Measuring urban segregation based on individuals’ daily activity patterns: A multidimensional approach

This paper develops a methodology to measure urban segregation based on individuals’ sociospatial experience of daily life. Since segregation can be considered as the isolation of people from those unlike themselves, its degree increases with the similarity in ethnicity, economic status, or other sociodemographic dimensions of interest between individuals and people who they are exposed to in their daily usage of urban space. Based on this perspective, we propose a regression estimator that measures segregation by assessing similarity or likeness between people and the social environments they experience in daily activity spaces. Compared to traditional segregation measures, the proposed estimator is not restricted to measuring residential segregation, but recognizes and assesses segregation as a dynamic process that unfolds in the daily life routines of individuals in a society and depends on the different ways individuals or social groups use urban space. It can be applied to various segregation factors, categorical or continuous, as well as to examine their interactions in a society. An empirical study in Hong Kong is used to demonstrate the proposed approach

Daily activity space and exposure: A comparative study of Hong Kong’s public and private housing residents‘ segregation in daily life

Differences in individuals\u27 exposure to social/physical environment in daily life or activity–space segregation have aroused renewed interests in socio-spatial separation in geography and urban studies. However, there are not many empirical studies that comprehensively assess activity–space segregation perhaps due to the scarcity of detailed data to define and characterize activity space. This paper aims to help fill in this gap by contributing an empirical study in Hong Kong. We compare the daily life experiences of public and private housing residents in terms of activity space and exposure to people in their daily life. We find that inhabitants of public housing in Hong Kong are disadvantaged in many ways. Public housing residents\u27 lower socio-economic status, smaller homes, and lower car ownership distinguish them from inhabitants of private housing. We also find that the activity spaces of these residents are not necessarily smaller than those of private housing residents. Public housing residents in fact have more extensive activity spaces and spend more time out of the home. However, their activity spaces are socio-economically different from those of private housing residents. They are more likely exposed to people similar to themselves than private housing residents. This study offers some important empirical evidence on activity–space segregation as well as improves the understanding about socio-spatial distance between public and private housing residents of Hong Kong

Cyberspace: connected or segregated? Examining virtual segregation among Hong Kong internet users

In this paper we discuss how cyberspace has been interwoven in the geographies of social stratification and segregation nowadays. It conceptualizes ‘virtual segregation’ as an extension of the ‘digital divide’ and sociospatial segregation in urban spaces. A case study was conducted in Hong Kong in 2010, when 770 Internet users were surveyed. A comparison of their patterns of Internet use shows that these individuals, all of whom possess devices and Internet access, have varied levels of connectivity in cyberspace. A typology of Internet users was then derived from the perspective of virtual segregation. The findings suggest that people may be stratified and segregated in cyberspace in similar ways to the physical world, and that segregation studies should pay more attention to virtual segregation

Activity spaces and sociospatial segregation in Beijing

The widespread development of gated communities has generated much concern over urban fragmentation and social segregation. The social division and segregation between residents inside and outside urban enclaves exist not only in their residential spaces, but also in their values, social relations, and daily lives. In this study, it is argued that sociospatial segregation research should pay more attention to individuals\u27 actual usage of urban space in their daily lives. By examining the activity space of the residents from different types of neighborhoods, a spatiotemporal approach to studying sociospatial segregation in Beijing, China is described. Significant differences are found in the usage of time and space between residents inside and outside the so-called privileged enclaves. Their activity spaces are found to vary significantly in terms of extensity, intensity, and exclusivity. The study suggests that the fragmentation of urban space is the result not only of residential segregation, but also of how different social groups spend their time and use urban space

Built environment diversities and activity-travel behavior variations in Beijing, China

The association between built environment and travel behaviour has received considerable research attention in recent years. In an attempt to contribute to this growing literature, this paper investigates the connections between urban built environments and activity–travel patterns in Beijing, the capital city of China. We characterize the built environment in Beijing and establish associations between built environment and activity–travel behaviour in terms of car ownership, time spent for out-of-home activities, and daily trip frequencies and travel time. Activity diaries from 1119 respondents living in ten different neighbourhoods were collected by face-to-face interviews. A household-level structure equations model incorporating intra-household interactions is developed to analyse this data. The empirical results show that residents of different types of neighbourhoods in Beijing demonstrate significant differences in car ownership, time spent for out-of-home activities, trip rate, and travel time. Further, the characteristics of the built environment are found to have more significant impacts on the activity–travel behaviour of the male head than that of the female head

Residential self-selection, built environment, and travel behavior in the Chinese context

JTLU vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 5-14 (2014)Residential self-selection has been reported to be a factor confounding the observed relationship between built environment and travel behavior. By incorporating residential self-selection, studies have generated much insight into the causalities involved in the relationship between built environment and travel behavior. However, most of these studies were conducted in North American cities, where individuals may have the opportunity to realize their preferences in residential and transport mode choices. There are not many similar studies for other parts of the world, such as China, where residential and transport choices are probably more constrained than in North America. This paper aims to partly fill the gap by discussing the specificities of the residential self-selection issue in urban China and suggesting how to cope with this issue when examining the relationship between built environment and travel behavior in the Chinese context. We argue that studies addressing the residential self-selection issue in China need to consider the housing source, which has implications for residential choice, and acknowledge the importance of some travel-related attitudes such as preferences for short commutes, good accessibility to public transport, and proximity to markets for daily goods shopping

Conjoint-based model of activity engagement, timing, scheduling, and stop pattern formation

Although stated preference or conjoint-based models have recently found ample application in the transportation literature, there have been no attempts to use this modeling approach to develop an activity-based model of transport demand. The development of such a model, called COBRA, is discussed. The model examines individuals' choices on activity engagement, scheduling, and stop pattern formation. The model is calibrated using experimental design data collected to examine the potential effects of several policies recently proposed in the Netherlands. The modeling results indicate that although people prefer activity schedules involving fewer home-based tours, they do not prefer the combination of all individual trips into a single home-based tour. Furthermore, it is found that individuals will change their activity engagement patterns only if government policies induce substantial changes in individuals' time availability

Attitude and accessibility on transit users’ travel satisfaction: A person-environment fit perspective

Transit users’ travel satisfaction is important for assessing the performance of transit-oriented development. Existing studies emphasize the role of service attributes, built environment, and travel attitudes in predicting transit users’ travel satisfaction. However, few studies have jointly examined the effects of environment and attitudes based on sophisticated theoretical foundations. This paper aims to narrow this gap by examining the interaction effects of transit accessibility and attitudes towards transit on transit users\u27 travel satisfaction from a person-environment fit perspective. The data is from a household survey conducted in Shanghai in 2018. Using polynomial regression analysis with response surface methodology, the study finds that interaction effects significantly influence the affective component of travel satisfaction, but not the cognitive component. Public transit users’ travel satisfaction increases with the congruence between attitude and accessibility. Dissonance is not necessarily a bad situation and may improve travel satisfaction when there is an increase in either factor

Examining the roles of transport captivity and travel dissonance in travel satisfaction

Despite the increasing studies examining the determinants of travel satisfaction, the role of individuals’ transport mobility (i.e., access to different mobility tools) in travel satisfaction has not received much research attention. Previous travel satisfaction studies mostly consider travel as a free choice. However, travel satisfaction may also depend on the availability of travel options, which is supposed to be limited especially for captive travelers. Such travel captivity may affect the perception of travel either directly by shaping the expectations and feelings in travel, or indirectly via the resulted travel mode consonance/dissonance. It may also influence people's sensitivity to travel features by determining one's travel experiences, which serve as reference points in travel evaluation. This paper aims to identify the role of mobility in travel satisfaction by investigating both the independent and joint effects of travel captivity and travel mode dissonance on travel satisfaction using data from a household travel survey conducted in 2018 in Shanghai, China. Descriptive analyses show that travel captivity and travel dissonance are positively associated for car commuters, but not transit commuters. We then develop linear regression models and find that travel captivity has a negative effect on transit commuters’ travel satisfaction, but no or positive impact on that of car commuters. Besides, captive transit commuters are more tolerant to travel mode dissonance when rating travel satisfaction, while the opposite holds true for car commuters. The research findings highlight the importance of mobility in travel satisfaction and provide support to the development of multimodal transport systems

Spatio-temporal characteristics of pedestrian behavior in Wang Fujing street: an application of the "pedestrian grid" approach

To have a deeper understanding of the characteristics of consumer behaviors in time series as well as in individual stores and support commercial space planning under the fast development of city shopping centers in China, this paper expands time related information in the data collected from the consumer survey in Wangfu ling Street, using the "Pedestrian Grid" method. The temporal distributions of consumers' activities and walking behaviors, their spatio-temporal distributions in 12 time slots during 9:00-12:00, and temporal distributions of consumer behaviors in major activity places are described. Major findings include the single-peaked temporal distribution of consumer activities and walking behaviors, the pendulum-swinging distribution and the faultage-like distribution of pedestrian flows at some locations. Suggestions are given for the spatial planning of Wangfu Jing Street