Abstract
This paper attempts to answer the question of whether or not “segregation”, or at least “differentiation”, takes place in commercial areas in terms of “spatial homophily”. Based on the 2010 Household Travel Survey data in the Seoul metropolitan area, we first identify Seoul’s top 20 destinations for weekend shopping and leisure trips. Then, using traveler information regarding gender, age, and income, we calculate the percentage of female visitors, as well as the average and the coefficient of variation of age and income, for each destination. These statistics are employed to identify which groups and which shopping and leisure activity centers are characterized distinctively by spatial homophily. As a result, it is proved that “differentiation” takes place in commercial areas in terms of “spatial homophily”. Moreover, paying attention to the “Old Age, Low Income” cluster in the old downtown area, we can raise the possibility of “segregation” in commercial areas.
Highlights
In the social aspect of sustainability, segregation has been an important issue in the planning literature, as it has entailed various enclaves in residential areas, ranging from ghettos to gated communities [1,2]
If members of a certain group, classified by gender, age, or income, are reluctant to visit a particular commercial area because they feel uncomfortable and have difficulty assimilating with other visitors there, we might be concerned about a social barrier similar to segregation, and a resultant exclusion
Income Since income data are obtained in the form of household income, the data first need to be converted into individual income because the consumption of goods and services in a commercial area is made on an individual basis
Summary
In the social aspect of sustainability, segregation has been an important issue in the planning literature, as it has entailed various enclaves in residential areas, ranging from ghettos to gated communities [1,2]. We raise the question that a similar phenomenon of “segregation”, as an intended and enforced spatial separation, or at least “differentiation”, as an unintended and voluntary one, may take place in commercial areas as well, if visitors with similar demographic and socioeconomic characteristics are concentrated at certain commercial areas This phenomenon, often heralded as “birds of a feather flock together”, may indicate the “differentiation” of commercial areas, because it reflects differences in tastes and preferences that are affected by income and by gender and age. In this sense, it may not involve social exclusion and discrimination in an explicit and compulsory way.
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