Distance decay in activity chains analysis. A Belgian case study

This paper aims at measuring and testing the distance decay effect in activity chains. It enables one to show how far distance constrains the length of the trips and if there are borders effects. Two Belgian data bases are used: one conducted at the national level, the other at a regional level. Statistical tests are conducted for (1) several definitions of the trip and chain, (2) several distance measurements (time or kilometers), (3) several purposes of trips, and (4) different categories of travellers. This exploratory data analysis enables one to gain information about the spatial aspects of the activity chains and to get a better fit in the gravity type models.

Le recensement de la population : un requiem ?

Ce numéro de Regards économiques vise à rappeler aux distraits que l’histoire du recensement de la population se termine en Belgique en 2001, et que même si un nouvel outil statistique est en gestation, bien des réalités spatiales et/ou sociales seront désormais à jamais occultées. La Belgique se prive ainsi d’un outil stratégique et scientifique capital.

Carpooling and employers: a multilevel modelling approach

Both public policy-makers and private companies promote carpooling as a commuting alternative in order to reduce the number of Single Occupant Vehicle (SOV) users. The Belgian questionnaire Home-To-Work-Travel (HTWT) is used to examine the factors which explain the share of carpooling employees at a worksite. The modal split between carpooling and rail use was also subject of the analysis. The number of observations in the HTWT database (n=7460) makes it possible to use more advanced statistical models: such as multilevel regression models which incorporate, next to the worksite level, also the company and economic sector levels. As a consequence, a more employer-oriented approach replaces the traditional focus of commuting research on the individual. Significant differences in modal split between economic sectors appeared. The most carpool-oriented sectors are construction and manufacturing, while rail transport is more popular in the financial and public sector. Carpooling also tend to be an alternative at locations where rail is no real alternative. Next to this, regular work schedules and smaller sites are positively correlated with a higher share of carpooling employees. Finally, no real evidence could be found for the effectiveness of mobility management measures which promote carpooling. However, most of these measures are classified in the literature as less effective and a case study approach should complete the research on mobility management initiatives

Logistics clusters, including inter-firm relations through community detection

This paper studies clusters in the logistics sector. Like traditional cluster research, indicators of concentration to detect co-location of employment are calculated. However, this approach is enhanced by including a quantitative analysis of the inter-firm relations between logistics companies through the use of a community detection algorithm on a microeconomic dataset of buyer-supplier relations. Combining both results in a typology of logistics clusters. Next to the big clusters characterized by employment concentration and many internal and external relations, spill-over and polycentric clusters are identified. This approach seems promising to detect in future research clusters in other sectors and place

Paradigm change in regional policy : towards smart specialisation ? Lessons from Flanders (Belgium)

Due to the changing role of “the region” in economic development, it appears that policies targeted towards regions underwent significant changes in objectives, geographical scope, governance and policy instruments. This paper challenges three main questions related to recent changes in regional policy. Firstly, what are the fundamental characteristics of the “old” regional policies ? Secondly, did the “old” paradigm evolve into a new paradigm of regional policy ? And if yes, how did these changes materialized and what characteristics where affected ? Lastly, we consider how these changes were integrated in Flemish regional policies.Il semble qu’en vertu de l’évolution du rôle de la “région” en matière de développement économique, les politiques tournées vers les régions ont subi d’importants changements en termes d’objectifs, d’envergure géographique, de gouvernance ou encore d’outils politiques. Cet article se penche sur trois questions majeures liées aux évolutions récentes caractérisant cette politique régionale. En premier lieu, quelles sont les particularités des “anciennes” politiques régionales ? Ensuite, l’“ancien” paradigme a-t-il évolué vers un nouveau paradigme dans ce domaine ? Et, dans ce cas, comment ces changements se sont-ils matérialisés et quels sont les aspects qui ont été touchés ? Enfin, nous examinons comment ces évolutions ont été intégrées dans les politiques régionales menées en Flandre

How to incorporate the spatial dimension within destination choice models? The case of Antwerpen

This paper considers different alternatives for including spatial aspects within the activity-based approach for modeling destination choices. The study area is the urban agglomeration of Antwerpen (Belgium); the city and its suburbs are considered. Individual travel surveys are used. The paper pays particular attention to the inclusion of space within the decision context by including specific land-use explanatory variables generated by Geographical Information Systems. A preliminary geographical analysis is performed in order to represent the city by a limited set of destinations (n = 33) and to characterize those zones in terms of land use. Discrete choice modelling is used: each individual faces the total set of spatial destination alternatives. Several modelling approaches are explored and compared in terms of utility function (for instance Box-Cox; random coefficients) and in terms of global formulation (multinomial logit versus nested logit). The mixed nested logit formulation is selected as best and the parameter estimations are interpreted; it shows the importance of space within destination choices. This paper provides a useful background for decision-makers and planners of transportation policy related to individual mobility patterns. Keywords Discrete choice model, activity-based approach, GIS, land use, urban mobility, Antwerpen

Cryo-EM Structure of Functional BK Channels in Lipid Bilayers

It has already widely been shown that the extension of the urban space takes a polycentric shape: suburban employment sub-centres emerge. The objective in this study is to measure employment concentrations inside and around urban agglomerations and to determine operational tools (methods and data) that lead to the highlighting of these sub-centers. Advantages and limits of the methods are discussed. Our cases studies are Antwerp and Brussels. The results obtained by several methodologies are compared (shift and share analysis, cluster analysis, kernel interpolation and local autocorrelation) for three different types of employment data (social security, population census and regional development statistics) and at three different scales of analysis (individual postal address, neighbourhood and commune). The main difficulties encountered are: (1) the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of the data, and (2) the non-uniqueness of the methodology for discriminating sub-centers. Our conclusion is that there is an emerging polycentric structure in Brussels and Antwerp, but sub-centers are still difficult to put forward. The combination of several different methods and databases is necessary to get insight in the polycentric structure

The Economic Impacts of Port Activity in Antwerp: A Disaggregated Analysis

The importance of ports is usually measured by indicators such as added value, employment and investment on a much aggregated level. This paper tries to define the importance of the port of Antwerp for the regional and national economy on a disaggregated level. It attempts to identify, quantify and locate the mutual relationships between the different players in the port and between these players and other industries. Finally, it proposes a method to calculate the effects of changes in port activity at a detailed level. A sector analysis is done by means of a reduced regional input-output table, through a bottom-up approach. The most important customers and suppliers of the port's key players or stakeholders are identified. A geographical analysis is feasible by using data on a disaggregated level. Each customer or supplier can be located by means of their postcode. In this way, the extent of the economic impact of the port of Antwerp is quantified.

Using financial statement data as economic indicators for urban governance: the case of Antwerp

In this paper, the focus is on the interaction between high-quality urban policy-making on the one hand and the issue of data needs to construct useful indicators on the other hand. Such an approach implies that first an evaluation is to be made of the trends and developments that influence the urban development process structurally in order to distinguish some of the important keystones for a justified urban policy. Having a notion of what the urban cornerstones are and how they relate to one another, attention is then paid to the data that are required to monitor the dynamics of these cornerstones. Given that our focus is mainly on monitoring the urban economic dimension, the use of company-related data at district level (i.e. financial statement data obtained by the National Bank of Belgium) seems an interesting starting point. The data are first described and analysed statistically. Next, the methodological framework to construct a number of economic urban indicators is explained and tested. The city of Antwerp is taken as case study.In deze bijdrage staat de interactie tussen het voeren van een verantwoord stedelijk beleid enerzijds en de vraag naar geschikte gegevens en indicatoren om dat beleid te evalueren en bij te sturen anderzijds centraal. Gegeven deze insteek dienen twee vragen te worden beantwoord. Vooreerst, wat wordt verstaan onder een «verantwoord» stedelijk beleid? Om hierop een afdoend antwoord te formuleren, worden aan de hand van een Europese vergelijking van steden en uit de ervaringen van het Grootstedenbeleid in Nederland een aantal belangrijke stedelijke dimensies (zoals sociale cohesie, leefbaarheid en duurzaamheid, bereikbaarheid, en vitaliteit) onderscheiden die bijzondere aandacht verdienen. Het is daarbij opvallend dat tot op heden voornamelijk de «economische dimensie» in het stedelijk beleid onderbelicht blijft. Wellicht is dit deels te verklaren door het gebrek aan geschikte economische data en databanken op buurtniveau die in staat zijn om de stedelijke vitaliteit op buurtniveau te monitoren. Dit brengt ons meteen bij de tweede vraag: welke economische gegevens en welke databanken kunnen dit euvel mogelijks verhelpen. Hier wordt in hoofdzaak gedacht aan het gebruik van jaarrekeninggegevens verzameld door de Nationale Bank van België. Deze gegevens worden eerst statistisch geanalyseerd, om vervolgens als basis te worden gebruikt voor de constructie van stedelijke economische indicatoren. De gehele procedure wordt uitgewerkt waarbij de Stad Antwerpen als voorbeeld wordt gebruikt