Beyond geographic proximity: How digital media reshapes public space use characteristics in community life circles

Digital media increasingly shapes how people select and use public spaces, yet its role remains underexplored at the community life circle scale, where research still centers on the physical environment. To address this gap, this study uses community life circles in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen as case studies and develops an analytical framework to examine how the physical environment and digital media influence public space use characteristics, including overall visitation, temporal dynamics, spatial patterns, and user composition. The results reveal pronounced multidimensional differentiation in public space use under the influence of digital media, forming a gradient of use typologies from low-intensity, locally oriented spaces to ultra-high-intensity, landmark-oriented spaces. Physical environmental factors remain the fundamental basis for explaining public space use, whereas digital media provides significant additional explanatory power, particularly in shaping localized hotspots. Online content engagement heat and official promotion intensity become key factors differentiating public space use typologies under similar physical conditions, further amplifying structural differentiation within community life circles. Overall, by clarifying how physical environment and digital media factors influence public space use, this study provides a basis for developing more targeted virtual–physical optimization strategies for public spaces at the community life circle scale.