Enhancing workers’ quality of life: why land use mix should be increased? (Case study: Semarang City)

Abstract

Nowadays, many urban workers are struggling and exhausted because of commuting activity due to the effect of urban sprawl. In order to overcome the externalities of the sprawl, many cities are directed to become more compact, to reduce travel time and cost. The efficiency that comes from the proximity of mixed-use development helps workers allocate time and money for participating in other activities and indirectly increases their quality of life. This article reviews the importance of increasing the land use mix to facilitate workers’ activities. The network and entropy index analyses are used to examine the land use mix in the study area. Then the result is discussed in the context of the travel behavior approach theory. The result shows the aggregate land use mix in the study area is moderate-mix with an index of 0,47. In detail, areas under 2 kilometers have a high mix of land use (0,63-0,74), but the value decreases as it moves away from the city center to an index of 0,4. This study reveals that increasing number of land use variants does not improve the land use mix, but balancing the proportion of land use area is more important to increase the mix. It is necessary to improve land use mix because there are approximately 6.939-13.877 workers in the area that should be facilitated so they might participate in other activities effectively. Workers with a simple trip chain might be facilitated handily. But as the land use mix increases, workers with a complex trip chain might fulfill their needs within the area. Integrating land use and transportation allows workers to make active trips, which can affect their health and quality of life.