The impact of metropolitan structure on commute behavior in the Netherlands: a multilevel approach

The effect of decentralization of land uses on travel behavior remains an unresolved issue in the academic literature. Some US researchers argue that a tendency towards polycentrism is associated with decreasing commute times and distances. Others have, however, suggested and shown the opposite commute times and distances tend to be longer in polycentric than in monocentric urban areas. Using this controversy as a starting point, we analyse how monocentric and polycentric urban structures affect commuting in the Netherlands with data from the 1998 National Travel Survey. Four kinds of urban systems are distinguished: one monocentric and three polycentric systems. In contrast to most previous work, we use multilevel regression analysis to take adequate account of the effects of individual and household attributes. The results indicate that urban structure influences most dimensions of commuting considered here. Yet, individual and household level variables are more important determinants than characteristics of the residential and workplace environment. Gender, household type and their interaction effects remain important determinants of commute behavior in the Netherlands; particularly women in two-earner households commute less than average. Education and income are both positively related to the amount of commuting. Further, the effects of mono- and polycentrism on commuting are more complicated than the literature makes us believe. When individual and household level factors are taken account of, polycentrism does not always result in more efficient commute patterns than monocentric urban structures: in most polycentric urban areas commute distances and times are longer than in monocentric ones. Only when polycentric regions consist of several relatively independent and self-contained development nodes are commute distances shorter than elsewhere. Commute times are in that case comparable to those in monocentric urban areas. The impact of urban structure disappears when commute time is related to the time spent on work activities; the ratio between commute time and work duration is not much affected by the type of urban system in which workers reside. The fact that commute times and distances are not lower in polycentric urban areas may be attributed to the specific situation in the Netherlands: strong spatial planning policies may have obstructed the relocation of employment and housing in close proximity of each other. However, the longer commute in most policentric regions may also indicate that workers and their households not always behave as urban economic theory predicts. In any case, the results show that it is necessary to distinguish several types of polycentric systems instead of merely using a dichotomy of monocentric and polycentric in the analysis of commuting.

Оборудование для испытания листовых конструкционных материалов при двухосном растяжении. Сообщение 2. Испытания двухосным нагружением в плоскости листа

Рассмотрены конструктивные особенности оборудования для механических испытаний листовых конструкционных материалов в условиях двухосного статического, циклического и динамического нагружения. Предложены оригинальные решения проблем, связанных с проведением усталостных испытаний крестообразных образцов без применения сложных гидравлических систем и динамических испытаний с использованием простейших испытательных машин на одноосное растяжение-сжатие.Розглянуто конструктивні особливості устаткування для механічних випробувань листових конструкційних матеріалів в умовах двовісного статичного, циклічного та динамічного навантаження. Запропоновано оригінальні розв’язки ряду проблем, що пов’язані з використанням хрестоподібних зразків для випробувань на втому без застосування складних гідравлічних систем та для динамічних випробувань за допомогою найпростіших випробувальних машин на одновісний розтяг-стиск.Original methods of mechanical testing of sheet materials under conditions of biaxial static, cyclic, and dynamic loading are described. Solutions were suggested for a number of problems related to the use of cruciform specimens in fatigue tests without employment of complex hydraulic systems and in dynamic tests in uniaxial tension-compression using mechanical testing machines

Neighborhood social and physical environment and general practitioner assessed morbidity

The aim of our study was to investigate the association between health enhancing and threatening, and social and physical aspects of the neighbourhood environment and general practitioner (GP) assessed morbidity of the people living there, in order to find out whether the effects of environmental characteristics add up or modify each other. We combined GP electronic health records with environmental data on neighbourhoods in the Netherlands. Cross-classified logistic multilevel models show the importance of taking into account several environmental characteristics and confounders, as social capital effects on the prevalence of morbidity disappear when other area characteristics are taken into account. Stratification by area socio-economic status, shows that the association between environmental characteristics and the prevalence of morbidity is stronger for people living in low SES areas. In low SES areas, green space seems to alleviate effects of air pollution on the prevalence of high blood pressure and diabetes, while the effects of green space and social capital reinforce each other

The future role of Scottish local government economic development

Since 1979 local authorities have been subjected to two main pressures from central government: increasing control over the range and type of services that can be provided; and greater emphasis on the private sector's role. So far, beyond being affected by the general financial constraints that local government has been placed under, the economic development services that many local authorities provide have escaped largely unscathed. This situation seems now likely to change radically as a result of three measures. These are:- a) the Local Government and Housing Bill; b) Scottish Enterprise; and c) changes to the structure of local government. When considered in isolation these measures contain much that is attractive and which could produce a more effective economic development service; for example, a specific power to carry out economic development and the creation of an integrated training and enterprise development service. However the argument that is put forward in this paper is that these measures have to be seen as complementary. They are part of an overall strategy intended to result in a major reduction in local government's local economic development activities