Exploring the gap in people’s travel behavior between urban villages and commercial housing: The role of built environment

Abstract

As urban expansion accelerates, travel distance and vehicle miles traveled continue to grow. Simultaneously, agricultural land is gradually giving way to urban construction, and ancient communities are transforming into urban villages as a result of being surrounded by urban land. Given the widespread distribution of urban villages in Chinese cities, which accommodate a large number of low-income groups, paying attention to the travel behavior of these groups is beneficial for promoting the fair development ofsociety. Therefore, this study utilized resident survey data from urban villages and commercial housing communities of Zhuhai in 2018 and built a structural equation modeling analysis framework to investigate the differences in the influence of the built environment (BE) on the travel behavior of these two types of housing. The results showed that the BE of urban villages had a significantly different impact on travel behavior compared to commercial housing. This discovery can help authorities better understand the impact of the BE of urban villages on travel distance, transit choices, and walking/cycling decisions. Moreover, this research is conducive to proposing targeted measures for sustainable transportation development in urban villages.