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Towards Sustainable Urban Spatial Structure: Does Decentralization Reduce Commuting Times?

Author

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  • Chunil Kim

    (Housing Urban Finance Institute, Korea Housing & Urban Guarantee Corporation (HUG), BIFC, 40 Munhyeon-geumyung-ro, Nam-gu, Busan 48400, Korea)

  • Choongik Choi

    (Department of Public Administration, Kangwon National University, 1, Gangwondaehak-gil, Chuncheon-si, Gangwon-do 24341, Korea)

Abstract

This paper contributes to the existing debate on the co-location hypothesis, by devising a proximity measure and controlling for a set of other urban form measures. Utilizing the LEHD (Longitudinal Employer–Household Dynamics) Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES) data that provide the number of jobs by a finer geography, this paper measured the degree of centralization, proximity, and job–housing mismatch. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the job–worker proximity leads to a shorter commuting time. In addition, the results focusing on suburban areas revealed that the impact of the job–worker imbalance and the impact of job–worker mismatch on the commuting time are greater in the suburb in comparison with the city center.

Suggested Citation

  • Chunil Kim & Choongik Choi, 2019. "Towards Sustainable Urban Spatial Structure: Does Decentralization Reduce Commuting Times?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-28, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:4:p:1012-:d:206253
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    Cited by:

    1. Benjamin Duquet & Cédric Brunelle, 2020. "Subcentres as Destinations: Job Decentralization, Polycentricity, and the Sustainability of Commuting Patterns in Canadian Metropolitan Areas, 1996–2016," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-25, November.
    2. Kim, Kyusik & Horner, Mark W., 2021. "Examining the impacts of the Great Recession on the commuting dynamics and jobs-housing balance of public and private sector workers," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    3. Woo Jang & Fei Yuan & Jose Javier Lopez, 2021. "Investigating Sustainable Commuting Patterns by Socio-Economic Factors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-14, February.

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