Transport impacts of government employment decentralization in an Australian city – Testing scenarios using transport simulation

Australia's largest cities are more mono-centric than most US cities and may be over-centralising, particularly in terms of office employment. Government worker relocation programs are being employed with policy debate over what should be an ideal urban structure including in terms of travel behaviour. The paper explores research approaches to explore transport impacts of employment decentralization. A review shows the results of: surveys of workers moved to suburban locations; longitudinal analyses of transport and land use changes in city-regions using cross-sectional census or HTS data; comparative analysis of urban structure variables across cities using similar datasets; combinations of longitudinal and comparative research; and, scenario-based modelling approaches. A modelling framework is then developed to appraise the possible transport impacts of decentralization in Brisbane. To test the possibilities further, two decentralization scenarios modelled and compared. Decentralization mostly to middle-suburban locations better addresses jobs-housing balance and maximises proposed new public transport services, producing good transport outcomes. However, decentralization to outer-suburban locations in Brisbane exacerbates the propensity for decentralization to increase travel distances, especially by car.     

城市街区空间结构低碳化的理论模型

通过分析城市空间结构的内涵,认为"街区"是居民日常出行最为集中的场所,也是形成城市空间结构的基本单元。认为应该从居民的出行需求出发,通过充分分析街区内各功能用地的可达性需求,来发现出行需求内向型的街区用地结构,并以此为指导,建设功能混合型的城市街区,使各功能用地与空间可达性最大效用耦合,从而减少通勤产生的碳排放。     

城市居住与就业的空间配合研究——以北京市为例

随着中国社会经济的发展,近年来很多地区都经历着快速的城市化,一些大中城市出现了普遍的非自然性产业演替过程,这个过程中又伴随着城市人口的迅速膨胀和城市面积的急剧扩张,多种因素的共同作用使得中国一些大城市面临着不同程度的人口空间失配问题.论文通过对北京市不同区域内3个社区进行实地调研,在考察了各个社区内部居民通勤方式和工作可通达度之后得出关于北京市空间失配情况的结论,建议规划部门和房地产开发企业对新出现的空间失配现象给予足够重视,调整按照旧有城市发展进程设定的规划或开发选址思路.     

The influence of residential accessibility on household trip-making

The purpose of this research is to examine both theoretical and empirical relationships between residential accessibility (defined here as the spatial distribution of urban travel destinations relative to a household) and aspects of travel-related behaviour such as a household's activity pattern, trip formation procedure, use of multidestination trip-making and expenditure of time on travel. Although prior research has been conducted on this topic the analysis presented here is innovative in that trip-making rates, use of multidestination trip-making and travel time expenditures are shown to be causally related to (and simple consequences of) household activity levels which are themselves leveraged by socio-economic factors. Recognition of this hierarchical causal structure promotes a conclusion that observed spatial variability in aspects of household trip-making behaviour are, for the most part, a consequence of the socio-economic spatial structure of urban areas, and are not due to residential accessibility conditions.     

The geographic accessibility of child care subsidies and evidence on the impact of subsidy receipt on childhood obesity

This paper examines the impact of the spatial accessibility of public human services agencies on the likelihood of receiving a child care subsidy among disadvantaged mothers with young children. In particular, we collect data on the location of virtually every human services agency in the US and use this information to calculate the approximate distance that families must travel from home in order to reach the nearest office that administers the subsidy application process. Using data from the Kindergarten cohort of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K), our results indicate that an increase in the distance to a public human services agency reduces the likelihood that a family receives a child care subsidy. Specifically, we estimate an elasticity of subsidy receipt with respect to distance of −0.13. The final section of the paper provides an empirical application in which we use variation in families’ travel distance to identify the causal effect of child care subsidies on children’s weight outcomes. Our instrumental variables estimates suggest that subsidized child care leads to sizeable increases in the prevalence of overweight and obesity among low-income children.     

Accessibility Changes and Urban House Price Appreciation: A Constrained Optimization Approach to Determining Distance Effects

Land use and location theory suggests that accessibility is an important determinant of residential land values, and of changes in those values. This study explores the construction of the Dames Point Bridge over the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida, to examine the impact of changes in accessibility on housing values. Benefits to the north, from increased accessibility from the urban perimeter, are of primary interest. Additionally, dis-benefits to the south, (from increased traffic congestion and crime), are also investigated. A constrained optimization approach is used to determine the extent (distance from the bridge) to which changes in accessibility benefits or dis-benefits are reflected in urban house price appreciation.     

An axiomatic approach to the measurement of accessibility

In this paper an axiomatic approach is developed for the task of measuring accessibility. The general mathematical form of a measure satisfying the postulated axioms is derived. This class of measure contains as a sub-class the so-called gravity potentials. A measure of the accessibility to employment opportunities is presented with applications to the Stockholm region. Finally some ideas on further development of accessibility measures are discussed.     

What are public services worth, and to whom? Non-parametric estimation of capitalization in Pune

The availability and quality of basic public services are important determinants of urban quality of life. In many cities, rapid population growth and fiscal constraints are limiting the extent to which urban governments can keep up with increasing demand for these services. It therefore becomes important to prioritize provision of those services to best reflect local demand. We present a strategy to estimate the demand for public services, which is sensitive to heterogeneity in preferences across types of households, and the non-parametric estimation addresses problems arising from functional form restrictions. Using data from Pune, India, we estimate the demand for public services, as represented by the marginal change in the self-assessed monthly rental price of dwellings from the services. We find that the value of publicly-provided services accruing to the poor is greater than that going to wealthier households, and even untargeted across-the-board investment in specific services can be progressive.     

Planning for equal transit-based accessibility of healthcare facilities: A case study of Shenzhen,China

Recent location-allocation studies have made considerable progress in optimizing the equality of facility accessibility but are focused on automobile transport to facilities. In cities, however, the transit-based accessibility of essential services is crucial for social equality and sustainable development. In this study, we develop a modified transit-based maximal accessibility equality (MAE) model for optimizing the equality of the transit-based accessibility of healthcare facilities. In this model, equality is quantified as the weighted mean absolute deviation (WMAD) of accessibility across locations. Two scenarios are set up to reallocate resources or allocate newly added resources. The results reveal that the equality of transit-based healthcare accessibility can be significantly improved in both scenarios. A dispersed planning strategy for facilities is suggested to achieve equal accessibility. However, the transit-based optimization results significantly differ from the car-based optimization results, with more supply allocated to facilities close to transit corridors. This finding implies that the traditional car-based MAE model might generate unequal healthcare accessibility for transit-dependent populations and thus lead to biased recommendations for healthcare planning. Furthermore, it shows that traditional car-based optimization may engender a misallocation of healthcare supply, exacerbating the inequality in healthcare accessibility. The necessity of incorporating public transit into public facility planning is highlighted. The improved MAE model can be applied in cities where the supply of public services is relatively adequate and public transit plays an important role in daily mobility.     

THE REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY OF U.S. BUSINESS SERVICES GROWTH, 1977–1987: EVIDENCE AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS

Regional analysts and policy makers have long struggled with problems arising from the uneven development of industrial systems. Most efforts have focused on manufacturing even though the business services sector continues to gain importance as a source of employment. This paper provides rigorous analyses of the regional organization of business services employment growth in the United States and discusses some implications of regionalism for the development of industrial policy. The analyses use chi-square goodness-of-fit tests and spatial statistics to examine regional structure. State-level employment data in ten business service industries for two periods, 1977–1982 and 1982–1987, are used in the analyses. The results show that although employment growth varies across the United States, it does not exhibit consistent regional organization. Instead, growth is organized more around metropolitan complexes. The lack of regional organization suggests that industrial policy should focus on the urban concentration of growth, telecommunications infrastructure and urban-rural linkages.     

Measurement error in discrete health facility choice models: An example from urban Senegal

We use individual‐level health facility choice data from urban Senegal to estimate consumer preferences for facility characteristics related to maternal health services. We find that consumers consider a large number of quality‐related facility characteristics, as well as travel costs, when making their health facility choice. In contrast to the typical assumption in the literature, our findings indicate that individuals frequently bypass the facility nearest their home. In light of this, we show that the mismeasured data used commonly in the literature produces biased preference estimates; most notably, the literature likely overestimates consumer distaste for travel.     

The effects of vehicle ownership on employment

Vehicle ownership may promote work if employment opportunities and job searches are enhanced by reliable transportation. For example, vehicles may serve to reduce potential physical isolation from employment opportunities. I examine the effects of vehicle ownership and vehicle quality on employment for single mothers with no more than a high school education using National Longitudinal Survey of Youth data. I control for potential bias by jointly estimating employment and vehicle ownership in a maximum likelihood framework using state welfare eligibility asset rules as instruments. Results show that vehicle ownership increases employment. Positive effects of vehicles do not differ for urban and rural residents, but they do change with economic conditions. Further, welfare recipients are significantly more likely to exit the program and become employed if they own a vehicle.     

A conceptual framework for the location of public facilities in the urban areas of developing countries: the Nigerian case

The provision of adequate public services to their urban populations within the constraints of financial resources is a major problem of most developing countries. The fact that the few available facilities are unevenly distributed in the urban areas suggests a need for efficient physical planning of public services. This paper suggests a conceptual framework for the provision of public services in Nigerian urban areas. The paper identifies the supply and demand factors which should govern the distribution of public services in the urban areas of the country.     

The location of public services considering the mode of travel

By reason of their generally longer travel times, transit users are not so well-served by many public facilities as are automobile drivers. This paper investigates the implications of this fact for the location of a specific type of service, public child day care. A location-allocation model is employed to determine the most accessible locations for a set of centres in Edmonton, Canada, for users of both modes. Transit is found to be capable of providing only 51% of the accessibility of the automobile, at 2.4 times the average travel time. The argument is advanced that in order to reduce the inequality of service to a minimum, public facilities should be located with the accessibilities of transit users in mind. The optimal systems are compared with Edmonton's present system which is found to be spatially inefficient and quite discriminatory in its inefficiency against transit users. This is attributed to the city's piecemeal planning policy and an inadequate understanding of the notion of accessibility. The paper concludes by recommending improvements which would improve our simple diagnostic model to the level of a useful planning device.     

城市可达性研究的理论与方法评述

首先探讨了可达性的涵义与主要特征.其次综合可达性的主要定量评价方法,对各种方法的优缺点进行比较,并总结了近期可达性评价方法的进展情况.最后对可达性研究中存在的问题进行了探讨.     

Mode choice,transport structure and urban land use

A theoretical model of the urban land market is solved to examine the impact of bimodal passenger transportation on equilibrium residential land use. In this model travel to the central business district occurs on a dense system of radial roads or bus routes and a competing system or radial expressways or mass transit lines fed by a subsidiary system of densely spread access streets. Under rational behavior assumptions for households, it is shown that various basic urban forms can result depending on the relative generalized cost characteristics of the competing dense and sparse radial networks. The basic urban forms yield fundamental shapes, differing as to the relative geometry and position of the market areas for the two modes. The standard Alonso-Muth model of unimodal travel and circular urban form is found to result as a special case in several of these cases. American urbanized areas of various sizes and modal mix provide plausible examples for each of the basic forms. The paper concludes with a discussion of the model's implications as a framework for examining optimum urban transport structure and the proliferation of transport routes as a function of urban size.     

The significance of digital data systems for smart city policy

Our planet is gradually moving towards an urbanized world. Modern urban agglomerations tend to turn nowadays into advanced information hubs supporting a smart management of dynamic urban systems. The currently popular notion of ‘smart cities’ aims to provide a new perspective for sustainable and high-performance strategies of city stakeholders in our ‘urban century’. In this context, digital information technology provides a new tool for efficient and effective management and planning of urban space, inter alia in the field of transportation, environment, public facilities or advanced service provision to citizens. This paper aims to offer, first, a concise overview of the emerging opportunities of information and communication technology (ICT) for smart urban policy; digital technology in particular, appears to provide novel pathways for modern planning strategies in smart cities. Against this background, the paper sketches out the complex force field of global urbanisation phenomena and highlights the data and information needs for strategic planning of cities (using inter alia as a framework the so-called ‘urban piazza’ strategy framework). Secondly, various new decision support tools that are currently emerging and that offer a new promising scope for handling complex urban management issues (for instance, on accessibility, congestion, safety or sustainability) are briefly presented. And finally, the potential of such digital data systems for urban management and policy is concisely illustrated by means of some recent applications in the area of smartphone data systems. The paper concludes with a discussion of the challenges ahead for urban policy, inter alia by paying attention to institutional and governance aspects of ‘big digital data’ management in urban systems.     

Influence of unplanned versus planned factory locations on worker commitment to industrial employment in Nigeria

The level of commitment to industrial employment of a purposive sample of Nigerian factory workers is found to be higher among workers in factories located in the unplanned commercial and residential areas than among workers in factories located on specially planned industrial estates. This relationship persists when certain variables were in turn held constant. These variables are (1) the workers gross income, (2) the number of fringe benefits available and (3) their valuation of material possessions. That the original relationship is best interpreted within the framework of the principle of acculturation rather than in the light of an economic theory of motivation is indicated by the tendency for the relationship to decline in strength when a number of socio-cultural integration variables are used as control variables. These variables are (1) the political and economic role of the migrants from the ethnic communities from which the workers originate play in the receiving urban communities, (2) the number of friends and acquaintances workers have in their work neighbourhood and (3) the number of voluntary associations to which workers belong. Implication of finding for economic, industrial and political development of the new nations is indicated.     

条件固定效应回归的活动目的地选择模型——一个案例研究

本文以城市居民出行目的地选择为研究对象,建立条件固定效应回归（C—Logit）目的地选择模型。结合我国某城市交通小区城市居民日出行数据对模型进行标定求解,并描述目的地选择预测流程,解释了影响居民出行目的地选择的诸多因素。对预测结果进行分析,得到较高的目的地选择预测精度,为从非集计层面研究城市居民出行目的地选择提供了新的思路。