IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/urbstu/v45y2008i8p1583-1602.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

`Optimal' Accessibility Landscapes? Development of a New Methodology for Simulating and Assessing Jobs—Housing Relationships in Urban Regions

Author

Listed:
  • Mark W. Horner

    (Department of Geography, Florida State University, Room 323 Bellamy Building, Tallahassee, Florida, FL 32306-2190, USA, mhorner@fsu.edu)

Abstract

Research into land use—transport relationships through the lens of the jobs—housing balance and the closely related excess commuting framework continues to draw substantial interdisciplinary attention. There have been several recent research efforts aimed at extending the excess commuting framework and its GIS-based spatial models to more prescriptive, policy-relevant situations. This paper puts forward the idea of a theoretical `optimal' urban jobs—housing balance and proposes a new spatial model for finding it. The developed model treats the region's theoretical minimum commute as a baseline indicator of the jobs—housing balance. Alternative patterns of workers and jobs are simulated in order to improve this indicator. The model is demonstrated in several scenarios using data from the decennial US census (2000). Results demonstrate the model's capability for finding `optimal' spatial distributions of jobs and housing, as well as pointing out inefficiencies in existing urban structure. Summary remarks and suggestions for future research are provided.

Suggested Citation

  • Mark W. Horner, 2008. "`Optimal' Accessibility Landscapes? Development of a New Methodology for Simulating and Assessing Jobs—Housing Relationships in Urban Regions," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 45(8), pages 1583-1602, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:45:y:2008:i:8:p:1583-1602
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098008091492
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0042098008091492
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0042098008091492?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. Jonathan Levine & Aseem Inam, 2004. "The Market for Transportation-Land Use Integration: Do Developers Want Smarter Growth than Regulations Allow?," Transportation, Springer, vol. 31(4), pages 409-427, November.
    2. Small, Kenneth A & Song, Shunfeng, 1992. ""Wasteful" Commuting: A Resolution," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(4), pages 888-898, August.
    3. Kang‐Rae Ma & David Banister, 2006. "Excess Commuting: A Critical Review," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(6), pages 749-767, May.
    4. repec:cdl:uctcwp:qt5142n2ts is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Genevieve Giuliano & Kenneth A. Small, 1993. "Is the Journey to Work Explained by Urban Structure?," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 30(9), pages 1485-1500, November.
    6. White, Michelle J, 1988. "Urban Commuting Journeys Are Not "Wasteful."," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 96(5), pages 1097-1110, October.
    7. repec:cdl:uctcwp:qt7424635r is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Tim Schwanen, 2002. "Urban form and commuting behaviour: a cross‐European perspective," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 93(3), pages 336-343, August.
    9. Hamilton, Bruce W, 1989. "Wasteful Commuting Again," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(6), pages 1497-1504, December.
    10. Mark Horner, 2007. "A multi-scale analysis of urban form and commuting change in a small metropolitan area (1990–2000)," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 41(2), pages 315-332, June.
    11. David Levinson, 1998. "Accessibility and the Journey to Work," Working Papers 199802, University of Minnesota: Nexus Research Group.
    12. Frost, Martin & Linneker, Brian & Spence, Nigel, 1998. "Excess or wasteful commuting in a selection of British cities," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 32(7), pages 529-538, September.
    13. Mark Horner & Alan Murray, 2003. "A Multi-objective Approach to Improving Regional Jobs-Housing Balance," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 135-146.
    14. Boarnet, Marlon & Crane, Randall, 2001. "The influence of land use on travel behavior: specification and estimation strategies," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 35(9), pages 823-845, November.
    15. White, M.J., 1988. "Urban Commuting Journeys Are Not Wasteful," Papers 88-10, Michigan - Center for Research on Economic & Social Theory.
    16. Morton E O'Kelly & Wook Lee, 2005. "Disaggregate Journey-to-Work Data: Implications for Excess Commuting and Jobs–Housing Balance," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 37(12), pages 2233-2252, December.
    17. repec:cdl:uctcwp:qt7mx3k73h is not listed on IDEAS
    18. David Merriman & Toru Ohkawara & Tsutomu Suzuki, 1995. "Excess Commuting in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area: Measurement and Policy Simulations," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 32(1), pages 69-85, February.
    19. repec:cdl:uctcwp:qt2ss7x5b1 is not listed on IDEAS
    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. Qin, Ping & Wang, Lanlan, 2019. "Job opportunities, institutions, and the jobs-housing spatial relationship: Case study of Beijing," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 331-339.
    2. Vincent Viguié, 2015. "Cross-commuting and housing prices in a polycentric modeling of cities," Policy Papers 2015.03, FAERE - French Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.
    3. Páez, Antonio & Scott, Darren M. & Morency, Catherine, 2012. "Measuring accessibility: positive and normative implementations of various accessibility indicators," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 141-153.

    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. Jiangping, Zhou & Chun, Zhang & Xiaojian, Chen & Wei, Huang & Peng, Yu, 2014. "Has the legacy of Danwei persisted in transformations? the jobs-housing balance and commuting efficiency in Xi’an," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 64-76.
    2. Jiangping Zhou & Ying Long, 2016. "Losers and Pareto optimality in optimising commuting patterns," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 53(12), pages 2511-2529, September.
    3. Niedzielski, Michael A. & Horner, Mark W. & Xiao, Ningchuan, 2013. "Analyzing scale independence in jobs-housing and commute efficiency metrics," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 129-143.
    4. Michael A. Niedzielski, 2006. "A Spatially Disaggregated Approach to Commuting Efficiency," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 43(13), pages 2485-2502, December.
    5. Martin John Watts, 2009. "The Impact of Spatial Imbalance and Socioeconomic Characteristics on Average Distance Commuted in the Sydney Metropolitan Area," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 46(2), pages 317-339, February.
    6. Cheng, Lin & Chen, Chen & Xiu, Chunliang, 2017. "Excess kindergarten travel in Changchun, Northeast China: A measure of residence-kindergarten spatial mismatch," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 208-216.
    7. Schleith, Daniel & Widener, Michael & Kim, Changjoo, 2016. "An examination of the jobs-housing balance of different categories of workers across 26 metropolitan regions," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 145-160.
    8. Murphy, Enda, 2009. "Excess commuting and modal choice," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 43(8), pages 735-743, October.
    9. Loo, Becky P.Y. & Chow, Alice S.Y., 2011. "Jobs-housing balance in an era of population decentralization: An analytical framework and a case study," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 552-562.
    10. Jiawen Yang, 2008. "Policy Implications of Excess Commuting: Examining the Impacts of Changes in US Metropolitan Spatial Structure," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 45(2), pages 391-405, February.
    11. Qin, Ping & Wang, Lanlan, 2019. "Job opportunities, institutions, and the jobs-housing spatial relationship: Case study of Beijing," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 331-339.
    12. Mark W. Horner & Bernadette M. Marion, 2009. "A Spatial Dissimilarity-based Index of the Jobs—Housing Balance: Conceptual Framework and Empirical Tests," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 46(3), pages 499-517, March.
    13. Jiangping Zhou & Enda Murphy & Jonathan Corcoran, 2020. "Integrating road carrying capacity and traffic congestion into the excess commuting framework: The case of Los Angeles," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 47(1), pages 119-137, January.
    14. Hu, Yujie & Wang, Fahui, 2015. "Decomposing excess commuting: a Monte Carlo simulation approach," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 43-52.
    15. Chen, Ruoyu & Zhang, Min & Zhou, Jiangping, 2023. "Jobs-housing relationships before and amid COVID-19: An excess-commuting approach," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    16. Korsu, Emre & Le Néchet, Florent, 2017. "Would fewer people drive to work in a city without excess commuting? Explorations in the Paris metropolitan area," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 259-274.
    17. Suzuki, Tsutomu & Lee, Sohee, 2012. "Jobs–housing imbalance, spatial correlation, and excess commuting," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 322-336.
    18. 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).
    19. Yue, Liying & O'Kelly, Morton E., 2023. "Variations in excess commuting by educational and occupational worker subgroups: A case study of Shanghai," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 87(PA).
    20. Enda Murphy & James E. Killen, 2011. "Commuting Economy," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 48(6), pages 1255-1272, May.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:45:y:2008:i:8:p:1583-1602. 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.