Exploring Self-Containment of Discretionary Activities in an Aging New Town of Japan Based on a Destination Choice Model with Social Network Effects

Abstract

Across Japan, the rapidly aging population is becoming more visible, especially in “aging new towns”. Since mobility levels usually decline with age, having a self-contained neighborhood could be more important than before. This paper therefore explores the self-containment status of a new town for discretionary activities (shopping, volunteering, recreation, and so on), by using multiperiod (two waves) and multiday (two weeks) panel survey data collected in Koyo New Town located in Hiroshima, Japan. For this purpose, the authors develop a panel mixed logit model of destination choice with a focus on the impacts of social networks. They also examine whether or not the self-containment contributes to the improvement of residents' subjective well-being. The result reveals that social networks have a positive impact, not only on self-containment of discretionary activities, but also on residents' subjective well-being.