IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/urbstu/v56y2019i12p2532-2548.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Analysing the changes of employment subcentres: A comparison study of Houston and Dallas

Author

Listed:
  • Xuejun Liu

    (Wuhan University, China)

  • Qisheng Pan

    (Tongji University, China; Beijing University of Technology, China; Texas Southern University, USA)

  • Lester King

    (Rice University, USA)

  • Zhonghua Jin

    (Texas Southern University, USA)

Abstract

There is only a sparse empirical literature that examines the emergence and growth of employment centres in large metropolitan areas. And only a few of the available studies analyse the determinants of the growth of centre(s) (and subcentres) over time. There are even fewer studies that compare different metropolitan regions in terms of how their employment centres grow or decay over several decades. This research aims to fill the gap by exploring changes in employment centres for two decades in two large US metropolitan areas of comparable size– Houston and Dallas. It employs 1990 and 2000 Census Transportation Planning Package (CTPP) data and American Community Survey (ACS) 2006–2010 5-year estimates to test factors suggested in the literature as possibly affecting the emergence and growth of employment centres. A revised two-stage minimum cut-off point approach is utilised to identify employment centres. We adopt an OLS model to find the driving forces for job changes in the employment centres of Houston and Dallas. A step-wise regression method is also adopted to find the major contributors to observed changes in job centres. Based on the results, it is possible to identify job changes and also a better understanding of the major factors associated with the changes. The findings are conceivably valuable for urban planners and policy makers to help them understand trends and allocate resources in an informed manner.

Suggested Citation

  • Xuejun Liu & Qisheng Pan & Lester King & Zhonghua Jin, 2019. "Analysing the changes of employment subcentres: A comparison study of Houston and Dallas," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 56(12), pages 2532-2548, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:56:y:2019:i:12:p:2532-2548
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098018789554
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0042098018789554
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0042098018789554?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ota, Mitsuru & Fujita, Masahisa, 1993. "Communication technologies and spatial organization of multi-unit firms in metropolitan areas," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(6), pages 695-729, December.
    2. Anas, Alex, 1990. "Taste heterogeneity and urban spatial structure: The logit model and monocentric theory reconciled," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 318-335, November.
    3. Alex Anas & Richard Arnott & Kenneth A. Small, 1998. "Urban Spatial Structure," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(3), pages 1426-1464, September.
    4. Daniel Griffith & David Wong, 2007. "Modeling population density across major US cities: a polycentric spatial regression approach," Journal of Geographical Systems, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 53-75, April.
    5. Giuliano, Genevieve & Small, Kenneth A., 1991. "Subcenters in the Los Angeles region," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 163-182, July.
    6. Fujita, Masahisa & Ogawa, Hideaki, 1982. "Multiple equilibria and structural transition of non-monocentric urban configurations," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(2), pages 161-196, May.
    7. Fujita,Masahisa, 1991. "Urban Economic Theory," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521396455, January.
    8. Giuliano, Genevieve & Small, Kenneth A., 1999. "The Determinants of Growth of Employment Subcenters," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt06n534j0, University of California Transportation Center.
    9. Fujita,Masahisa & Thisse,Jacques-François, 2013. "Economics of Agglomeration," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107001411.
    10. Cervero, Robert, 1989. "Suburban Employment Centers: Probing the Influence of Site Features on the Journey-to-Work," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt9ts232nv, University of California Transportation Center.
    11. J F McDonald & D P McMillen, 1990. "Employment Subcenters and Land Values in a Polycentric Urban Area: The Case of Chicago," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 22(12), pages 1561-1574, December.
    12. Stern, David I, 1994. "Historical Path-Dependence of the Urban Population Density Gradient," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 28(2), pages 197-222.
    13. Small Kenneth A. & Song Shunfeng, 1994. "Population and Employment Densities: Structure and Change," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 292-313, November.
    14. McMillen, Daniel P. & McDonald, John F., 1998. "Suburban Subcenters and Employment Density in Metropolitan Chicago," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 157-180, March.
    15. Glaeser, Edward L & Hedi D. Kallal & Jose A. Scheinkman & Andrei Shleifer, 1992. "Growth in Cities," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(6), pages 1126-1152, December.
      • Edward L. Glaeser & Hedi D. Kallal & Jose A. Scheinkman & Andrei Shleifer, 1991. "Growth in Cities," NBER Working Papers 3787, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
      • Glaeser, Edward Ludwig & Kallal, Hedi D. & Scheinkman, Jose A. & Shleifer, Andrei, 1992. "Growth in Cities," Scholarly Articles 3451309, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    16. Craig, Steven G. & Ng, Pin T., 2001. "Using Quantile Smoothing Splines to Identify Employment Subcenters in a Multicentric Urban Area," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 100-120, January.
    17. McMillen, Daniel P. & Smith, Stefani C., 2003. "The number of subcenters in large urban areas," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 321-338, May.
    18. McMillen, Daniel P., 2001. "Nonparametric Employment Subcenter Identification," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 448-473, November.
    19. Daniel P. McMillen, 2003. "Identifying Sub-centres Using Contiguity Matrices," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 40(1), pages 57-69, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Li, Tiebei & Dodson, Jago, 2020. "Job growth, accessibility, and changing commuting burden of employment centres in Melbourne," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Frederic Gilli, 2009. "Sprawl or Reagglomeration? The Dynamics of Employment Deconcentration and Industrial Transformation in Greater Paris," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 46(7), pages 1385-1420, June.
    2. McMillen, Daniel P. & Smith, Stefani C., 2003. "The number of subcenters in large urban areas," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 321-338, May.
    3. Jaume Masip Tresserra, 2012. "Identifying the Employment and Population Centers at regional and metropolitan scale: The Case of Catalonia and Barcelona," ERSA conference papers ersa12p70, European Regional Science Association.
    4. Ajay Agarwal & Genevieve Giuliano & Christian Redfearn, 2012. "Strangers in our midst: the usefulness of exploring polycentricity," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 48(2), pages 433-450, April.
    5. Jaume Masip Tresserra, 2012. "Does Employment Density death? Towards a new integrated methodology to identify and characterize Sub-Centres," ERSA conference papers ersa12p71, European Regional Science Association.
    6. Genevieve Giuliano & Christian Redfearn, 2005. "Not all sprawl - Evolution of employment centers in Los Angeles, 1980 - 2000," ERSA conference papers ersa05p686, European Regional Science Association.
    7. Chunil Kim & Choongik Choi, 2019. "Towards Sustainable Urban Spatial Structure: Does Decentralization Reduce Commuting Times?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-28, February.
    8. Josep Roca Cladera & Carlos R. Marmolejo Duarte & Montserrat Moix, 2009. "Urban Structure and Polycentrism: Towards a Redefinition of the Sub-centre Concept," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 46(13), pages 2841-2868, December.
    9. Miguel Angel Garcia Lopez & Ivan Muñiz Olivera, 2005. "Employment descentralisation: polycentric compaction or sprawl? The case of the Barcelona Metropolitan Region 1986-1996," Working Papers wpdea0511, Department of Applied Economics at Universitat Autonoma of Barcelona.
    10. Garcia-López, Miquel-Àngel & Hémet, Camille & Viladecans-Marsal, Elisabet, 2017. "Next train to the polycentric city: The effect of railroads on subcenter formation," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 50-63.
    11. Grover,Arti & Lall,Somik V., 2016. "Jobs in the city : explaining urban spatial structure in Kampala," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7655, The World Bank.
    12. Miguel Ángel García & Ivan Muñiz, 2005. "Descentralización del empleo: ¿compactación policéntrica o dispersión? El caso de la región metropolitana de Barcelona 1986-1996," Working Papers wpdea0506, Department of Applied Economics at Universitat Autonoma of Barcelona.
    13. Genevieve Giuliano & Christian Redfearn & Ajay Agarwal & Chen Li & Duan Zhuang, 2005. "Not All Sprawl: Evolution of Employment Concentrations in Los Angeles, 1980-2000," Working Paper 8589, USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
    14. Miquel-Àngel García-López, 2010. "The Accessibility City. When Transport Infrastructure Matters in Urban Spatial Structure," Working Papers XREAP2010-01, Xarxa de Referència en Economia Aplicada (XREAP), revised Feb 2010.
    15. Bumsoo Lee, 2006. "'Edge' or 'Edgeless Cities'? Urban Spatial Structure in US Metropolitan Areas, 1980 to 2000," Working Paper 8574, USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
    16. Redfearn, Christian L., 2007. "The topography of metropolitan employment: Identifying centers of employment in a polycentric urban area," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(3), pages 519-541, May.
    17. Bumsoo Lee & Peter Gordon, 2010. "Urban Structure: It's Role in Urban Growth, Net New Business Formation and Industrial Churn," Working Paper 8515, USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
    18. Blanca Arellano & Montserrat Moix & Josep Roca, 2011. "Towards a New Methodology to evaluate the Urban structure of the Metropolitan Systems; Chicago and Barcelona Metropolitan Areas as Examples," ERSA conference papers ersa11p1779, European Regional Science Association.
    19. Duranton, Gilles & Puga, Diego, 2015. "Urban Land Use," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 467-560, Elsevier.
    20. Murakami, Jin & Chang, Zheng, 2018. "Polycentric development under public leasehold: A spatial analysis of commercial land use rights," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 25-36.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:56:y:2019:i:12:p:2532-2548. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/urbanstudiesjournal .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.