Urban sprawl, socioeconomic features, and travel patterns in Middle East countries: a case study in Iran

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The Neighborhood Effect on Keeping Non-Commuting Journeys within Compact and Sprawled Districts

The neighborhood effect on keeping non-commuting trips inside neighborhoods has not yet been investigated in developing countries. The modeling of non-commuting trips inside neighborhoods helps understand how to avoid unnecessary journeys by car into different parts of the city. This paper, therefore, attempts to clarify (1) the similarities and differences in the socioeconomic characteristics and the perceptions of people in sprawled and compact neighborhoods, (2) correlations between, on the one hand, the choice of destinations of non-commuting trips for shopping and entertainment activities and, on the other, the socioeconomic features, travel behavior, and perceptions of residents in the two large Pakistani cities of Lahore and Rawalpindi, (3) the similarities and differences in the determinants of non-commuting destinations inside neighborhoods in compact and sprawled districts. The paper develops four Binary Logistic (BL) regression models, with two models for each type of neighborhood. The findings show that trips to shopping areas inside compact districts are correlated with a sense of belonging to the neighborhood, frequency of public transport use, residential location, and mode choice of non-commuting trips to destinations both inside and outside the neighborhood. On the other hand, the number of non-commuting trips, mode choice for non-commuting trips outside the neighborhood, frequency of public transport use, the attractiveness of shops, and monthly income (please see the Note) are significant determinants for trips to the shopping area in sprawled districts. Age, gender, possession of a driver’s license, income, number of non-commuting trips, mode choice for non-commuting trips outside of the neighborhood, car ownership, and attractiveness of shops in a neighborhood are correlated with trips to entertainment locations inside the neighborhood in compact districts. Finally, the attractiveness of shops, quality of social and recreational facilities, a sense of belonging to a neighborhood, choice of residential location, gender, age, possession of a driver’s license, number of cars in the household, and income are determinants of trips to entertainment locations in sprawled districts. A chi-square test confirms the differences across gender, daily activity, monthly income, frequency of public transport use, residential location choice, and the quality of social and recreational facilities for sprawled and compact districts in Pakistan.DFG, 414044773, Open Access Publizieren 2021 - 2022 / Technische Universität Berli

The Relations between Street Network Configuration and Travel Behavior in Pakistan; the Optimal Level of Street Connectivity for a More Active Mobility

Urban sprawl is a particular pattern of the street network and land use. The relationship between street networks and sprawl has been discussed by urban scholars in developed and high-income countries. Nevertheless, there is a lack of research on the relationships between street connectivity and urban travel behavior, particularly among emerging markets. This paper aims to study correlations between urban mobility and street-length density as an indicator for assessing the compactness of an area by developing two hierarchical regression models and controlling for socioeconomic variables in two large Pakistani cities: Lahore and Rawalpindi. Moreover, this paper defines optimal cutoff values for street-length density and active transport. Finally, three chi-square tests were conducted to assess the differences between using different mode choices by people living in sprawled neighborhoods versus compact neighborhoods. Our findings confirm the use of different transport modes depending on the purpose of the trip (commuting or non-commuting), length of trip (within or outside the neighborhood), and starting point (sprawled neighborhood or compact area). We also find a positive correlation between street-length density around homes and commuting distance, the frequency of public transport use, and the use of private motor vehicles in commuting trips in the two cities. Street-length density around workplaces is correlated with commuting distance, the frequency of public transport use, and the use of private motor vehicles when socioeconomic variables (including age, daily activity, and monthly income) are controlled for in the two models. The behavior of Pakistani residents changes with a street-length density of 137 and 144.7 m/m2 for homes and workplaces, respectively, in terms of using active mobility.DFG, 414044773, Open Access Publizieren 2021 - 2022 / Technische Universität Berli

The Neighborhood Effect on Keeping Non-Commuting Journeys within Compact and Sprawled Districts

The neighborhood effect on keeping non-commuting trips inside neighborhoods has not yet been investigated in developing countries. The modeling of non-commuting trips inside neighborhoods helps understand how to avoid unnecessary journeys by car into different parts of the city. This paper, therefore, attempts to clarify (1) the similarities and differences in the socioeconomic characteristics and the perceptions of people in sprawled and compact neighborhoods, (2) correlations between, on the one hand, the choice of destinations of non-commuting trips for shopping and entertainment activities and, on the other, the socioeconomic features, travel behavior, and perceptions of residents in the two large Pakistani cities of Lahore and Rawalpindi, (3) the similarities and differences in the determinants of non-commuting destinations inside neighborhoods in compact and sprawled districts. The paper develops four Binary Logistic (BL) regression models, with two models for each type of neighborhood. The findings show that trips to shopping areas inside compact districts are correlated with a sense of belonging to the neighborhood, frequency of public transport use, residential location, and mode choice of non-commuting trips to destinations both inside and outside the neighborhood. On the other hand, the number of non-commuting trips, mode choice for non-commuting trips outside the neighborhood, frequency of public transport use, the attractiveness of shops, and monthly income (please see the Note) are significant determinants for trips to the shopping area in sprawled districts. Age, gender, possession of a driver’s license, income, number of non-commuting trips, mode choice for non-commuting trips outside of the neighborhood, car ownership, and attractiveness of shops in a neighborhood are correlated with trips to entertainment locations inside the neighborhood in compact districts. Finally, the attractiveness of shops, quality of social and recreational facilities, a sense of belonging to a neighborhood, choice of residential location, gender, age, possession of a driver’s license, number of cars in the household, and income are determinants of trips to entertainment locations in sprawled districts. A chi-square test confirms the differences across gender, daily activity, monthly income, frequency of public transport use, residential location choice, and the quality of social and recreational facilities for sprawled and compact districts in Pakistan

Urban Sprawl's Drivers in Iran = Los conductores de la expansión urbana en Irán

AbstractUrban sprawl as a low-density, planned or unplanned, unlimited and discontinuous expansion in peripheral areas of the cities is traditionally considered one of the global challenges. Iran has confronted with urban sprawl over the past four decades. The present study aimed to review and compare the relevant literature in developed and developing countries in order to study the drivers of urban sprawl particularly, the most crucial ones in Iran as a developing country in the Middle East. Accordingly, it was found that the processes of urbanization and particularly socio-economic conditions affected urban development areas in Iran. Based on the findings of previous studies, fast urbanization, land policies, and shortcomings in the planning system are the most influential drivers of the urban sprawl in Iran considering that these drivers work with each other instead of working in separated lines.ResumenLa expansión urbana como una expansión discontinua, planificada o no planificada, ilimitada y discontinua en áreas periféricas de las ciudades se considera tradicionalmente uno de los desafíos globales. Irán se ha enfrentado a la expansión urbana en las últimas cuatro décadas. El presente estudio ha tenido como objetivo revisar y comparar la literatura relevante en países desarrollados y en desarrollo para estudiar los impulsores de la expansión urbana en particular, como los más importantes en Irán, un país en desarrollo en el Medio Oriente. En consecuencia, se ha encontrado que los procesos de urbanización y, particularmente, las condiciones socioeconómicas afectaron las áreas de desarrollo urbano en Irán. Según los hallazgos de estudios anteriores, la urbanización rápida, las políticas de tierras y las deficiencias en el sistema de planificación son los impulsores más influyentes de la expansión urbana en Irán, considerando que estos impulsores trabajan juntos en lugar de trabajar en líneas separadas

Urban Sprawl and Travel Behavior : Evidence from Emerging Markets

As a pattern of urban transformation, urban sprawl has spread in all parts of the world during the last decades. Although urban sprawl is known as the dominant form of urban expansion in American cities, it is now seen in different parts of the world, from high-income countries such as countries in north America and those in Western and Northern Europe to low-income countries or emerging economies in Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. Urban sprawl is characterized by low-density developments spreading far from the urban core or city center, with monofunctional and scattered car-dependent areas. The street network configuration is another characteristic of urban sprawl. Connectivity and accessibility are important factors for assessing the compactness of the area. However, the studies that agree on the characteristics of urban sprawl are mainly based on North America or Europe. Moreover, the existing literature lacks a specific definition, and description of the characteristics, determinants, and causes of urban sprawl in different parts of the world, particularly developing countries and cities with emerging markets. As an urban form with specific environment and street network characteristics, urban sprawl has several interrelations with other phenomena, such as transportation, socioeconomic factors, and cultural and perceived behavioral issues that are less-studied topics in developing counties. The main contribution of this dissertation is to fill the knowledge gap about the determinants of urban sprawl in cities with emerging markets to provide a clearer understanding of urban sprawl in emerging countries. To fill this gap in the literature, the present research aims to show the socio-demographic, travel, and perceptual and attitudinal determinants of urban sprawl in cities of emerging economies. Moreover, the sprawling pattern of this urban form is in a mutual relationship with various phenomena such as socioeconomic factors (age, gender, employment status, income, car ownership), travel habits (mode choices for work and non-work trips, frequency of public transit use, commuting distance), and residents’ perceptions and attitudes (the sense of belonging to the community, perception of the quality of social and recreational facilities, the attractiveness of shops, preference of place for non-work activities). The main research questions in this dissertation are as follows: (1) Which socioeconomic, travel behavior, and perceptual factors are associated with urban sprawl in emerging markets? (2) How do these factors indicate urban sprawl in this context? (3) What are the differences in terms of socioeconomic factors and travel behavior between sprawled and compact districts? (4) How does the street network configuration influence the promotion of sustainable travel patterns? (5) How can different urban forms, such as compact and sprawled districts, absorb non-work trips? The case studies used in this dissertation are the cities of Hamedan and Nowshahr in Iran, Cracow in Poland, and Lahore and Rawalpindi in Pakistan. These cities are considered to be examples of urban sprawl in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and South Asia, respectively. To answer these research questions, investigations in the format of journal papers were designed with in this dissertation. The statistical analysis methods used include ordinary and weighted least squares regression models, binary logistics regression models, ROC analysis, chi-squares, and Kruskal–Wallis tests. ROC analysis is a less-used method in the field of transportation, and its use to calculate disaggregated urban sprawl for each participant in the survey is a novel methodological aspect of this dissertation. ----------RESUMEN---------- La dispersión urbana (urban sprawl) se ha extendido durante las últimas décadas como un patrón de transformación urbana en todo el mundo. Aunque la dispersión urbana se conoce como un fenómeno dominante en la expansión urbana de las ciudades norteamericanas, hoy en día se puede observar en diferentes partes del mundo, desde los países de altos ingresos de América del Norte, Europa Occidental o Europa del Norte hasta los países de bajos ingresos o las economías emergentes de Asia, Oriente Medio o América Latina. La dispersión urbana se caracteriza por crecimientos urbanos de baja densidad lejos del núcleo urbano/centro de la ciudad, áreas monofuncionales, saltos de terreno y urbanizaciones dispersas dependientes del automóvil. La configuración de las calles es una de las características del entorno construido en la dispersión urbana. La conectividad y la accesibilidad son factores importantes para evaluar el nivel de compactibilidad de una zona. Aunque existe un acuerdo sobre las características de la dispersión urbana, los estudios que las sustentan se han basan tradicionalmente en América del Norte o Europa. Por el contrario, hay una carencia importante en la literatura existente sobre la definición específica, las características, los determinantes y las causas de la dispersión urbana en diversas partes del mundo, especialmente en los países en desarrollo y las ciudades de los mercados emergentes. La dispersión urbana, como un tipo de la forma urbana con características específicas del entorno construido y de la configuración de las calles, tiene varias interrelaciones con otros fenómenos como el transporte, los factores socioeconómicos, y las cuestiones culturales y de comportamiento percibido, que son temas menos estudiados en los países en desarrollo. Por lo tanto, la principal contribución de esta disertación es cubrir esta laguna de conocimiento sobre los determinantes de la dispersión urbana en las ciudades de los mercados emergentes, para poder así proporcionar una comprensión más clara sobre la dispersión urbana en los países en vías de desarrollo. Procurando llenar este vacío en la literatura existente, el presente estudio tiene como objetivo mostrar los factores sociodemográficos y los determinantes perceptivos, actitudinales, y relacionados con patrones de desplazamiento, en la dispersión urbana de las ciudades pertenecientes a las economías emergentes. Además, el patrón de dispersión de la forma urbana está en relación mutua con otros factores como las características socioeconómicas (edad, género, situación laboral, ingresos, tener un coche en propiedad), los hábitos de transporte (la elección del medio de transporte en desplazamientos laborales/no laborales, la frecuencia de uso del transporte público, la distancia de desplazamiento), y la percepción y actitud de los residentes (el sentido de pertenencia a la comunidad, la percepción sobre la calidad de las instalaciones sociales/recreativas, la atracción de las tiendas, la preferencia de lugar para actividades no laborales). Las principales preguntas de investigación en esta tesis doctoral abordan las siguientes: (1) ¿Qué características socioeconómicas, perceptivas, actitudinales o de hábitos de transporte se asocian con la dispersión urbana en los mercados emergentes?, (2) ¿Cómo estos determinantes señalan la dispersión urbana en este contexto?, (3) ¿Qué diferencias existen -en términos de características socioeconómicas y de hábitos de transporte- entre los distritos dispersos y los compactos?, (4) ¿Cómo la configuración de las calles influye en el fomento de patrones de transporte sostenibles?, (5) ¿Cómo los diferentes tipos de formas urbanas (los distritos compactos y los dispersos) pueden absorber los desplazamientos no laborales? Hamedan y Nowshahr en Irán, Cracovia en Polonia, y Lahore y Rawalpindi en Pakistán son los estudios de caso en esta tesis. Estas ciudades son consideradas como ejemplos de la dispersión urbana en Oriente Medio, Europa del Este y Asia del Sur. Para responder a las preguntas principales de la investigación, se elaboraron diferentes investigaciones en forma de artículos para revistas especializadas, con una profunda revisión de la literatura sobre la dispersión urbana y los hábitos de transporte. A continuación, se emplearon diferentes métodos de análisis estadístico, como los modelos de regresión a base de mínimos cuadrados ordinarios y ponderados, los modelos de regresión logística binaria, la curva ROC, chi-cuadrado y las pruebas de Kruskal-Wallis. La aplicación de la curva ROC como un método menos utilizado en el campo de transporte, así como el cálculo desagregado de la dispersión urbana por cada participante en la encuesta, son de los aspectos metodológicos novedosos de esta tesis doctoral

Analysing Associations between the Actual, Ideal and Maximum Willingness to Commute Time, as well as Satisfaction with Commuting: A Case Study of Jounieh, Lebanon

Many studies have been conducted worldwide to study travel behavior, specifically commuting times. Nevertheless, few or none have been conducted in the Middle East and North Africa region. The main objective of this paper is to understand the relationship between the actual, ideal and maximum willingness to commute times, and satisfaction with commuting in the city of Jounieh, Lebanon. Socio-economic and land use factors were included to investigate whether they influence commuting times. The average commuting time of the sample is 48.2 minutes, longer than their ideal commute time by about 20 minutes, while their maximum willingness to commute time is 53.46 minutes. The sample was neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with their commutes. After performing multivariate Ordinary Least Squares model, and fixing the socio-economic and land use variables, the model proved that the actual and ideal commuting times as well as the actual and maximum commuting times are positively correlated, but the actual commuting time and satisfaction are negatively correlated. A univariate Ordinary Least Square model was performed to determine the correlation between ideal and maximum commuting times; they are highly positively correlated. Finally, the average commuting times and satisfaction were compared for some categories. Women spend almost 13% less time commuting than men, yet they have lower level of satisfaction. Lebanese commuters are also shown to commute more than non-Lebanese ones by approximately 22%. University level commuters commute about 36% more than non-university level people, while unemployed and employed respondents commute for the same time

CORRELATIONS OF URBAN SPRAWL WITH TRANSPORT PATTERNS AND SOCIOECONOMICS OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN CRACOW, POLAND

Urban sprawl is considered as a western urban development pattern, which is common in different cities around the world. Although, a large number of studies have focused on urban sprawl, modelling urban sprawl has been less emphasised, especially in various geographical contexts. This study aims to investigate urban sprawl and its determinants in a post-socialist country and model urban sprawl based on disaggregated data. In addition, the correlations of urban sprawl with travel patterns were examined, along with the socioeconomic characteristics of university students in Cracow, Poland by applying the Weighted Least Square (WLS) regression model. The WLS regression model was fitted based on the data from 1,288 online questionnaires targeting university students. Furthermore, urban sprawl around the home and the university for each student who indicated the nearest intersection to their home and university were separately estimated by employing the Shannon entropy. Based on the findings, urban sprawl around homes was correlated with 14 transport patterns and socioeconomic features such as gender, age, driving license, financial dependency status, gross monthly income, number of commute trips, mode of transportation for commuting, number of trips for shopping or entertainment, daily shopping area, mode choice for shopping and entertainment trips inside and outside the neighbourhoods, frequency of public transport use, the attractiveness of shops inside the neighbourhoods, and the length of time living in the current home. Additionally, urban sprawl around the university was significantly correlated with age, car ownership, number of commute trips, and a sense of belonging to neighbourhoods, entertainment place, and residential location choice. Finally, a positive correlation was reported between urban sprawl with higher income, elderly student, financial dependent students, and car dependency trips, while urban sprawl was negatively related to the use of public transit

Seasonality and objective physical activity and sedentary behaviour among older adults from four european countries

© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Objective: The present study aimed to explore the relationship between objective physical activity and sedentary behaviour with seasonality among a sample of older adults living in four European countries. Methods: A sample of 169 older adults living in Croatia, Greece, Portugal, and Poland (mean age = 72.2 ± 6.0, 68% female) had valid objective physical activity and sedentary behaviour data collected in different seasons of the year: spring and autumn/winter. Physical activity and sedentary behaviour were collected with accelerometers (ActiGraph, GT3X), over 7 consecutive days, in both periods. A valid record was defined as at least two weekdays and one weekend day with 10 hours of wearing time. Analyses were performed with IBM SPSS 28.0, using t-test, ANOVA, and binary logistic regressions. Results: Most older adults from the four countries met the physical activity guidelines in spring and autumn/winter. No significant variations were found across seasons for sedentary behaviour and physical activity both for light and vigorous intensity, regardless of sex, country, education, and body mass index (BMI). A decline in moderate physical activity intensity from spring to autumn/winter was found for those with lower education and higher BMI. Conclusion: The promotion of physical activity must be considered in programs to promote healthy aging throughout the year, especially considering the moderate intensity and those populations with higher BMI and lower educational levels.The current study has been designed as a part of the project “Interventions in the Elderly’s Mobility Modes for Promotion of their Physical Activity and Fitness” (FITOLD; project number 622623-EPP-1-2020-1-DE-SPO-SCP) funded by the ERASMUS+ program of the European Commission.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio