The Role of Culture in Urban Travel Patterns: Quantitative Analyses of Urban Areas Based on Hofstede’s Culture Dimensions

Ali Enes Dingil, Federico Rupi, Joerg Schweizer, Zaneta Stasiskiene and Kasra Aalipour
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Ali Enes Dingil: Institute of Environmental Engineering, Kaunas University of Technology, Gedimino St. 50, LT-44239 Kaunas, Lithuania
Federico Rupi: Transport Engineering Group, Department of Civil, Chemical, Environmental Engineering, University of Bologna, Viale Risorgimento, 2, I-40136 Bologna, Italy
Joerg Schweizer: Transport Engineering Group, Department of Civil, Chemical, Environmental Engineering, University of Bologna, Viale Risorgimento, 2, I-40136 Bologna, Italy
Zaneta Stasiskiene: Institute of Environmental Engineering, Kaunas University of Technology, Gedimino St. 50, LT-44239 Kaunas, Lithuania
Kasra Aalipour: Transport Engineering Group, Department of Civil, Chemical, Environmental Engineering, University of Bologna, Viale Risorgimento, 2, I-40136 Bologna, Italy

Social Sciences, 2019, vol. 8, issue 8, 1-12

Abstract: Introduction —culture is an interpretation code of societies, which may explain common preferences in a place. Prediction of alternative transport systems, which could be adopted in a city at peace can help urban transport planners and policy makers adjust urban environments in a more sustainable manner. This paper attempts to investigate the role of Hofstede’s culture dimensions (HCD) on urban travel patterns in 87 urban areas and 41 countries. Analysis —this is the first, systematic analysis investigating the effect of culture on urban travel patterns with open source data from different urban areas around the world. The relationship between HCD and some urban travel patterns such as mode choices (individual transportation and public transportation), car ownership, and infrastructure accessibility (road infrastructure per capita) was demonstrated. In addition, the relationship between culture and some demographic indicators (population density and GDP per capita) closely associated with travel choices are checked. The relations between indicators were identified through correlations and regression models, and calibrated to quantify the relation between indicators. Results and Conclusions —good correlation values between Hofstede’s fundamental culture dimension: individualism/collectivism (IND/COL) and urban travel patterns were demonstrated with a reasonably good fit. The analysis showed that countries with higher individualism build more individualistic transport-related environments, which in turn result in more driving. On the other hand, collective nations tend to use more public transportation. There is significant evidence that, in the case of nations, an increase in tree culture dimensions: collectivism, uncertainty, and masculinity, results in greater usage of public transport.

Keywords: culture; built environment; travel mode choice; urban transportation; transport planning; policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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