Suburban Employment Research Articles

Relationship between motorcycle travel and the built environment: Evidence from Taipei, Taiwan

The current understanding of the built environment effects on motorcycle ownership is limited. No built environment characteristics have been identified as predictors of motorcycle mode choice likelihood. This research fills these gaps in knowledge by examining the relationship between motorcycle travel and the built environment using the largest metropolis of Taiwan, home to the world's highest motorcycle ownership rate, as the study context. Multinomial logistic and tobit regression models were estimated to examine the relationship between the built environment on household vehicle ownership, mode choice in a trip, and household motorcycle vehicle kilometers traveled (VKT), controlling for socioeconomic predictors of motorcycle travel. It used the most recent trip and household datasets from both the 2000 and 2009 large-scale household travel surveys in the Taipei Metropolitan Area for analysis. Findings suggest that higher population density, being farther from the central business district and from metro stations are correlated with higher household motorcycle ownership levels, higher likelihood of motorcycle mode choice, and higher household motorcycle VKT; lower job density is correlated with higher household motorcycle ownership levels and higher household motorcycle VKT; higher income is correlated with lower motorcycle ownership levels, lower motorcycle mode choice likelihood, and higher household motorcycle VKT. The academic novelty of this research is that it rejects most of its literature-based hypotheses about motorcycle travel and the built environment. Transportation and land use policy should expand mass transit, develop suburban employment centers near metro stations, and reshape the spatial distribution of population so that areas near metro stations become more densely populated than others.

Decomposing changes in the geography of metropolitan inequality

ABSTRACT The geography of economic opportunity and residential segregation are important factors driving racial disparities in employment outcomes. We present here the changing landscape of opportunity in large metropolitan areas in the United States to describe how the spatial structure of opportunity is evolving. Using decomposable inequality indices, we break down the spatial inequality of opportunity into two components: inequality within subareas (inner cities, inner suburbs, and outer suburbs) and inequality between subareas. According to our findings, economic opportunity is primarily driven by inequality within subareas. The situation is particularly evident in metropolitan areas where suburban employment is growing concurrently with the suburbanization of Black and Hispanic populations. Our findings suggest that the geography of metropolitan opportunity in the U.S. is changing in ways that will alter our traditional understanding of the relationship between race, space, and economic opportunity.

Geographical structure of the local segregation of migrants in (sub)urban China

Unprecedented urbanisation in China has profoundly reshaped the country’s social-spatial structure. Owing to economic suburbanisation and urban redevelopment processes, migrants coming from rural areas are increasingly concentrated in suburbs rather than city centres. Against this backdrop, this paper focuses on residential segregation between migrants and locals, and on geographical (re)structuring between the city centre and suburb. Theil’s H Index is used to disaggregate the migrant segregation of each municipality into a within-suburb, a within-centre and a between-centre-suburb component. We use Census data for 258 municipalities in 2000 and 2010; we find that migrant segregation increased in this period. We ascribe this to the increasing segregation of migrants in suburban areas, which offsets the increasingly balanced distribution of migrants between the city centre and suburb. Segregation in city centres also increased slightly in this period. Unexpectedly, less economically developed municipalities, defined by their per capita GDP, tend to be more segregated than their more developed counterparts. Less developed municipalities also have a higher level of suburban employment and housing opportunities in the whole municipality, but feature more segregated suburban spaces and a polarised distribution of migrants between the centre and suburb.

The study of employment location and transportation accessibility in the Huntsville Metropolitan area

The main purpose of a transportation system is to connect people to their communities and specifically to connect employees to jobs. The Huntsville Metropolitan region’s transportation system is without a doubt almost exclusively automobile dependent due to the limited availability of public transportation along with the Regions’ 2000 and 2010 Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPOs). Journey to work report. In an automobile dependent region, the level of car ownership is crucial in determining accessibility as well as the ability to utilize employment opportunities. Increased job decentralization and suburban employment throughout various metropolitan areas across the United States decreases the level of employment accessibility resulting in the need for efficient accessibility to the existing transportation system and employment opportunities. Employment accessibility is an issue of great concern in urban areas across the United States significantly in major metropolitans, which is evident based on the continued study, evaluation, analysis, and scrutiny by numerous scholars. In evaluating employment accessibility, the concept of automobile dependency is a relevant factor for the presence of spatial and/or modal mismatch. The purpose of this paper therefore is to examine the relationship between transportation accessibility and employment location in the metropolitan area of Huntsville, Alabama. In doing this the author examines the attributes of residential location, car ownership, house value and other demographic factors of the Huntsville, Metropolitan region to answer the research question of “what, if any is the relationship between these attributes and factors?” Data was obtained from the US Census Bureau for the 2000 and 2010 periods and was extracted then exported and saved as an SPSS document where it was manipulated and analyzed. The Pearson Product Moment correlation coefficients (r) were calculated to give an indication of the suggested relationships between variables as the author assesses the employment accessibility in the Huntsville Metropolitan Region. The number of vehicles available which reflects the level of car ownership within the sample is positively related to the residential location indicating that one’s residential location is indeed related to owning a car. This paper concludes that spatial mismatch encompasses the economic restructuring of the Huntsville Metropolitan Region’s whereby employment opportunities are located far away from areas of residence. Modal mismatch is due to the challenges and/or inabilities faced by individuals in their travels between home and work or place of potential employment.

Employment suburbanization in the 21st century: A comparison of German and US city regions

The empirical research on urban spatial structure and its evolution still lacks comprehensive, longitudinal and international comparative perspectives. At this background, this paper addresses the change of intra-metropolitan employment patterns by scrutinizing two relatively large and representative samples of German and US American city regions, covering the years between 2003 and 2015. Our analysis reveals strong differences in the spatial employment distribution between both countries. In general, US metropolitan areas are far more decentralized and deconcentrated than their German counterparts. While the trajectories of American metropolitan employment suburbanization were relatively dynamic with periods of de- and re-concentration, the development trend for German city regions has been remarkably stable. Furthermore, we found a relatively great inter-regional variety of spatial trajectories in both countries, involving the coexistence of stagnation, reinforced monocentricity, and generalized dispersal. However, polycentric developments have been relatively rare. Last but not least, we examine the potential drivers of employment suburbanization by estimating linear regression models. The results indicate that employment suburbanization can be mainly understood as a function of residential suburbanization and the development of the manufacturing sector, but we find strong differences between the US and the German context.

Accounting for central neighborhood change, 1980–2010

After 1980–2000 population decline and economic stagnation, downtown neighborhoods in most large US cities experienced 2000–2010 population growth and gentrification. Stark racial differences in valuations of downtown amenities and suburban labor market opportunities among those with less than college that only emerged after 2000 are the primary drivers of these downtown neighborhood dynamics. As college-educated whites moved in, increases in valuations of downtown amenities encouraged other whites to remain in downtowns, a reversal from prior decades. Continued departures of less than college educated minorities were driven both by relative improvements in suburban employment opportunities for this group and their continued declines in valuations of downtown amenities. Our evidence highlights the importance of racial differences in valuations of potentially endogenous local amenities for understanding recent downtown gentrification.

Factors that Affect Nonmarket Fruit and Vegetable Receptions: Analyses of Two Cross-Sectional Surveys in Gunma, Japan

In this study, we identified the factors that affect the frequency of receiving nonmarket fruit and vegetables (FV). For Survey 1, we conducted a cross-sectional survey using a self-administered questionnaire for men aged 50–74 living in city (A) in Gunma, Japan. Participants were asked questions on FV receiving frequency, FV gardening, social cohesion (4–20 points), and basic characteristics. For Survey 2, a similar survey was conducted for residents aged 20–74 in three areas in city (B) in Gunma, but we included more variables. Ordinal logistic regression models were used for the analysis. In Survey 1, the responses of 243 participants were analyzed. The results showed that the FV receiving frequency was positively associated with non-gardeners and social cohesion. In Survey 2, the responses of 791 participants were analyzed. Vegetable receiving frequency was positively associated with rural and suburban areas, family structure, employment status, and non-farmers. The relationship between receiving frequency and social cohesion was similar to that found in Survey 1. In conclusion, in areas with flourishing FV cultivation, it seems to be easy to obtain FV through the social networks of reception, even for individuals who are not cultivating FV themselves.

Urban Transport Expansions and Changes in the Spatial Structure of U.S. Cities: Implications for Productivity and Welfare

Each new radial highway serving large U.S. metropolitan areas decentralized 14% to 16% of central city working residents and 4% to 6% of jobs in the 1960–2000 period. Model calibrations yield implied elasticities of central city total factor productivity to central city employment relative to suburban employment of 0.04 to 0.09, meaning a large fraction of agglomeration economies operates at submetropolitan-area spatial scales. Each additional highway causes central city income net of commuting costs to increase by up to 2.4% and housing cost to decline by up to 1.3%. Factor reallocation toward land in housing production generates the plurality of the population decentralization caused by new highways.

The Mechanism of Suburbanization

Congestion is a large problem in metropolitan areas. This paper provides a theoretical and empirical framework that can analyze whether congestion on commuting affects residential and workplace choice in metropolitan areas. First, we develop a quantitative urban model with congestion, to illustrate how congestion affects the worker location choices of residence and workplace. This model indicates that congestion on commuting causes population and employment suburbanization. To examine the validity of the model, we use partial identification with data on central cities in US from 1950 to 1990. The empirical results show that the model with congestion is evidenced by the data on all cities. By contrast, the model without congestion is not valid the data on congested central city.

Exploring built environment correlates of walking distance of transit egress in the Twin Cities

Most studies on walking distance to transit stops either emphasize transit access or do not distinguish transit access and egress. Furthermore, environmental correlates of walking distance may differ by stop location. Using the 2010 Transit Onboard Survey in the Minneapolis and St. Paul Metropolitan Area, this study develops four models to compare the effects of the built environment around transit stops on walking distance of transit egress. Job density is negatively correlated with walking distance, consistent in all four models. Other built environment variables exhibit different impacts by stop location. Particularly, land use mix has positive impacts on walking distance for stops outside of downtown and suburban employment centers whereas job density is more important for suburban centers. Job accessibility and the number of intersections have significant effects on stops within downtown areas but have no significant impacts on stops outside of downtown areas. The number of transit stops has opposite impacts on walking distance for stops within and outside of downtown. Moreover, the built environment tends to have a larger impact on walking distance in downtown areas than non-downtown areas. We then discuss the implications for stop area land use planning and transit stop location choice.

Shanghai’s Socialist Suburbanization 1953–1962

This article analyzes Shanghai’s suburban development during the first two Five-Year Plans (1953–1962). The development trajectory of Shanghai’s inner suburban industrial zones and satellite towns was shaped by Maoist geopolitics, economic realities, the urban–rural nexus, regional spatial strategy, and radical political campaigns. Shanghai’s strategy promoted the homogenization of suburban industrial development and employment patterns, and the city’s suburban industrial zones and satellite towns were subordinate to the central city. The effective functioning of industrial zones and satellite towns was probably secondary to the political goals behind China’s grand development plans and initiatives, which were intended to demonstrate the superiority of socialist industrialization.

Effects of urban spatial structure on level of excess commutes: A comparison between Seoul and Los Angeles

This study investigates the effects of the urban spatial structure on the excess commuting rate (ECR) by comparing commuting patterns in two cities having distinctive urban forms, Seoul, Korea and Los Angeles, California, USA. A major difference was found in that commuters working closer to employment centres, or living in single-family detached housing in LA, are likely to have lower ECR, but not in Seoul. Employment suburbanisation, strict zoning separating residence and workplace and single-family housing-dominant low-density suburbs in LA are regarded as the reasons for their lower ECRs, which, by definition, imply relatively shorter actual commute duration and/or longer minimum time. Seoul can learn a lesson from LA for employment decentralisation in order to reduce actual commute time, while land use patterns in Seoul such as high level of mixed land use and compact development can provide policy implications for LA for improving commuters’ accessibility and reducing minimum time.

Suburbanization of Indian Cities

In this article, we make an attempt to understand the population and employment suburbanization of a mid-tier Indian city—Gulbarga, Karnataka. We estimate population and employment density gradients for the city for two periods and find the evidence of suburbanization. While we are unable to explain the suburbanization, our anecdotal examination of the ratio of unemployment rate in the central city to that of the suburbs indicate the suburbanization of the city due to central city blight. The effects of suburbanization were also seen from the spatial distribution of working population.

Function Follows Form

Urban policy molds urban form. This paper suggests that urban form also molds urban policy. Urban form frames the political economy of whether to relocate the city center's jobs and shops. In that sense, city functions follow urban form. This view rivals the ''form follows function'' that has become proverbial in architectural theory. Extensions to this analysis of the suburbanization of employment and shopping address the city's topography, the convexity of its skyline, the possibility of sprawl and the effects on jurisdictional merger.

The effects of socioeconomic factors on urban expansion in Seoul Metropolitan Area, 2000-2010

Measuring and understanding the nature of urban spatial expansion is one of the important subjects in the field of urban planning, geography, transportation, and environment. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of socioeconomic factors on urban spatial expansion in Seoul Metropolitan Area with a micro-level perspective. In order to explain urban expansion, we described the Mills-Muth urban model, and then suggested a direction of this research. Using binary logit model with 2000 and 2010 micro census including population, household, housing and employment data, we estimated the effects of various socioeconomic factors affecting urban expansion. Our findings revealed that changes in cost of family support, total jobs, and manufacturing jobs are important factors in explaining urban expansion. We also found that employment suburbanization is not associated with urban expansion.

Racial and Ethnic Trends in the Suburbanization of Poverty in U.S. Metropolitan Areas, 1980–2010

ABSTRACT:This research examines recent trends in the suburbanization of poor non-Latino Whites, Blacks, and Asians, and Latinos of all races in the United States. The authors find strong associations between a temporally lagged measure of suburban housing supply and poverty suburbanization during the period 2006–2010 for all groups, but these associations are largely attenuated by similarly lagged controls for suburban affordable housing and employment, as well as for other characteristics of metropolitan areas. Findings indicate that poor non-Latino Whites and Asians have higher suburbanization rates in metropolitan areas with higher levels of suburban employment, while the suburbanization of the Black and Latino poor is more strongly related to the availability of affordable suburban housing. Increases in housing supply are associated with change in poverty suburbanization over time for Whites, Blacks, and Latinos. In addition, increases in affordable rental housing are associated with increases in the suburbanization of the Latino poor.

The Extent and Reasons for U.S. Airport City Development

Airport cities – concentrations of employment – may have emerged near the major airports of large metropolitan areas. As the U.S. economy is nearly three times as air-intensive as it was in the 1950s, the “aerotropolis” thesis holds that airport cities are a direct consequence of increased air-intensity. The “urban land” thesis holds that airport cities are artifacts of land use changes brought about by metropolitan growth and employment suburbanization. Analysis using Census small area employment data for the 51 largest U.S. metropolitan regions found airport city employment to be one-third to one-half as large as that in CBDs, depending upon the spatial operationalization used. The size of airport city employment was unrelated to metropolitan aviation-intensity but was negatively related to distance from the CBD. The sectors represented indicate that airport cities are comprised of transportation-providing employment, some transportation-supporting employment, but not the concentration of transportation-using employment central to the aerotropolis thesis.

Urban Configurations with Suburban Employment by a Monopoly Vendor

Lai and Tsai (2008) incorporate a monopoly vendor in the Alonso-Mills-Muth model and find that the vendor will locate at one of the city boundaries. This article extends Lai and Tsai (2008) by embodying the production side and labor market for the monopoly. It endogenizes the composite good price, the wage, and the location of the subcenter to investigate the pricing behavior, the determination of the wage in the subcenter, and the urban configurations. It is shown that the monopoly will locate itself in the suburb to form a subcenter. Moreover, the rent-maximizing government will regulate the vendor to locate itself to form an overlapping land rent pattern between the central city and the suburban area.

Immigrant Settlement and Employment Suburbanisation in the US

Two significant trends have occurred in urban areas across the US during recent decades: immigration and the decentralisation of employment. While each trend has been investigated by research, the magnitude of spatial disparity between immigrant settlement patterns and employment location and its change over time has received much less attention. Using a sample of the 60 largest immigrant metropolitan areas, this study uses a spatial mismatch index and regression methods to address this question over the period 1980–2000. Results indicate that immigrants are more spatially mismatched with job opportunities than the White population, but less so than the Black population. It is found that job growth occurred close to where the native-born Whites concentrate and away from immigrants and other minority populations. However, immigrants’ residential location patterns shifted towards employment opportunities and was able to offset the otherwise enlarging spatial disparity.

Shifting Spatial Patterns Of A Monocentric Metropolitan Area: The Evolution Of An Employment Cluster In The Buffalo-Niagara Falls, New York Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA): 1990-2000

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0.5in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">These findings are contrary to the established economic and geography literature that strongly suggests employment suburbanization has and will continue to create employment centers beyond the central city in metropolitan areas.</span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"></span></p>