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US Metropolitan Spatial Structure and Labour Accessibility

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  • Miwa Matsuo

    (Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Iowa, 349 Jessup Hall, Iowa City, Iowa, 52242, USA)

Abstract

Metropolitan areas vary widely in employment distribution and labour accessibility. Comparing four US metropolitan areas-Atlanta, Boston, Phoenix and Washington, DC—it is found that Atlanta and Washington, DC suffer from low labour accessibility compared with Boston and Phoenix. Moreover, large suburban employment centres in Atlanta and Washington, DC suffer from even lower accessibility than other employment centres within the same metropolitan areas or their counterparts in Boston and Phoenix. Their low labour accessibility is mainly explained by slower commuting speeds. Even though their residential and employment densities are modest, congestion in these employment centres is severe enough to undermine accessibility. The results raise questions about the effectiveness of creating large sub-centres in metropolitan areas, particularly creating auto-oriented edge-city-style employment centres at highway nodes.

Suggested Citation

  • Miwa Matsuo, 2011. "US Metropolitan Spatial Structure and Labour Accessibility," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 48(11), pages 2283-2302, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:48:y:2011:i:11:p:2283-2302
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098010380954
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    Cited by:

    1. Jaewoo Lee & Keemin Sohn, 2014. "Identifying the Impact on Land Prices of Replacing At-grade or Elevated Railways with Underground Subways in the Seoul Metropolitan Area," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 51(1), pages 44-62, January.
    2. Miwa Matsuo, 2014. "Competition over High-income Workers: Job Growth and Access to Labour in Atlanta," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 51(8), pages 1634-1652, June.
    3. repec:ehu:rdadme:14287 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Andrew R. Watkins, 2016. "Commuting Flows and Labour Market Structure: Modelling Journey to Work Behaviour in an Urban Environment," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(4), pages 612-630, December.
    5. Zhou, You & Zhang, Lingzhu & JF Chiaradia, Alain, 2022. "Estimating wider economic impacts of transport infrastructure Investment: Evidence from accessibility disparity in Hong Kong," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 220-235.
    6. Robert Manduca, 2021. "The spatial structure of US metropolitan employment: New insights from administrative data," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 48(5), pages 1357-1372, June.
    7. 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.

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