Mobility deviation index: incorporating geographical context into analysis of human mobility

Milad Malekzadeh () and Jed A. Long ()
Additional contact information
Milad Malekzadeh: Western University
Jed A. Long: Western University

Journal of Geographical Systems, 2024, vol. 26, issue 3, No 7, 427-448

Abstract: Abstract Many studies seek to study the relationship between socioeconomic factors and human mobility indicators. However, it is well documented that mobility levels are also driven by the geographical context where individual movement takes place. Here we test whether accounting for geographical context leads to new or different interpretations of human mobility behavior when studying associations with socioeconomic factors. Specifically, we define mobility deviation index as the relative level of observed mobility when compared to expected mobility for a specific location, where expected mobility accounts for geographical context. Our results highlight the significant role of context when interpreting spatial patterns of human mobility. We demonstrate that controlling for the effects of geographical context will substantially impact our interpretation of associations between measures of human mobility and socioeconomic variables. These results represent an important step in furthering our understanding of the role of place on human mobility patterns.

Keywords: Expected mobility; Network mobility data; Radius of gyration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: R41 R42 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10109-024-00444-1 Abstract (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:kap:jgeosy:v:26:y:2024:i:3:d:10.1007_s10109-024-00444-1

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... ce/journal/10109/PS2

DOI: 10.1007/s10109-024-00444-1

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Geographical Systems is currently edited by Manfred M. Fischer and Antonio Páez

More articles in Journal of Geographical Systems from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().