Suburban Ring Research Articles

Delineating and Characterizing the Metropolitan Fringe Area of Shanghai—A Spatial Morphology Perspective

The metropolitan fringe area is of great significance to a city’s future growth. However, relatively little attention has been paid to delineating and characterizing the metropolitan fringe area from a spatial morphology perspective, which contributes to the planning and design of metropolitan fringe areas. Therefore, the aim of this study is to develop a morphology–based method to delineate the metropolitan fringe area and investigate the characteristics of its spatial morphology. Drawing upon a large–scale dataset on the spatial morphology of Shanghai, this study finds that the metropolitan fringe area is generally circular in shape and is dominated by residential, industrial, agricultural and forestry land. The metropolitan fringe area accounts for 24.65% of the total area of Shanghai and is mainly located between its outer ring and suburban ring areas. The distributions of spatial characteristics of the metropolitan fringe area suggest that the area has a relatively lower level in terms of building height, building density, and development intensity. Furthermore, the metropolitan fringe area of Shanghai contains five key spatial elements, including residential and industrial clusters, shadow spaces accompanying clusters, corridor lines, green wedges, and surfaces. The interaction of the five spatial elements lays the foundation for the prototype of the spatial structure of the metropolitan fringe area of Shanghai, which is of great significance to understanding the heterogeneity within the metropolitan fringe area in terms of the distribution of spatial morphological characteristics. Such heterogeneity also needs to be considered in the planning and design of the metropolitan fringe area.

The cost of working: measuring physical and virtual access to jobs

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the incentive to work-from-home (WFH) in many countries and well-developed information and communication technology (ICT) provides strong support to do so with no need to physically travel to workplaces. This paper defines the concept of physical (traditional) and virtual (online) access to jobs based on dual access theory, by analysing different job profiles to recognize those that are capable of working from home and those that are not. A theoretical framework is then built for physical and virtual access measures and applied to the Minneapolis – St. Paul (Twin Cities) region. The results show that virtual access is much more sensitive to its cost variables, like wage change or at-home working space, while physical is less affected accordingly. A suburban ring emerges, which enjoys better access to jobs when physical and virtual working are mixed over a week. The results provide insights for planners, managers, and policymakers.

The Multidimensional Measurement Method of Urban Sprawl and Its Empirical Analysis in Shanghai Metropolitan Area

Urban sprawl concerns the high-quality and sustainable development of large cities. Due to the ambiguous definition, diversity of measurement indices and complexity of the driving mechanism of urban sprawl, the research results are rich but controversial. How does one carry out multidimensional measurement of urban sprawl? How does one reveal the spatio-temporal evolution characteristics of urban sprawl dynamically? First, according to the three common characteristics of urban sprawl (discontinuity of land use, low population density and inefficiency of land use), we, respectively, measure the urban sprawl of Shanghai metropolitan area by single index and comprehensive indices based on multi-source geospatial data. Next, using geographic information system (GIS) method, the temporal and spatial characteristics of urban sprawl in Shanghai are quantitatively and dynamically analyzed. The results show that (1) land use continuity reveals that fringe expansion is the main mode of urban sprawl, population density exhibits an upwards trend, and land use benefit shows that the sprawl increased first, then decreased and increased again, i.e., “N” type trend. The results of the above three comprehensive superpositions indicate that the urban sprawl in Shanghai changed from severe in 1995 to mild in 2010 and in 2020. (2) From 1990 to 2020, urban sprawl in Shanghai showed a trend of decreasing first, then increasing and decreasing again, which is consistent with an evolutionary trend of newly increased construction land. The larger the sprawl area was, the lower the land use efficiency of the sprawl area was. (3) The main directions of urban sprawl were southeast and southwest, and Songjiang District and Pudong New Area were the main sprawl areas. The peak value of urban sprawl mainly occurred at 20–30 km and was located in the area between the outer ring and the suburban ring. (4) Through time series analysis, we found that the effective supply of housing significantly affected the intensity and scale of urban sprawl but not the speed of urban sprawl in Shanghai metropolitan area. These findings are helpful to reasonably evaluate the real picture of urban sprawl in Shanghai metropolitan areas and provide reference for the formulation of urban sprawl governance policies.

Analysis of the Spatial Distribution Characteristics of Residences and Workplaces under the Influence of Metro Transportation in Metropolises from the Perspectives of Accessibility and Travelers’ Industries: The Case of Guangzhou

The spatial separation between residences and workplaces of citizens is a challenge encountered by many, causing urban problems like long-distance commutes, traffic congestion, and environmental pollution due to the heavy usage of cars. As a result of this phenomenon, metro transportation has become an increasingly important means of transportation in metropolises. To further understand the spatial separation issues, we analyzed the spatial distribution characteristics of areas under the influence of metro transportation in metropolises, and this could provide new approaches to this challenge. This research used Guangzhou city as a case study to investigate the spatial distribution characteristics of residences and workplaces from two perspectives: accessibility, and the type of the travelers’ industries. The analysis was mainly based on (1) passengers’ travel data provided by Guangzhou Metro Group Co., Ltd. (Guangzhou, China); (2) the resident population, based on the sixth national census in China; and (3) the employed population, based on the third economic census of China. Our research resulted in three key findings. First, the spatial separation of residences and workplaces was generally noticeable in Guangzhou but was less noticeable in the area with metro stations. Second, workplaces were concentrated in the central ring while residences were concentrated in the inner suburban ring in Guangzhou. Third, there was a relative concentration of workplaces in the same service industry and the workplaces of each service industry were concentrated in separate, respective areas in Guangzhou. On the basis of these findings, we provided suggestions for policymakers to develop specific and effective actions to mitigate the negative impacts of spatial separation.

Core versus periphery: Examining the spatial patterns of insufficient accessibility in U.S. metropolitan areas

Recent transport equity literature suggests that accessibility analyses should move beyond mapping of the uneven patterns of access to opportunities. Instead, this literature proposes a sufficientarian approach, according to which all individuals are entitled to a minimum level of accessibility. In line with this approach, in this paper we ask: “What are the spatial patterns of accessibility insufficiency in U.S. metropolitan areas?” We use the Accessibility Fairness Index developed by Martens (Martens, K., 2017. Transport justice: Designing fair transportation systems. Routledge) and others to measure accessibility insufficiency. This index accounts for both people's accessibility shortfall compared to a sufficiency threshold and the number of people affected by these shortfalls. We limit our analysis to 49 of the 50 largest U.S. metropolitan areas and to people particularly reliant on transit, as they are especially likely to experience insufficient accessibility. We analyze first the spatial patterns of accessibility insufficiency for all 49 metropolitan areas jointly, for sufficiency thresholds ranging from 1% to 50% of average regional car-based accessibility. We find that accessibility insufficiency among people relying on transit is strongly concentrated in the first 10–30 km ring around the metropolitan core, with a more dispersed pattern only prevalent for the lowest 1% threshold. Next, we compare the 49 regions using only the 10% sufficiency threshold. Results show that most regions have a strong concentration of accessibility insufficiency in the urban cores and inner suburban ring. Urban densities in these clusters are relatively high, underscoring the favorable conditions for introducing efficient transit service. We conclude that accessibility insufficiency is not merely an issue of far-flung exurbs and the metropolitan fringes, but just as much a problem affecting the large transit reliant population in the urban cores and inner suburban rings. This underscores the possibilities for addressing the issue through increased and targeted investments in high-quality transit systems and transit-corridor urban densification.

Optimization of Ecosystem Services of Shanghai Urban–Suburban Street Trees Based on Low-Carbon Targets

Road traffic carbon emissions are an important cause of global warming, and street trees play an important role in regulating road carbon emissions. During urbanization, major differences in the planting management modes and growth status of the street trees in urban–suburban gradient may exist, leading to significant differences in the low-carbon values of the street trees in urban–suburban gradient. Based on this, this study took two typical urban–suburban gradient zones in Shanghai as an example to analyze the changes in the characteristics of street tree species, planting density, tree sizes, and low-carbon contribution with urban and rural changes, and proposed strategies for optimizing the low-carbon contribution of urban street trees. The results showed that, from the inner ring to the outer ring and the suburban ring, the proportion of London plane tree gradually changed from 82% to 11%, and the proportion of the camphor tree gradually changed from 9% to 70%; the average DBH of the trees gradually decreased from 28.81 to 23.74 cm. The number of plantings per unit road length gradually increased, and the number of plantings per unit area gradually decreased; therefore, the average low-carbon contribution of urban–suburban street trees is not significant, but the low-carbon contribution of upper street trees per unit area is higher, and suburban unit street trees have a higher low-carbon contribution. Finally, this article proposes different optimization strategies for future urban micro-renewal and suburban new-city construction.

CHOCOLATE CITY, VANILLA SUBURBS REVISITED

AbstractDespite the long history of racial hostility, African Americans after 1990 began moving from the city of Detroit to the surrounding suburbs in large numbers. After World War II, metropolitan Detroit ranked with Chicago, Cleveland, and Milwaukee for having the highest levels of racial residential segregation in the United States. Detroit’s suburbs apparently led the country in their strident opposition to integration. Today, segregation scores are moderate to low for Detroit’s entire suburban ring and for the larger suburbs. Suburban public schools are not highly segregated by race. This essay describes how this change has occurred and seeks to explain why there is a trend toward residential integration in the nation’s quintessential American Apartheid metropolis.

Who saves money buying electric vehicles? Heterogeneity in total cost of ownership

• Models 5-year costs for 8 electric and gasoline cars by zip code in Los Angeles. • Costs vary spatially by 20–35% due to utility rates, insurance, and driving mileage. • On average, electric cars tend to cost more than gasoline cars in most neighborhoods. • Considering distributions, electric cars may be economical for 17% of LA drivers. • Electric cars are most likely to be economical in outer ring suburbs of LA County. Electric vehicles (EVs) are likely to be a critical technology for mitigating climate change and improving urban air quality. To deliver environmental benefits, however, EVs must be adopted on a large scale. Total Cost of Ownership studies have shown that for the average US consumer, EVs cost more than gasoline-fueled vehicles. We contribute to this literature with a focus on heterogeneity across space and driving habits. Specifically, we estimate 5-year ownership costs for four EVs and four gasoline-fueled vehicles by neighborhood across Los Angeles County. Due to variation in electricity rates, insurance rates, and vehicle miles traveled, the median cost varies across neighborhoods by a factor of between 1.2 and 1.35, depending on the vehicle. Median costs of ownership are usually higher for EVs than for comparable gasoline-fueled cars, but considering the full distribution of vehicle miles traveled suggests that buying an EV saves money for over 17% of households.

The Centre-Periphery Dialectics in Eastern Sicily Retail System. An Exploratory Research

This paper aims at scrutinizing from an historical perspective the deep transformations shaped by retail spaces and new consumption patterns challenging long-entrenched dichotomies, such as the centre-periphery one. In particular, the exploratory research explores the territorial reconfiguration of the main Eastern Sicily metropolitan areas, Catania and Messina, from the lens of the retail geography, namely after the diffusion of new suburban retail formats which have completely upset deeply-rooted relations between urban core and suburban rings.

Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Urban Green Space Influenced by Rapid Urbanization and Land Use Policies in Shanghai

Urbanization has led to the continuous expansion of built-up areas and the ever-growing urban population, threatening the quantity and quality of urban green space (UGS). Exploring the spatiotemporal variations of UGS is substantially conducive to the formulation of land-use policies to protect the ecosystems. As one of the largest megacities all around the world, Shanghai has experienced rapid urbanization in the past three decades. Insights into how UGS changes in response to urbanization and greening policies are essential for guiding sustainable urban development. This paper employed integrated approaches to characterize the changing patterns and intensities of green space in Shanghai, China from 1990 to 2015. The spatiotemporal dynamics of the UGS pattern were derived through four main methods: green space ratio, dynamic change degree (DCD), transition matrix and landscape metrics. The results showed that Shanghai’s green space decreased from 84.8% in 1990 to 61.9% in 2015 while the built-up areas increased from 15.0% to 36.5%. Among the green space sub-types, farmland was largely encroached and fragmented by urban sprawl, especially in the Outer Ring Expressway and Suburban Ring Expressway belts of the city. About 1522 km2 of the green space has transferred into built-up areas, followed by farmland, waterbody, forest, and grassland in descending order. The 2000–2010 period witnessed the strong urban expansion and dramatic changes in UGS, but then the change around 2015 turned down and stable. The landscape pattern metrics showed that the entire green space in Shanghai was growingly fragmented and isolated during the past 25 years. Combined with the green space-related planning and policies issued in 1990–2015, the results revealed that both rapid urbanization and greening policies accounted for the spatiotemporal dynamics of UGS. Based on the results, some implicants to new urban planning and policies of Shanghai were highlighted.

The Donut Effect of COVID-19 on Cities

Using data from the US Postal Service and Zillow, we quantify the effect of Covid- 19 on migration patterns and real estate markets within and across US cities. We find two key results. First, within large US cities, households and businesses have moved from the dense central business districts (CBDs) towards lower density suburban zip-codes. We label this the “Donut Effect” reflecting the movement of activity out of city centers to the suburban ring. Second, while this observed reallocation occurs within cities, we do not see major reallocation across cities. That is, there is less evidence for large-scale movement of activity from large US cities to smaller regional cities or towns. We rationalize these findings by noting that working patterns post pandemic will be primarily hybrid, with workers commuting to their business premises typically 3 days per week. This level of commuting is less than pre-pandemic, making suburbs relatively more popular, but too frequent to allow employees to leave the cities containing their employer.

Neighborhood Diversity and Food Access in a Changing Urban Spatial Structure

This paper examines food access disparity in relation to neighborhood diversity, especially race/ethnicity and poverty in a changing intrametropolitan spatial structure, using the Atlanta Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) as a case study. With detailed grocery store data, this study finds a substantive change in food access between 2003 and 2015 in terms of both the number of grocery stores and the gravity–based accessibility indicator, although such access varies by neighborhood characteristics and spatial location in terms of central city, inner–ring suburbs, and outer–ring suburbs. While access to grocery stores for minority–concentrated neighborhoods in outer–ring suburbs is comparable to other neighborhoods, neighborhoods with a high share of African American residents in inner–ring suburbs and those with a high share of Latino residents in the central city have significantly lower access to food outlets. Neighborhoods with higher poverty rate tend to have more food outlets across the region except for in inner–ring suburbs.

Remaking Shanghai: New Divisions in an Expanding Metropolis

AbstractThis study of Shanghai analyzes the city's emerging patterns of residential settlement in 2010. Most previous research on China focused on central city patterns, but by 2010 urban development in major metropolitan areas was taking place predominantly in the suburbs. The analysis re‐examines and extends previous studies of the level of segregation by various key population characteristics, showing that the highest segregation is found in the suburban ring, where original villager residents are now joined by an influx of migrants from other regions and by intracity movers. We probe the sources of the segregation pattern in multivariate analyses at two scales—an innovative analysis at the level of individuals that shows how people's citizenship status, occupation and education affect the type of housing that they are able to live in, and jointly contribute to their location in the metropolitan area. We show that the patterns attributable to the market reform period mostly did not supplant the socialist urban structure, but rather used it as its foundation. Segregation today can be attributed less to current class inequality than to state policies in the distant and recent past that have determined when, where and for whom housing is built.

The association between spatial attributes and neighborhood characteristics based on Meituan take-out data: Evidence from shanghai business circles

The success of a city increasingly depends on its role as a consumer centre. The new form of consumption is increasingly playing the leading role in urban consumption growth. Based on Meituan take-out data, this paper investigates quantitatively the spatial differences and explores the associations of the number of take-out with neighborhood characteristics on the scale of business circles in Shanghai by spatial econometric model. The results show that: (1) the average order quantity and consumption amount have the gradient consumption trend of the inner ring > the middle ring > the outer ring > the suburban ring. The spatial distribution of take-out in business circles is bounded by the Huangpu River, with an obvious pattern of more in the west and less in the east. (2) Three types of food distributions, traditional take-out, fashion casual take-out and supermarket and fresh take-out within business circles have obvious differences. In many business circles, fashion and leisure food delivery is significantly higher than traditional food delivery. Supermarket and fruit and vegetable take-out is scattered among business circles and is evenly distributed around the inner ring. (3) Economic level, population concentration, office and traffic factors have significant effect on the number of take-out. In detail, the impact on the volatility of dependent variables is as follows: catering industry > the number of white collars > population density > per capita consumption > traffic facility. This study proposes that office and catering industry, multi-centre city and traffic accessibility should be further strengthened in the coordinated development of Shanghai business circles so as to improve take-out economy.

Suppressing the effects of induced traffic in urban road systems: impact assessment with macrosimulation tools - results from the city of Krakow (Poland)

This paper presents results from simulation analysis of road network development scenarios in the city of Krakow (Poland), accounting for potential impact of traffic demand elasticity. These envisage a completion of a suburban ring road, which would improve network travel conditions and could therefore induce additional traffic volumes (and eventually lead to further traffic congestion). The objective was to investigate how this effect might be inhibited by introducing complementary changes in the city road network, ranging from individual road narrowing schemes in the city centre to “bolder” measures comprising network-wide traffic calming and road closure scenarios. Our macrosimulation-based analysis reveals that, once accounting for demand elasticity phenomena, city-wide benefits are roughly similar for all the considered scenarios, but a durable traffic congestion relief could be only achieved with a consequent reduction of inner-city network capacity. Our findings indicate how the appraisal process of urban road projects could be facilitated with an estimate of potential demand elasticity effects, as effectiveness of such schemes needs to be assessed not just in terms of level-of-service improvements, but also their exposure (or resilience) to erosion in scheme benefits due to probable induced traffic phenomena.

Possibility of Increasing the Railway Capacity of the R106 Regional Line by Using a Simulation Tool

In this paper, emphasis is placed on the R106 regional line, given its relevance to the daily mobility of residents from the Zagorje region to the Croatian capital, Zagreb. The R106 railway, on the one hand, enables traffic to the railways of the neighbouring Republic of Slovenia, and on the other it is connection to the regional railway R201 Zaprešić - Varaždin and the international corridor M101 as a connection with Zagreb. Part of the R201 line is stock Zaprešić – Zabok, the section to which the R106 line connects and is currently being overhauled, electrified and equipped with modern signalling devices. Upon completion, it will be possible to utilize 50% more capacity of that section of the railway, but also to include it in the Zagreb sub-urban ring. This will increase mobility throughout the entire Zagorje region. Consequently, to meet the generated increase in demand, it will be necessary to increase the number of trains on line R106, but also to increase its existing capacity, as it will gain even more importance, both for regional traffic and for daily local migration of the population to go to business, administrative and other needs. In view of this, the paper describes mentioned specific circumstances, which give rise to the need for more detailed research and looks at the existing technical characteristics of the R106 line. Accordingly, additional measures are provided for rail and station security, whose impact on capacity will be determined through simulation using the Opentrack software package. The implementation of the proposed measures would contribute to increase the capacity of the R106 line, but also to increase its importance not only at regional level but also in the context of border and international traffic.

Racial and Ethnic Group Spatial Assimilation in Inner and Outer Suburban Rings

The present study examines inner and outer suburban ring attainment outcomes among racial and ethnic groups that reside in the nation’s metropolitan areas. The main objective is to evaluate the extent to which the relationship between racial and ethnic group’s socioeconomic status characteristics and residence between inner and outer suburban rings conforms to the tenets of the spatial assimilation model. Using micro-level data from the five-year 2012–2016 American Community Survey, the author calculates binomial logistic regression models to determine the effects of socioeconomic status (SES) and other relevant predictors on residence within the nation’s metropolitan area’s suburban inner and outer rings. The results both confirm and contradict the main tenets of the spatial assimilation model. To the extent that income, education, and homeownership are positively related to residence in both suburban rings, the findings also suggest that access to inner and outer rings is hierarchically stratified by race and ethnicity.

How newspapers portray suburbs: A paradox

ABSTRACTUrban professionals are critical of the suburbs, but most North Americans live there. Research has suggested that a critical view of the suburbs also pervades entertainment media, but no systematic study has been undertaken to determine whether the same is true of news media. The research reported here is based on a systematic analysis of the content and tone of reportage and commentary about the suburbs in a leading local newspaper in both Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario, from 1990 to 2015. The major paradoxical finding is that although in this period most newspaper readers lived in the suburbs, coverage was predominantly and consistently negative in both cities. In Toronto, this was true for both the poorer inner and the more affluent outer suburban rings. Various explanations of the paradox are discussed. Future research should compare, for specific cities, coverage of both the inner city and the suburbs.

Ethno-political effects of suburbanization in the Vilnius urban region

We use electoral data to analyze the ethno-political consequences that may arise from the fact that the region surrounding the city of Vilnius is dominated by residents with a Polish identity, while those who move to the suburbs are mainly ethnic Lithuanians. In the suburban ring we found increasing voting turnout, a decreasing share of votes for the Polish party, and an increase of the absolute number of votes for this party. The changing electoral behavior might be an indicator of growing ethno-political tensions and the zones of the most intense changes identify areas of potential social tensions between ethnic groups.

Detroit Fifty Years After the Kerner Report: What Has Changed, What Has Not, and Why?

Immediately after the Detroit violence of July 1967, President Johnson appointed the Kerner Commission and ordered it to determine what had happened, why, and what could be done to prevent urban riots. This analysis focuses on racial change in metropolitan Detroit. Progress has been made in racially integrating the suburban ring closed to African Americans at the time of the violence. Evidence indicates social integration in that interracial marriage is more common and blacks are more represented in prestigious occupations. However, on key economic measures, African Americans are now further behind whites than they were in 1967. This can be attributed to fundamental changes in employment and the failure of the educational system to provide the training needed for jobs in the new economy.