Residential Location Choice Research Articles

Cross-nested logit model for the joint choice of residential location, travel mode, and departure time

This paper aims to describe the joint choice of residential location, travel mode, and departure time. First, based on random utility maximization theory, the Cross-Nested Logit model and traditional NL models are formulated respectively. House price, travel time, travel cost, and factors depicting the individual socio-economic characteristics are defined as exogenous variables, and the model choice sets are the combination of residential location subset, departure time subset, and travel mode choice subset. Second, using Beijing traffic survey data of 2005, the model parameters are estimated, and the direct and cross elasticity are calculated to analyze the change of alternatives probability brought by factors variation. Estimation results show the Cross-Nested Logit model outperforms the three kinds of NL model. It is also found by estimation results that decision makers will change first their departure times, then their travel modes, and finally their residential locations, when exogenous variables alter. Moreover, elasticity analysis results suggest that, for long-distance commuting, it is difficult to decrease car travels even if additional charges are imposed on car users. The effect on choice probability by variations in travel time of other travel mode can be considered as negligible for alternatives within 5km commuting distance, and this effect are greatest for alternatives between 10 and 20km commuting distance. These findings have important implications for transport demand management and residence planning.

HOUSEHOLD LOCATION AND RACE: A 20‐YEAR RETROSPECTIVE*

ABSTRACT In research conducted some 20 years ago, we elucidated the starkly lower suburbanization propensities of black households in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The paper showed that simulated closure of large socio‐economic gaps between blacks and whites did little to diminish prevailing high levels of residential segregation or otherwise enhance moves by black households to areas of educational, employment, and housing opportunity. Some two decades later and in the wake of significant urban evolution, this paper assesses anew racial variations in residential location choice. Results of the multinomial logit (MNL) analysis indicate large, persistent racial differentials in intrametropolitan residential location choice. While black location choice in 2000 was relatively more dispersed than in 1980, it remained remarkably concentrated in D.C. and Prince George's County. As in our prior analysis, results showed that large simulated gains in black economic and educational status had little effect on prevailing racial segregation. These findings underscore the ongoing, limited access of black households to schooling, employment, and homeownership opportunities available outside traditional areas of settlement. In marked contrast, the locational choices of Latino and immigrant households bore greater similarity to those of whites and were more sensitive to improvements in socio‐economic status.

Perceived health status and environmental quality in the assessment of external costs of waste disposal facilities. An empirical investigation

Taxation for urban waste management has been reformed in Italy by the introduction of an environmental law in 2006. In the planning phase of waste management, externalities generated by new facilities remain widely unaccounted, with a consequent distortion for prices, often raising local conflicts. The paper presents a survey based on the choice modelling methodology, aimed to evaluate on a monetary scale the disamenity effect perceived by incinerator and landfills in an Italian urban context: the city of Turin. In a random utility framework the behaviour of respondents, whose choices are found to be driven by the endowment of information about technological options, socio-economic characteristics as income, education, family composition, and also by their health status was modelled. Furthermore, empirical evidence that the behaviour in residential location choices is affected by different aspects of the respondent life and in particular by the health status was found. Distinct estimates of willingness to accept compensation for disamenity effects of incinerator (Euro 2670) and landfill (Euro 3816) are elicited. The effect of health status of the respondents, their level of information about the waste disposal infrastructure, the presence of a subjective strong aversion (NIMBY) and the actual endowment and concentration of infrastructures are demonstrated to be significant factors determining the choice behaviour, but differentiated and specific for incinerators and landfills.

Residential preferences of the ‘creative class’?

The desire for ‘vibrant’, ‘bohemian’ neighbourhoods forms a focal point of the amenity preferences of Richard Florida’s ‘creative class’ thesis. Here, a vibrant street culture, which includes cafes and restaurants spilling onto the pavement, is implied as being of key importance in the selection of a residential area for creative and knowledge workers. Drawing on quantitative and qualitative data, this paper examines the residential preferences of the ‘creative class’ in Dublin, Ireland. The results illustrate the continued importance of classic factors in residential decision-making, including housing cost, accessibility and travel-time to place of employment. Moreover, the results also illustrate how changes in the life-cycle, including the decision to have a family, have a direct influence on residential location choice. While there is a tendency for younger workers to select the city centre, older workers predominantly opt to live in suburban areas with good transport connections to the city centre or their place of employment.

Mobility, housing markets, and schools: Estimating the effects of inter-district choice programs

In theoretical models of residential sorting, a household's location decision is closely linked to its demand for local public services, such as schooling. Since school choice programs weaken the link between residential location and schooling options, they have the potential to affect both property values and residential location choices. Results derived from computable general equilibrium models suggest these effects could be large, but there is limited empirical evidence concerning whether they actually occur. This paper develops and tests predictions concerning the impact of inter-district choice programs on housing values and residential location decisions. Our empirical results strongly confirm our theoretical predictions and the findings of the computable general equilibrium literature: after their states adopt inter-district choice programs, districts with desirable nearby, out-of-district schooling options experience relatively large increases in housing values, residential income, and population density.

Analysis of the residential location choice and household energy consumption behavior by incorporating multiple self-selection effects

It is expected that the residential location choice and household energy consumption behavior might correlate with each other. Besides, due to the existence of self-selection effects, the observed inter-relationship between them might be the spurious result of the fact that some unobserved variables are causing both. These concerns motivate us to (1) consider residential location choice and household energy consumption behavior (for both in-home appliances and out-of-home cars) simultaneously and, (2) explicitly control self-selection effects so as to capture a relatively true effect of land-use policy on household energy consumption behavior. An integrated model termed as joint mixed Multinomial Logit-Multiple Discrete-Continuous Extreme Value model is presented here to identify the sensitivity of household energy consumption to land use policy by considering multiple self-selection effects. The model results indicate that land-use policy do play a great role in changing Beijing residents’ energy consumption pattern, while the self-selection effects cannot be ignored when evaluating the effect of land-use policy. Based on the policy scenario design, it is found that increasing recreational facilities and bus lines in the neighborhood can greatly promote household's energy-saving behavior. Additionally, the importance of “soft policy” and package policy is also emphasized in the context of Beijing.

Choice set pruning in residential location choice modelling: a comparison of sampling and choice set generation approaches in greater London

The discrete choice analysis of residential location choice forms an important part of land use-transport modelling systems but gives rise to a number of significant modelling challenges, one of which is the choice set formation problem. A number of alternative approaches exist to addressing the choice set formation problem, but to the best of our knowledge, there have been no efforts to empirically compare their performance using real choice data. In this paper, we propose to address this gap by examining the performance of several choice set formation methods within the context of residential location choice in London. The paper presents a brief review of the relevant theoretical and empirical literature on the treatment of the choice set formation problem in the context of spatial choice and sets out the characteristics of the specific modelling approaches implemented in the empirical research. In particular, we compare a recently proposed hazard-based screening model with more conventional pure statistical treatments. The empirical research uses a specially constructed data-set on residential location choice, developed by the authors for the Greater London area, which draws on information from a number of separate data sources (including revealed preference data from the London Area Travel Survey). The alternative choice set formation approaches are assessed in terms of their prediction performance on a hold-out validation sub-sample and also in terms of estimated model parameters.

Joint Model of Residential Relocation Choice and Underlying Causal Factors

Residential location choice is a key determinant of activity–travel behavior, yet little is known about the reasons why people choose to move or not move residences. Such understanding is critical to being able to model residential location choices over time and design built environments that people find appealing. This paper attempts to fill this gap by developing a joint model of the choice to move residence and the primary reason behind the move. The model is estimated on the Florida subsample of the 2009 U.S. National Household Travel Survey. Model results shed considerable light on the socioeconomic and demographic variables that affect a household's decision whether to move residence and the primary reason underlying that decision.

Analysis of Neighbourhood Effects and Work Behaviour: Evidence from Paris

This paper highlights the effects of being located in a deprived neighbourhood on unemployment. Interest is focused on the consequences of neighbourhood effects. The paper uses the 1999 Population Census for Paris and the three surrounding sub-regional administrative districts in order to estimate different models that take into account the potential endogeneity bias of the residential location choice. The study first runs a bivariate probit model that includes the residential location as an endogenous variable. A probit model is also run on a sub-sample of households living in public housing with the idea that for them the location choice is exogenous. Whatever the method used, it is shown that living within the most deprived neighbourhoods, in terms of local composition, decreases the probability of employment.

Modeling the choice continuum: an integrated model of residential location, auto ownership, bicycle ownership, and commute tour mode choice decisions

The integrated modeling of land use and transportation choices involves analyzing a continuum of choices that characterize people’s lifestyles across temporal scales. This includes long-term choices such as residential and work location choices that affect land-use, medium-term choices such as vehicle ownership, and short-term choices such as travel mode choice that affect travel demand. Prior research in this area has been limited by the complexities associated with the development of integrated model systems that combine the long-, medium- and short-term choices into a unified analytical framework. This paper presents an integrated simultaneous multi-dimensional choice model of residential location, auto ownership, bicycle ownership, and commute tour mode choices using a mixed multidimensional choice modeling methodology. Model estimation results using the San Francisco Bay Area highlight a series of interdependencies among the multi-dimensional choice processes. The interdependencies include: (1) self-selection effects due to observed and unobserved factors, where households locate based on lifestyle and mobility preferences, (2) endogeneity effects, where any one choice dimension is not exogenous to another, but is endogenous to the system as a whole, (3) correlated error structures, where common unobserved factors significantly and simultaneously impact multiple choice dimensions, and (4) unobserved heterogeneity, where decision-makers show significant variation in sensitivity to explanatory variables due to unobserved factors. From a policy standpoint, to be able to forecast the “true” causal influence of activity-travel environment changes on residential location, auto/bicycle ownership, and commute mode choices, it is necessary to capture the above-identified interdependencies by jointly modeling the multiple choice dimensions in an integrated framework.

Natural market segments: religion and identity – the case of “zongos” in Ghana

Purpose“Zongos” are a part of the urban phenomena in Ghana that have escaped critical social inquiry. The purpose of this paper is three fold. It seeks insight into the reasons zongos continue to attract new dwellers despite their “unattractive” reputation; the role of religion in the choice of residential locations; and the role of Islamic marketingvis‐à‐viszongos.Design/methodology/approachAs an exploratory study whose objective is to generate insight, the study uses interview technique as an investigative tool. The researcher interviewed eight zongo dwellers from four different zongos (different parts of the country) and from different educational and socio‐economic backgrounds. The interviews were conducted individually with an unstructured format that provides for unlimited follow‐up questions.FindingsThe findings suggest that: religion and identity are the common threads that bind zongo dwellers together; zongo dwellers seem to be more religious than the average city dweller; religion informs the behavior of most zongo dwellers; though income plays a role, religion seems to be the overriding reason for the dwellers' choice of zongo as a place to live; and zongo dwellers are aware of the negative image that zongos have, but see their choice of living in a zongo as a step to better practice their religion.Research limitations/implicationsAs an exploratory study, the results of this study are not generalizable. Furthermore, the small sample size makes the findings tenuous. Nonetheless, the results are important in the sense that they uncover an aspect of zongos that has not received much attention from academic researchers.Practical implicationsBy virtue of not only sharing a common religion, but practicing the tenets of their religion in their daily lives, zongos constitute “natural” market segments that can be profitably addressed by Islamic marketing. The four “Ps” are used to illustrate a strategy that could be used by marketers who wish to serve zongo dwellers.Social implicationsBesides “guiding” the religious sensibility of non‐Muslem entrepreneurs who wish to serve zongo dwellers, Islamic marketing can play a role in educating zongo dwellers on health care, sanitation and environmental preservation issues that seem to be problematic with zongos. Furthermore, Islamic marketing can play a role in educating non‐zongo dwellers about the “positives” of zongos and Islam.Originality/valueThis paper takes an academic approach to studying zongos both as a social and a business phenomenon, and develops a sampler marketing strategy for zongo entrepreneurs based on the insight gained from interviews.

Comparing Single and Joint Preferences: A Choice Experiment on Residential Location in Three-Member Households

There is growing evidence indicating that there can be significant differences between choices made by single individuals and those made by the same individuals when choosing collectively. This study investigates the dissimilarities between individual and joint decision making in the context of residential location choice. It is widely recognised that household location choices involve several members of a household with heterogeneous preferences and influence. Nonetheless, little is known about group decision-making processes in practice. In particular, there is only scant evidence on how preferences differ among family members and to what extent individual preferences can be aggregated to achieve an approximation of joint choices. The paper addresses the issue of heterogeneity in single members' preferences, compares ex ante single preferences and ex post joint choice outcomes, and quantifies the implicit bias generated by relying on the representative member approach. A set of hypotheses is tested via a two-stage conjoint choice experiment administered to a sample of seventy-eight Italian families. The main novelty of the paper relates to the extension of the dyadic interaction approach to consider the role of adolescents in household decision making.

Household Location and Race: A Twenty-Year Retrospective

In a paper published in the Review of Economics and Statistics some 20 years ago (Gabriel and Rosenthal [1989]), we sought to assess the disparate residential location choices of black and white households in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The paper showed that simulated closure of large socio-economic gaps between blacks and whites did little to diminish prevailing high levels of residential segregation or otherwise enhance moves by black households to areas of educational, employment, and housing opportunity. In the wake of intervening decades and related urban development, the current paper applies data from 2000 to assess anew racial variations in residential location choice. Results of the multinomial logit analysis indicate persistent, large racial differentials in residential location choice. While black location choice in 2000 was relatively more dispersed than in 1980, it remained remarkably concentrated in DC and Prince Georges County. As in our prior analysis, results showed that large simulated gains in black economic and educational status had little effect on prevailing racial segregation. These findings underscore the persistent, limited access of black households to schooling, employment, and housing opportunities available outside traditional areas of settlement. In marked contrast, the locational choices of Latino and immigrant households bore greater similarity to those of whites and were more sensitive to improvements in socio-economic status.

Estimating the Determinants of Population Location in Auckland

This paper analyses the location choices of new entrants to Auckland between 1996 and 2006, to identify a systematic relationship between residential location choices and features of local areas such as population density, the population composition of the area or its neighbourhood, accessibility to different types of amenities, paying particular attention to the influence of land prices. For the analysis, the Auckland Urban Area is divided into around 9,000 small areas (“meshblocks”). Location choices are analysed using count data methods applied to microdata from the Census of Population and Dwellings. The results emphasise the importance of own-group attraction. Groups of entrants classified by qualification, income, ethnicity, or country of birth are all attracted to meshblocks or neighbourhoods where their group already has a strong presence. The evidence demonstrates that this sorting reflects attraction to fellow group members, rather than being due to group members having common preferences for local amenities.

Neighborhood perception as an indicator of gentrification in central zone of Belgrade

Gentrification represents a complex revitalization process of the inner city core, which includes a physical improvement or dilatation of housing stock, changes in ownership structure, housing prices incensement and the displacement of poorer working class, which replaces the new middle class with higher incomes. Using data collected in survey research, this paper aims to identify the specific dimensions of gentrification in the central zone of Belgrade. The focus of the research is the improvement of living and housing conditions in the urban core. This condition improvement is the result of investments in the residential space and supporting infrastructure, but it is also largely associated with economic status of immigrant inhabitants - "gentrifiers", their preferences to the urban lifestyle, as well as to their attitude to residential environment. This paper deals with the subjective dimension of gentrification, e.g. with the actors of that process themselves. The core of this subjective dimension is the perception of the residential area (neighborhood) as a unique component of residential (location) choice of different social groups.

Urban sprawl and policy responses: a general equilibrium analysis of residential choice

This paper examines the driving forces for residential location choice of households in an urban area. To analyse the integrated choice of residence and of commuting, we extend a computable general equilibrium model of the core-periphery type for interregional housing market interactions and for effects on environmental quality. In the empirical part of the paper, we solve the model for a stylised urban centre and its surroundings, where urban sprawl leads to detrimental environmental effects. To internalise transport emissions, we compare the effects of a congestion fee and a spatial planning instrument. While both instruments reduce urban sprawl, they do so through different channels. Moreover, both policies lead to desirable environmental effects for the overall region, yet with different environmental impacts per region.

Transport Management and Land Value

The development of integrated transport supply and demand management (TS-DM) strategies is crucial for ensuring sustainable urban development. Any TS-DM strategy will not only affect the transport system performance, but also result in changes of the land use pattern. Moreover, implementing TS-DM strategies normally involves a progressively phased long-term schedule; one must take into account the total accruing costs and effects over time so as to optimize the system performance. This paper develops a mathematic optimization program with equilibrium constraints (MPEC) to study the impact of TS-DM strategies on transport system performance and activity location costs expressed as land value. Specifically, a bid-rent mechanism via the random utility approach is developed to model residential location choices. Finally, a numerical example is provided to compare among different strategies. Through this study, we hope to introduce promising planning perspectives to create win-win scenarios for both users and transport system managers.

Gentrification and Crime: Identification Using the 1994 Northridge Earthquake in Los Angeles

ABSTRACT:Theory suggests that in the long term, gentrification—which I define as the phenomenon where wealthier individuals move into lower-income areas—should decrease neighborhood crime. In the short term, however, anecdotal evidence indicates that gentrification actually increases crime, perhaps due to the relative difference in status between newcomers and existing residents, and to increased opportunities for criminal behavior. Further, consumers’ choice of residential location depends on crime rates, creating simultaneity that likely biases estimates that overlook this concern. I exploit the 1994 Northridge earthquake in Los Angeles and subsequent short-term government-sponsored home financing incentives as an instrument to control for this endogeneity. The exogenous event induced middle- and upper-income individuals to purchase homes in earthquake-affected low and moderate-income neighborhoods, which I argue is independent of the influence of crime. The results show that in the short term, gentrification increases assaults, robberies, automobile thefts, and thefts from automobiles.

ANALYSIS OF COMMUTE CHARATERISTICS AND RESIDENTIAL LOCATION CHOICE OF IIUM GOMBAK CAMPUS EMPLOYEES OF MALAYSIA

Higher learning institutions, particularly uni versities, are important nodes which can help in decentralizing the monocentric stigma of urban areas by encouraging employment and housing growth in metropolitan areas. The case study Gombak Campus of international Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), located 15 kilometres to the north-west of Kuala Lumpur City, is currently an employment node in the Klang Valley region. Being a node of employment, it is expected to generate residential development in the vicinity of its location by supporting the determining two fac tors of residential location - commuting cost and rent. Although there are certain truths that rent and commute cost are important determinants in households' residential location, other factors also influence residential location decision making. This paper, therefore, attempts to identify an array of factors and the extent to which these factors influence commute and residential attributes of the employees of IIUM Gombak Campus. Findings of this study reveal that there is a significant relationship between commute behaviour and residential characteristics and a number of other factors nonnally overlooked by the mainstream residential location choice models.

ANALYSIS OF COMMUTE CHARATERISTICS AND RESIDENTIAL LOCATION CHOICE OF IIUM GOMBAK CAMPUS EMPLOYEES OF MALAYSIA

Higher learning institutions, particularly uni versities, are important nodes which can help in decentralizing the monocentric stigma of urban areas by encouraging employment and housing growth in metropolitan areas. The case study Gombak Campus of international Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), located 15 kilometres to the north-west of Kuala Lumpur City, is currently an employment node in the Klang Valley region. Being a node of employment, it is expected to generate residential development in the vicinity of its location by supporting the determining two fac tors of residential location - commuting cost and rent. Although there are certain truths that rent and commute cost are important determinants in households' residential location, other factors also influence residential location decision making. This paper, therefore, attempts to identify an array of factors and the extent to which these factors influence commute and residential attributes of the employees of IIUM Gombak Campus. Findings of this study reveal that there is a significant relationship between commute behaviour and residential characteristics and a number of other factors nonnally overlooked by the mainstream residential location choice models.