Urban form, car ownership and activity space in inner suburbs: A comparison between Beijing (China) and Chicago (United States)

Tana, Mei-Po Kwan and Yanwei Chai
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Tana: Peking University, China
Mei-Po Kwan: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA
Yanwei Chai: Peking University, China

Urban Studies, 2016, vol. 53, issue 9, 1784-1802

Abstract: Accompanied by higher levels of car ownership, suburbanisation in Western countries has a significant impact on motorised travel and long-distance trips. Chinese cities share some of the suburbanisation trends and patterns of the United States as well as an increasing number of cars, while there are still great contextual variations. Through a comparative study of activity space in two inner suburban areas with different built environments, Beijing in China and Chicago in the US, this paper examines how suburbanisation influences individuals’ activity-travel behaviour. The results indicate that changing urban form has a significant impact on activity space. However, the determinants of activity space in Beijing are quite different from those in Chicago. In Beijing, increasing car ownership leads to more differentiation among suburban residents. In Chicago, encouraging high-density land use patterns may lead to more localised activity space.

Keywords: activity space; car ownership; Chinese cities; geography; suburbanisation; transport; urbanisation and developing countries; US cities (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:53:y:2016:i:9:p:1784-1802

DOI: 10.1177/0042098015581123

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