Household life-cycle heterogeneity in commuting to emerging subcenters: An excess commuting-based study of the Seoul metropolitan Area, South Korea

Hyunseong Yun and Seung-Nam Kim

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 2026, vol. 211, issue C

Abstract: New employment subcenters are continuously emerging in global metropolitan areas. The growth of employment in emerging subcenters attracts workers from a wide range of areas, potentially leading to extremely long commuting distances. Many emerging subcenters primarily comprise high-tech industries, which are more favorable to workers in younger life cycles. Subcenter studies encourage planners to supply an adequate quantity of housing to keep jobs and housing balanced in order to mitigate attracted commutes. However, the effects of the job-housing balance on attracted commutes to emerging subcenters require investigation, because the heterogeneity of emerging subcenters raises concerns regarding spatial mismatch across household life cycles. This study aims to provide evidence that a quantitative job-housing balance may contribute to mitigating attracted commutes by examining commuting behavior in the Seoul Metropolitan Area, South Korea, across household life cycles. Utilizing Modifiable Areal Unit Problem (MAUP)-minimized employment data from 2006 and 2016, seven Traffic Analysis Zones are identified as emerging subcenters. Excess commuting indices are measured to demonstrate inter-life-cycle heterogeneity in the relationship between the job-housing balance and observed commuting behavior. Cross-classified multilevel analysis indicates that commuting distance is shorter when commuters live in locations with greater nearby job opportunities and work in locations with greater nearby residential opportunities. Together with observed commute comparisons and multilevel model results, the findings suggest that quantitative job-housing balance may help moderate attracted commutes to emerging subcenters.

Keywords: Excess commuting; Heterogeneity; Family life cycle; Metropolitan area; Emerging subcenter (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2026.105089

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