Urban Spatial Structure And Commute Duration

Urban traffic arises from the spatial structure of urban land use. Urban size, density, mono-and polycentric structure and the spatial relationship between jobs and housing are the important spatial dimensions that influence the duration of urban commute. Evidence from the literature shows that the larger the city, the longer the commute time. The influence of compact development on commute duration is double-edged, reducing travel time due to the shortened distance among various activities while increasing travel time due to congestion. Moreover, it is controversial about whether polycentric urban structure helps reduce commute duration. While most researchers agree that jobs-housing balance helps reduce commute duration, some are skeptic about how to realistically achieve balance. The empirical studies in this field come predominantly from the European and American countries. Experience from China, a large country with rapid urbanization and motorization, is far less known. This paper takes data from China’s 164 cities at the prefecture level to empirically test the influence of spatial structure on urban commute duration using multivariate linear OLS regression models. We find that spatial structural factors including urban size, density, polycentricity and jobs-housing balance significantly affect urban commute duration, controlling for factors such as urban income level, economic structure and so on. Urban size is positively associated with the commute duration while density correlates with commute time negatively. Furthermore, polycentric urban form and more balanced spatial structure of jobs and housing are associated with shorter commute duration. The paper confirms that the spatial structure does influence the urban commute duration, which not only enriches the research field of the relationship of urban structure and transportation but also provides an important empirical basis for the policy making in Chinese cities.