Impact analysis of residential relocation on ownership, usage, and carbon-dioxide emissions of private cars

Abstract

Even though the effects of residential relocation on travel behaviours have been explored worldwide, few studies discuss the impact of relocation on carbon dioxide emissions from travel. This study utilises the Fifth Travel Survey of Beijing Inhabitants and land-use data to build a structural equation model with latent variables that explore the effects of relocating direction, changes in built environments, commute distance, and household socio-economic attributes on changes in household car carbon dioxide emissions before and after moving. It is concluded that the change in commuting distance, private vehicle purchases, family size, electric bicycles, and public transit smart cards have direct effects on the change in carbon emissions, while the relocating direction, built environment latent variables, home size, and the number of adolescents in the family are found to have indirect effects. In addition, recommendations for reducing carbon emissions from private car travel in response to urbanisation are proposed. This study can help urban planners and managers understand the impact of residential relocation on vehicle ownership, usage, and the corresponding carbon dioxide emissions, and can also provide a reference to formulate planning and management policies on sustainable city and green transportation.