2026 Theses Master's

Chinese Online Food Delivery Platforms in New York City: A New Digital Frontier of Commercial Gentrification

Li, Tianfang

Digital platforms have become critical infrastructures reshaping urban economies, yet their role in neighborhood change and commercial displacement remains underexplored. This research investigates how two Chinese online food delivery platforms (HungryPanda and Fantuan) reshape commercial geographies and contribute to gentrification in New York City.

Integrating the rent gap theory, planetary gentrification and platform urbanism, the study proposes the concept of the digital rent gap, defined as the disparity between the capitalized ground rent of local businesses and the potential rent generated through platform-mediated optimization. Employing an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design, the research first applies spatial and regression analyses to identify correlations between platform activity and indicators of neighborhood change, and then conducts qualitative case studies and interviews with restaurant owners and platform operators to unpack the mechanisms behind digital rent extraction.

The research finds that platforms are disproportionately benefiting transnational chain restaurants while harming small businesses and non-Chinese Asian businesses. By situating Chinese platforms within the global circuits of urban capitalism, this project advances comparative urban theory. It offers new insights into how digital infrastructures reconfigure ethnic dynamics, value creation, and social inequality in the platform age.

Keywords: platform urbanism; rent gap; commercial gentrification; planetary gentrification