How Does Perceived Neighborhood Environment Affect Commuting Mode Choice and Commuting CO 2 Emissions? An Empirical Study of Nanjing, China

Chen Cao, Feng Zhen and Xianjin Huang
Additional contact information
Chen Cao: School of Geography and Ocean Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
Feng Zhen: School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
Xianjin Huang: School of Geography and Ocean Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 13, 1-17

Abstract: Exploring the impacts of perceived neighborhood environment on commuting behavior and travel-related CO 2 emissions helps policymakers formulate regional low-carbon transport policies. Most studies have examined the impact of the objective measures of built environment on travel behavior and related CO 2 emissions, and few studies have focused on perceived neighborhood environment. This study develops a structural equation model and uses data from a self-administered survey of urban full-time employees in Nanjing, China to examine the direct and indirect effects of perceived neighborhood environment on commuting mode choice and commuting CO 2 emissions. The study shows that perceived service facilities has a significant direct effect on commuting mode and a significant indirect effect on commuting CO 2 through the mediating effect of commuting mode choice. While socio-demographic variables such as gender have a significant direct impact on commuting mode and commuting CO 2 emissions, they have an indirect impact on commuting mode and commuting CO 2 emissions through the intermediate variables (such as car ownership, perceived neighborhood environment and commuting distance). The conclusions of this study show that the potential of commuting CO 2 emissions reduction in China is enormous, and that policy interventions on commuting would help developing countries such as China achieve the goals of low-carbon transport and sustainable development.

Keywords: perceived neighborhood environment; commuting CO 2 emissions; commuting mode choice; mediating effect; structural equation model; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/13/7649/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/13/7649/ (text/html)

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:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:13:p:7649-:d:845368

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().