, Convenient store, Grocery, Fruit	1382	23.22%
Sightseeing	Scenic spot, Park, Zoo, Botanical garden, Cultural block, Public square, Church	342	5.75%
Sport	Gym, Tennis court, Basketball court, Soccer court, Table tennis hall, Natatorium	181	3.04%

5.2. Geodetector Data and Pretreating

The data for the Geodetector analysis include population, GDP, NDVI, and others, and were sourced as follows.

The population data were obtained from the 2023 LandScan Global Population Database (https://landscan.ornl.gov, accessed on 22 December 2024) and were extracted for the study area using ArcMap 10.2. The GDP data, acquired from the National Bureau of Statistics (https://data.stats.gov.cn, accessed on 21 December 2024), were converted from the panel data, transforming to raster data in ArcMap. The NDVI data were derived from Landsat (https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov, accessed on 24 December 2024) and processed in ENVI 5.6 to calculate vegetation coverage. Additional detecting factors, such as POI data, were collected from Amap (http://www.amap.com, accessed on 20 December 2024). Their distribution density was subsequently computed using ArcMap following the methodology described previously.

6. Results

6.1. Characteristics of the Spatial Pattern of Night-Time Economy Business in Zunyi City

The analysis of the overall spatial distribution reveals a distinct central agglomeration pattern of night-time economic sectors in the main urban area of Zunyi City. This pattern is statistically confirmed by a global Moran’s I value of 0.213290 (see Figure 3a) and a Z value of 2.57, passing the test of significance at the 1% level (p = 0.009), with a high degree of spatial autocorrelation, which shows that Zunyi City’s night-time economic sectors belong to the distribution of significant spatial agglomerations. A total of five H-H areas were monitored in the main urban area of Zunyi City through local Moran’s I, which were Xinpu New District, Changzheng Street, Dalian Road Street, Shanghai Road Street, and Gaoqiao Street (see Figure 3b).

Figure 3. Spatial distribution of night-time economic business in the Zunyi Main District.

Delving into the characteristics of specific business types, significant variations in spatial agglomeration and accessibility are observed. The overall R < 1 of the night-time economy industry space in the main urban area of Zunyi City shows significant agglomeration (Table 2), and the agglomeration levels are, in descending order, night sightseeing, night sports, night culture, night shopping, night accommodation, night catering, and night entertainment. Among them, night entertainment and night catering have the highest level of agglomeration. According to the average proximity distance to reflect the convenience of each business with the surrounding businesses, the average proximity distance of night catering, night entertainment, night shopping, and night accommodation is less than 300 m, which is high in accessibility and convenience; on the contrary, the evaluated proximity distances of night sports, night culture, and night sightseeing are all greater than 500 m, which reflects that the accessibility and convenience of these three businesses are poor.

Table 2. Neighborhood index of night-time economy in Zunyi main city by industry.

Type	Z	p	Observed Mean Distance/m	R	Distribution Characteristic
Accommodation	−39.36	0.00	283.88	0.19	Clustered
Catering	−69.55	0.00	143.81	0.18	Clustered
Culture	−16.73	0.00	817.26	0.31	Clustered
Entertainment	−56.71	0.00	162.36	0.16	Clustered
Shopping	−56.54	0.00	223.11	0.20	Clustered
Sightseeing	−20.01	0.00	916.20	0.43	Clustered
Sport	−17.33	0.00	513.12	0.32	Clustered
Whole	−120.58	0.00	101.21	0.18	Clustered

According to the spatial distribution of the sectors, the overall pattern presents a “central dispersal” situation (see Figure 4), with specific manifestations as follows: (1) Night accommodation exists in three high hotspot areas, namely Shanghai Road Street to the old city streets, Xinpu New District, and the vicinity of Xinmin Town. (2) Night catering is distributed across southeast of the center, and mainly concentrated in the downtown and Honghuagang District. (3) Night cultural spatial distribution is relatively dispersed; core night-time cultural areas are located in all three districts, such as the Zhuhai Road area in Huichuan District. (4) Night entertainment has three significant core dense areas, mainly from the city center to the north and south streets, showing a center-marginalization trend. (5) Night shopping is obviously in the city center as the core agglomeration area, mainly concentrated in the city center with a high level of urbanization and a high degree of commercialization. (6) Night sightseeing space is dispersed across the urban area as a whole, while being highly concentrated in the city center, with additional clusters present in various other districts. (7) Night sports are mainly concentrated in the city center area, indicating a centralized clustering pattern.

Figure 4. Spatial distribution of various types of night-time economy businesses in Zunyi City Main District.

Furthermore, significant differences in agglomeration and accessibility are also observed among the three urban districts. The overall R < 1 of the night-time economy sector within the three urban areas of Zunyi City is significantly clustered (Table 3), with the highest degree of clustering in the three districts being in the Bozhou and Huichuan districts, and the relatively lower one being in the Honghuagang District. According to the average closest proximity value, the average closest proximity of both Honghuagang and Huichuan Districts is less than 100 m, while Bozhou District exceeds 200 m.

Table 3. Nearest neighbor index of night-time economy in Zunyi main urban area.

District	Z	p	Observed Mean Distance/m	R	Distribution Characteristic
Bozhou	−44.44	0.00	202.43	0.18	Clustered
Honghuagang	−85.01	0.00	83.40	0.23	Clustered
Huichuan	−66.39	0.00	99.30	0.18	Clustered
Whole	−120.58	0.00	101.21	0.18	Clustered

From the perspective of spatial organization, the distribution of night-time economic activities further differentiates these three districts (see Figure 5): (1) Huichuan District is adjacent to Bozhou District in the west, and Honghuagang District in the south. In this area, the business pattern at night shows a core aggregation, and is clustered in the Donggongsi street south of the main Shanghai Road Street around the area. (2) Honghuagang District shows an obvious multi-point agglomeration distribution, among which the concentration degree is highest around the streets of the old city, which is surrounded by shopping centers such as Zunyi Conference site, Lao Sha Alley Snack Street, Parkson, and International Trade Center, which are the densely populated areas of Honghuagang District. (3) Bozhou District is in a local core and overall dispersion situation; the core dense area is in Longkeng Street, and Yaxi Town and Shangji Town are the local core gathering areas.

Figure 5. Spatial distribution of night-time economy in Zunyi Main City.

6.2. Influential Factors of Spatial Differentiation of Night-Time Economy in the Main Urban Area of Zunyi City

Regional differences in the quality of urban development and the evolution of patterns have always been one of the core issues of high-quality urban development, which requires the synergy of the first and second nature, such as the topography of the city, the degree of industrial concentration, etc., which significantly affects the quality of urban development [68]. As a “new blue ocean” of urban consumption, the night-time economy is an important part of high-quality urban development, with an inextricable symbiotic relationship, and the night-time economy is affected by many factors such as the market, science and technology, the economy, and the environment [69]. Therefore, the influencing factors of the spatial differentiation of night-time economy are also affected by many factors such as economy, environment, and nature. To sum up, guided by related research and informed by the specific characteristics of Zunyi’s main urban area, this paper constructs an analytical framework comprising economic factors, social factors, environmental factors, and traffic factors. A total of nine specific indicators were selected within this framework, as detailed below (see Figure 6): (1) Economic factors: GDP reflects the level of urban development, GDP per capita and the level of urban economic development is positively correlated, and the economic environment is also a direct factor affecting the layout of the bank, which is determined by the bank for the purpose of profitability; the study found that the distribution of urban bank shop levels, mainly from the center of the region to the periphery of the decrease in turn [70]. When scholars studied the characteristics of the spatial distribution of urban ATMs, they found that ATMs are still in a core–edge structure, and there are even fewer ATM layouts in the relatively economically backward areas on the edge of the city [71]. Therefore, the spatial distribution of ATMs is also an important indicator of the urban economy, as the night-time economy extends the time of economic activities, which happens to be highly compatible with the 24 h service of ATMs, and moreover, ensures the financial services needed to carry out the night-time economy. (2) Social factors: Population acts a key indicator for assessing the level of urban social development; with the increase in the level of urbanization and the continuous reform of the household registration system, more and more people are concentrating in the city, which increases the demand for housing and at the same time facilitates the expansion of the city [72], which provides the essential participation of people in the night-time economy. Therefore, the level of urbanization of the population and the density of residential areas has a certain impact on the spatial differentiation of the night-time economy. (3) Environmental factors: Vegetation cover and water density as part of the urban environment, the city’s traffic and economic activities, and the environment have an important impact; for example, the area around a river usually forms a beautiful natural environment and excellent ecological environment, but also a more concentrated area of human activities, so the river system itself is a strong attraction to the natural tourism resources, and the river system also influences the tourism resource distribution [73]. And then, the vegetation cover rate, whether forest coverage rate or green coverage rate of built-up areas, directly affects the planning and utilization of urban space. Reasonable utilization can provide more night space and places for night economy and can also become an attraction for night economy. In addition, vegetation coverage rate plays an irreplaceable role in protecting urban environment, especially night economy. For the environmental problems such as light pollution and noise pollution that may occur in the development of night economy, good vegetation coverage can be used as a natural barrier and buffer to reduce the impact on the environment and residents. Therefore, vegetation coverage plays a critical role in driving the spatial differentiation of night economy. (4) Traffic factors: The development of the city and tourism, traffic accessibility and convenience is an essential condition, the use of road density can measure the regional road conditions and tourism development base, and some scholars have found that the city’s traffic and travel convenience are more important factors affecting people’s night out [74,75]; therefore, the city traffic fundamentally affects the implementation of the city night economy and implementation (Table 4).

Figure 6. Four dimensions and nine influencing factors affecting the night-time economy in Zunyi city.

Table 4. Factors affecting the night-time economic layout in Zunyi city center.

Influencing Factors		Calculation Method
Economic factors	Level of urban economic development	Per capita urban economic development level
	ATM	Number of ATMs/street area
Social factors	Level of population urbanization	Urbanization rate of resident population
	Density of residential areas	Number of residential quarters/street area
Environmental factors	Vegetation coverage	Covered area/street area
	River/water density	River length/street area
Transport factors	Road network density	Length of road network/street area
	Bus station density	Number of bus stops/street area
	Parking convenience	Number of parking lots/street area

Considering the differences in the development of night-time economy in each urban area of Zunyi City, this paper carries out targeted analyses for each urban area, and through in-depth discussions, it aims to reveal the influencing factors of the spatial differentiation of the night-time economy in each urban area, and then provide more accurate data support and decision-making basis for the overall planning and development strategy of the night-time economy in each urban area and Zunyi City.

In Honghuagang District, all the factors are significantly positively correlated with the spatial differentiation of its night-time economy. Among them, GDP (0.404) and Dwelling (0.390) belong to the dominant influence factors, which have high explanatory power for the spatial differentiation of the night-time economy in the district, and the GDP directly reflects the economic level and vitality of Honghuagang District. It also reflects the consumer’s spending power. Residential density is closely related to urban spatial layout and resource allocation. Honghuagang District is the smallest area among the three main urban districts, but it carries a relatively dense population on this compact land; it is followed by commercial vitality, abundant labor resources, and supporting basic service facilities. Parking (0.374) and Road (0.366) are general influencing factors, which have a common driving force on the spatial differentiation of the night-time economy in Honghuagang District; parking density and road network density, as part of urban transport, are important bridges to improve regional connectivity and carry out economic activities, and these factors together create an environment for the night-time economy in Honghuagang District to carry out (Table 5).

Table 5. Detection results of the influence factors of night-time economic layout in Honghuagang District.

	X1	X2	X3	X4	X5	X6	X7	X8	X9
	Population	GDP	Dwelling	Road	Bus Station	Parking	ATM	Water	NDVI
q	0.343	0.404	0.390	0.366	0.327	0.374	0.320	0.277	0.121
p	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000

In Huichuan District, all influencing factors show significant positive correlation, among which Dwelling (0.724) and Parking (0.724) belong to the dominant factors, indicating that Dwelling and Parking have outstanding contributions to the spatial differentiation of the night-time economy in Huichuan District, followed by ATM (0.709) and Bus (0.639). According to the distribution of the night-time economy in Huichuan District, the core area of the district is located in the densely populated area with a high degree of commercialization and urbanization, and from the spatial agglomeration and distribution characteristics of the various industries, the core area is still located in this area, and it is not difficult to see that this is closely related to the spatial distribution characteristics of the core–edge structure of ATM, which offers a significant advantage for the night-time economy to be carried out. It provides significant advantages for the development of the night-time economy. Since the opening of night buses in Zunyi City, there are night buses leading to Huichuan District, and the bus stops are generally distributed in the areas with high density of residential areas and population density, so the density of bus stops also provides a lot of convenience for the development of night-time economy in Huichuan District, indicating that the spatial differentiation of the night-time economy in this district tends to be laid out in the areas with convenient traffic, aiming to improve the traveling experience of the citizens and tourists and promote the development of the night-time economy (Table 6).

Table 6. Detection results of the influence factors of night-time economic layout in Huichuan District.

	X1	X2	X3	X4	X5	X6	X7	X8	X9
	Population	GDP	Dwelling	Road	Bus Station	Parking	ATM	Water	NDVI
q	0.173	0.254	0.724	0.635	0.639	0.724	0.709	0.356	0.088
p	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000

In Bozhou District, from the perspective of the influence factors, all of them are significantly positively correlated with the spatial differentiation of the night-time economy of the district, of which GDP (0.295) and ATM (0.140) are the dominant factors. In recent years, the GDP of the district ranks among the top three in Zunyi City, and the total amount has been increasing year by year, which not only highlights the leading position of the district in the regional economy, but also reflects the important driving force of the district in promoting local development and the improvement of residents’ consumption capacity, which provides greater consumption potential for the night-time economy. In terms of the important driving force of the residents’ consumption ability, which provides greater consumption potential for the night-time economy, both GDP and ATM play a decisive role in the spatial differentiation of the night-time economy in the Bozhou District. Secondly, Parking (0.088) and Population (0.078) belong to the general influencing factors. In the process of urbanization, the urbanization rate of the resident population in Bozhou District has a high explanatory power for the spatial differentiation of the night-time economy of the district, which increases the density of the urban residents and their consumption demand, and provides the night-time economy with a larger market and more consumers (Table 7).

Table 7. Detection results of the influence factors of night-time economic layout in Bozhou District.

	X1	X2	X3	X4	X5	X6	X7	X8	X9
	Population	GDP	Dwelling	Road	Bus Station	Parking	ATM	Water	NDVI
q	0.078	0.295	0.061	0.029	0.070	0.088	0.140	0.019	0.063
p	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000

Overall, the detection results of the influencing factors on the night-time economy distribution in Zunyi’s main urban area show that all nine factors are significantly positively correlated with its spatial differentiation (Table 8). Among these, GDP and Dwelling emerged as the dominant factors in two districts, indicating their stronger influence on the spatial patterning of the night-time economy across the city.

Table 8. Comparison of detection of influence factors of night-time economic layout in Zunyi City’s main city area.

Influencing Factors	X1	X2	X3	X4	X5
	Population	GDP	Dwelling	Road	Bus Station
Honghuagang	0.343 ***	0.404 ***	0.390 ***	0.366 ***	0.327 ***
Huichuan	0.173 ***	0.254 ***	0.724 ***	0.635 ***	0.639 ***
Bozhou	0.078 ***	0.295 ***	0.061 ***	0.029 ***	0.070 ***
Influencing Factors	X6	X7	X8	X9	-
	Parking	ATM	Water	NDVI	-
Honghuagang	0.374 ***	0.320 ***	0.277 ***	0.121 ***	-
Huichuan	0.724 ***	0.709 ***	0.356 ***	0.088 ***
Bozhou	0.088 ***	0.140 ***	0.019 ***	0.063 ***	-

Note: ***, **, * indicate statistical tests with significance less than 0.01, 0.05, and 0.10, respectively; p-values are in parentheses.

7. Discussion and Conclusions

7.1. Discussion

Night-time economy is a new engine of urban development, but also a multidimensional, cross-field comprehensive embodiment, under the integration of culture and tourism. Honghuagang District should adhere to the red resources and the Long March culture. The focus of the development is mainly concentrated on the following: (1) Lighting up the night-time cultural landmarks: Zunyi Conference Memorial Hall, as a part of Honghuagang District and even Zunyi City, cannot be replicated as a “red business card”. Open nights at Zunyi Conference Memorial Hall is a necessary road under the integration of culture and tourism in order to increase the “red color” of Honghuagang. In the pursuit of red memories at the same time, the night-time economy must be deeply integrated with red culture. (2) Enriching the night park cultural scene: Honghuagang District boasts the city’s most extensive park resources, which can capitalize on these public spaces by fostering strong synergies with night-time businesses. A development strategy that prioritizes leisure culture, supplemented by food culture, should strengthen and extend catering and cultural night business in the Honghuagang area. (3) Cultivating a cultural tourism and leisure ecosystem: Honghuagang District boasts the city’s highest green coverage rate in its built-up area and a forest coverage rate of 40.73%. To capitalize on these elevated, well-vegetated areas while ensuring environmental protection, it is recommended to develop nature-friendly night camping activities and construct nocturnal recreational walking trails or pocket parks. These initiatives will optimize the ecological layout and enhance the night-time visitor experience. Given the polycentric structure and fine-grained spatial differentiation of its night-time economy, Honghuagang District is positioned to adopt a “red culture as the center, leisure and ecology as two wings” development model. By leveraging its core red cultural tourism resources and complementary recreational and ecological environment, the district can foster a dynamic where the central cultural attractions drive economic activity in the surrounding areas.

Huichuan District aims to develop its night-time consumption industry and agglomeration area. While also pursuing new industry and scenes, it must prioritize key drivers for its night-time economy development in the district within the integrated culture–tourism framework: (1) Lighting up the night-time historical sites: Hailongtun Ruins, as a world cultural heritage site, is a historical relic of the Tusi culture. Before that, Hailongtun Tusi Town had launched the brand-new night tour game, on the basis of which the night-time economy of the district can delve deep into the cultural activities of the night-time economy of Hailongtun and drive the development of the related night-time economy in the neighborhood while building the night-time economy. (2) Creating a business district culture-based night consumption agglomeration: Huichuan District’s development is centered on four major night-time economic agglomeration areas, namely the “Su Fu Business Circle”, “Hong Kong, Macao and Kunming Business Circle”, “Guang Zhu Business Circle”, and “Zunyi Ancient City Linda Business Circle”. Future efforts should explore high-density residential areas and convenient traffic to carry out the business district culture with a variety of industry joint development. This approach will create a culturally immersive night-time experience. (3) Creating a night-time consumption agglomeration area complemented by neighborhood culture: The spatial differentiation of the night-time economy in Huichuan District is deeply affected by traffic factors, and an exclusive night-time neighborhood cultural and creative park can be created by the high-density residential streets such as Zhuhai Road, Guangzhou Road, and Suzhou Road, such as the night bazaar of the 1964 Cultural and Creative Park located on Wenzhou Road, which is based on the original site of the Changzheng Twelve Factory of Guizhou Changzheng Electrical Appliances Group Company, and provides a rich variety of night-time consumption choices and cultural experiences. From the overall view of the spatial differentiation of the night-time economy in Huichuan District, there is a significantly large aggregation and a small dispersion distribution pattern, and the night-time economy is mainly distributed in the core area. The district can create a “Tusi culture as the core, the business circle linkage, neighborhoods complement each other” development model to expand outward in a hierarchical manner, and make up for the night-time economic development in the northern part of Huichuan District.

The “land of nostalgia” of the Bozhou district has always been around the “one center, two cores and three clusters” industrial space layout, focusing on building tourism brands and night consumption clusters mainly in Wujiang Village: (1) Continuing to light up the Qianbei culture of Wujiang Village: Wujiang Village is the night culture and tourism consumption cluster in the Bozhou district, which needs to continue to delve deep into Qianbei culture, non-heritage culture, and night cultural tourism IP; enrich the scenic area night experience projects and the night economic mode; and promote the scenic area income from a single ticket income to the hotel, lodging, catering, conference service, and other additional income. (2) Boasting the development of B&B industry clusters: Bozhou District should prioritize the deep integration of agriculture, culture, and tourism. This can be achieved by thoroughly exploring its farming culture and developing smart garden complexes. Leveraging the district’s abundant tourism resources and scenic spots, it should also establish a collection of distinctive boutique B&B brands. Promoting the industrialization of these B&Bs will, in turn, stimulate the development of other night-time business formats, creating a radiating effect that enriches the entire area. At present, the night-time economy in the Bozhou area is multicentered. The overall dispersion of the spatial differentiation can create a “Qianbei culture as the core, scenic areas driven by the B&B industrialization” of the night-time economic development model through the integration of tourism resources throughout the region and radiation driven by the surrounding regional night industry to promote the development of the night-time economy.

The development of the night-time economy in Zunyi City realizes the deep integration of culture and tourism through the activity carrier of the night-time economy by integrating cultural resources, excavating night-time cultural brands, and enhancing night-time cultural performing arts. And then the development of the night-time economy in Zunyi City is not only a significant initiative to promote the city’s economy, but also an important carrier for spreading Zunyi’s red culture, Tusi culture, and Qianbei culture to ultimately realize the common prosperity of culture, tourism, and economy.

7.2. Conclusions

Theoretically, this research enriches the framework of culture–tourism integration and urban economic geography by embedding the NTE into the discourse of spatial heterogeneity. The observed spatial patterns range from Honghuagang District’s economically driven “multicentric, small clusters” to Huichuan District’s transportation-shaped “large clusters, small dispersions” and Bozhou District’s dual economy–demography-influenced “multicentric, overall dispersion”. It demonstrates that the night-time economy functions not only as an economic subsystem but also as a symbolic and spatial manifestation of cultural identity. By linking spatial agglomeration with cultural drivers, the study extends spatial interaction theories into the temporal domain of “after-dark” urban life. This integrative lens provides a new paradigm for examining how culture-embedded economic activities shape urban morphology and regional competitiveness.

Practically, the findings offer several insights for urban governance and tourism planning: (1) The critical role of economic factors and population density in Honghuagang District and Bozhou District indicates that policymakers should focus on fostering economic vitality and regulating urban residential density to support the sustainable development of night markets. (2) The significant impact of transportation accessibility in Huichuan District underscores the need for policymakers to enhance transportation infrastructure and public facilities, particularly around key agglomeration zones, and strengthen connections between residential areas and cultural consumption hubs. Simultaneously, in riverside areas like the Xiang River, priority should be given to culturally led and nature-assisted spatial agglomeration, fostering night-time commercial districts around heritage landmarks and creative districts. (3) There is a need to develop distinctive zoning models such as “Red Culture + Leisure Ecology” (Honghuagang District), “Tusi Heritage + Commercial District Synergy” (Huichuan District), and “North Guizhou Culture + Homestay Industrialization” (Bozhou District). These models offer replicable references for other historic cities seeking balanced cultural and economic development.

Methodologically, this study verifies the complementarity of GIS spatial analysis and Geodetector modeling as a robust framework for analyzing urban cultural economies, for example, the GDP and ATM density in Honghuagang District, the residential density and parking facilities in Huichuan District, and the dual impact of economy and population in Bozhou District. GIS methods reveal multi-scale spatial structures, while Geodetector quantitatively attributes spatial heterogeneity to specific drivers without linear assumptions. This integration offers a replicable model for investigating other complex tourism-related systems, such as creative industry clusters, cultural heritage corridors, or regional leisure networks, where both spatial visualization and explanatory quantification are required.

8. Limitations and Future Research

This study, while providing insights into the spatial characteristics of Zunyi night-time economy through spatial analysis and Geodetector methods, acknowledges several limitations that offer avenues for future research. The reliance on cross-sectional data constrains the examination of temporal dynamics, and the selection of influencing factors, though multidimensional, can be expanded to incorporate elements such as night-time safety, digital empowerment, and specific cultural policies. Furthermore, the profound yet difficult-to-quantify impact of cultural factors like regional identity and consumption habits warrants deeper investigation. Future studies should, therefore, integrate time-series data to enable dynamic spatio-temporal analysis, include a broader range of quantitative indicators, and employ mixed-method approaches combining qualitative techniques to explore the role of non-quantifiable factors. Such efforts would yield a more systematic understanding of the night-time economy system, providing robust and multidimensional references for policy and practice.