How Online Food Delivery Services Are Reshaping the Urban Food Environment: Evidence from Hangzhou, China

The rapid expansion of Online Food Delivery Services (OFDS) is associated with changes in urban food environments long structured by the central place hierarchy. Does OFDS narrow the spatial inequalities embedded in traditional food access, or reproduce them in a new form? To address the limited multi-dimensional evidence on this question, this study develops an integrated online-offline framework comparing the walkable food environment (W-FE) and the OFDS food environment (OFDS-FE) across three dimensions: accessibility, availability, and affordability. Taking Hangzhou, China as a case, we match multi-source restaurant data via the Hungarian algorithm, model OFDS service ranges with a three-stage Gaussian distance-decay function, and assess spatial equity using the Gini coefficient. Results show that the OFDS-FE is associated with extended potential accessibility beyond walkable catchments and with higher relative affordability of mid- and high-end dining options. At the citywide scale, inequality indicators are lower in the OFDS-FE than in the W-FE, yet disparities persist and, in some suburban areas, widen. All findings are based on modeled, supply-side potential access derived from a single-platform (Meituan), single-month (December 2024) cross-section, rather than on observed consumer behavior. Rather than dissolving the central place hierarchy, OFDS extends the reach of established food centers, forming a broader "digital central service zone." These findings inform the integration of digital delivery ranges into community life-circle planning.