Work, housing, and urban mobility in the megacity of São Paulo, Brazil

Abstract

Urban mobility conditions play a main role in shaping inequalities in megacities. In the municipality of São Paulo, work-related trips take 62% longer, are 100% more lengthy and 25% more motorized compared to other reasons. The objective of this work is to quantitatively assess the city's master plan guidelines which encourage the decrease in the job-housing distance, through the creation of local job offers in the suburbs to effectively decrease the commuting time of the suburban population. The analysis was carried out using a specific spatial regression model (the Spatial Error Durbin Model), using data from an extensive origin-destination survey. Results show that an increase in 10% in local job offers in a 7-km radius buffer in São Paulo would decrease the mean distance travelled in about 5.2%, which would be particularly beneficial for the suburban areas. This highlights the importance of incorporating the spatial planning of land use within transport planning in a megacity environment. Therefore, policymakers should consider strategies to bring housing and jobs closer as means to not only decrease transport inequities, but also to mitigate pollutant emissions, health burdens and economic losses, leading to overall improvements in quality of life. With the growing trend in remote work imposed by the pandemic, it will be necessary to improve our understanding of the relationship between employment and urban mobility conditions.