Why do the poor travel less? Urban structure, commuting and economic informality in Mexico City

Manuel Suárez, Masanori Murata and Javier Delgado Campos
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Manuel Suárez: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico
Masanori Murata: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico
Javier Delgado Campos: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico

Urban Studies, 2016, vol. 53, issue 12, 2548-2566

Abstract: While in Mexico City formal jobs are concentrated in the city centre, affordable housing is generally only available in its outer rings. This reduced accessibility to formal employment would suggest that the poor have longer commutes. However, observed travel times show that low-income workers actually have the shortest commutes. Using two linear programming transportation models we found that this is due to the location of informal work activities, which seems to be a function of the residential location of workers involved in the informal sector as a response to the disadvantages of the formal urban structure of jobs and housing that affect the poor.

Keywords: commuting; excess commute; informality; urban structure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:53:y:2016:i:12:p:2548-2566

DOI: 10.1177/0042098015596925

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