Mobility characteristics of cultural and creative talents and their influence mechanisms from the perspective of amenity: Taking gaming talents in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area as an example

In the era of knowledge economy, the location selection of cultural and creative talents tends to be diversified, and traditional regional factors are difficult to explain their flow mechanism well. Amenity theory provides a new perspective for this. Using Gephi social network analysis and geographic detector, this study explores the mobility characteristics and influencing mechanisms of gaming talents in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area at different mobility scales and career stages from a amenity perspective. The results show that: (1) In the gaming industry system of the Greater Bay Area, Guangzhou and Shenzhen are the regional multifunctional centers, while Zhuhai, Foshan, Huizhou, Dongguan, and Hong Kong play the role of gaming talent developers, and Macao, Jiangmen, and Zhaoqing play the role of gaming talent cultivators. (2) The Greater Bay Area has a strong attraction for gaming talents who are seeking employment for the first time in both local and neighboring areas. The spatial proximity orientation of talents is significant, mainly manifested as local attachment under the continuation of academic connections and out of town transition under geographical proximity. (3) There is a strong phenomenon of level proximity circulation and diffusion in the re-employment of gaming talents. Among them, the same level circulation phenomenon of gaming talents in Shenzhen is more obvious, while the gradient diffusion effect between Guangzhou and neighboring cities is stronger. (4) The decision of gaming talents to choose a career again is a combination of personal and family choices between enterprises and cities. In the early stages of their career, they have a high frequency of mobility, but in the later stages, they show a high degree of local “embeddedness” and are relatively less constrained by geographical space. Their mobility can be divided into two categories: life mobility and career mobility, with the latter mostly occurring between large enterprises. (5) The influence of amenity on gaming talents at different scales and career stages is heterogeneous. Talents are more sensitive to amenity when they move across the country, and have a stronger preference for amenity when they choose a career again. The influence of amenity factors, such as employment environment, quality of life, and healthy development, is relatively large. The impact mechanism of amenity on gaming talents can be summarized at different scales as two aspects: national mobility under the superposition of diverse needs, and Greater Bay Area mobility under the dominance of industry and supporting facilities. At different stages, the mobility can be summarized as two aspects: personal growth needs when choosing a job for the first time, and expectations for settling down and starting a career when choosing a job again.