Publication Detail
Incorporating Residential Choice into Travel Behavior – Land Use Interaction Research: A Conceptual Model with Methodologies for Investigating Casual Relationships
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UCD-ITS-RR-99-24 Research Report Alumni Theses and Dissertations Download PDF |
Suggested Citation:
Bagley, Michael N. (1999) Incorporating Residential Choice into Travel Behavior – Land Use Interaction Research: A Conceptual Model with Methodologies for Investigating Casual Relationships. Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Davis, Research Report UCD-ITS-RR-99-24
*** Conceptual Model contribution
Findings from the literature review suggested that the residential choice process involves many interdependent relationships. A conceptual model of residential choice/preference was developed that was a comprehensive reflection of those relationships supported by the literature and by informed judgement. No other single study was found by the author that collectively presented each of the relationships shown in the conceptual model.
Spatial interaction modeling is of fundamental importance to transportation and land use researchers and planners. As the urban spatial structure is heavily influenced by the location decisions of households, one of the most important spatial interaction modeling components is residential choice. Understanding this component is difficult because residential location decisions are complex and highly interdependent. In choosing a place to live, a household may evaluate a dwelling unit and/or neighborhood according to how it fits along several interrelated dimensions, such as: housing type, neighborhood type, distance to work, distance to shopping and other household-related activities, type of mode to work and car ownership. Gaining insight into the underlying factors motivating an individual or household to select a particular residential location can help transportation and urban planners to better understand the market for various neighborhood types (neotraditional, suburban, etc.). In doing so, researchers may be better able to predict their future adoption, and in turn, better estimate the impact of changing residential land use patterns on travel behavior and vehicle emissions.
Previous residential choice research has been divided into three areas: 1) residential mobility, 2) housing choice, and 3) relocation. Using survey data from a set of five neighborhoods in the San Francisco Bay Area, this dissertation fell into the second category, housing (neighborhood) choice research. Information such as trip records, life style preferences, and attitudes towards urban transportation, housing and the environment, were incorporated with household demographic and socio-economic data to perform multivariate statistical analyses of an individual's residential choice.
Nine chapters comprised this dissertation. A literature review and conceptual model were the core of the first three chapters, with emphasis given to the study of the nature and strength of the relationships among job location, travel, residential choice, household attitudes and life cycle, and household dwelling unit and neighborhood preference. The heart of the next three chapters was the development of variables used to operationalize the conceptual model of residential choice, including attitudinal and lifestyle factor scores, and continuous measures of residential choice (two of the main endogenous variables in the study). The remaining chapters focused on the specification and estimation of the relationships described in the conceptual model. A structural equation modeling (SEM) methodology was used to investigate the causal structure of the conceptual model (e.g., to see the direct and indirect effects of individual attitudes and lifestyle on residential choice and travel demand).
Major findings included: 1) attitudinal and lifestyle variables were significant contributors to the understanding of the residential choice conceptual model, 2) neighborhood type had little influence on travel behavior, and 3) SEM was powerful.
Findings from the literature review suggested that the residential choice process involves many interdependent relationships. A conceptual model of residential choice/preference was developed that was a comprehensive reflection of those relationships supported by the literature and by informed judgement. No other single study was found by the author that collectively presented each of the relationships shown in the conceptual model.
Spatial interaction modeling is of fundamental importance to transportation and land use researchers and planners. As the urban spatial structure is heavily influenced by the location decisions of households, one of the most important spatial interaction modeling components is residential choice. Understanding this component is difficult because residential location decisions are complex and highly interdependent. In choosing a place to live, a household may evaluate a dwelling unit and/or neighborhood according to how it fits along several interrelated dimensions, such as: housing type, neighborhood type, distance to work, distance to shopping and other household-related activities, type of mode to work and car ownership. Gaining insight into the underlying factors motivating an individual or household to select a particular residential location can help transportation and urban planners to better understand the market for various neighborhood types (neotraditional, suburban, etc.). In doing so, researchers may be better able to predict their future adoption, and in turn, better estimate the impact of changing residential land use patterns on travel behavior and vehicle emissions.
Previous residential choice research has been divided into three areas: 1) residential mobility, 2) housing choice, and 3) relocation. Using survey data from a set of five neighborhoods in the San Francisco Bay Area, this dissertation fell into the second category, housing (neighborhood) choice research. Information such as trip records, life style preferences, and attitudes towards urban transportation, housing and the environment, were incorporated with household demographic and socio-economic data to perform multivariate statistical analyses of an individual's residential choice.
Nine chapters comprised this dissertation. A literature review and conceptual model were the core of the first three chapters, with emphasis given to the study of the nature and strength of the relationships among job location, travel, residential choice, household attitudes and life cycle, and household dwelling unit and neighborhood preference. The heart of the next three chapters was the development of variables used to operationalize the conceptual model of residential choice, including attitudinal and lifestyle factor scores, and continuous measures of residential choice (two of the main endogenous variables in the study). The remaining chapters focused on the specification and estimation of the relationships described in the conceptual model. A structural equation modeling (SEM) methodology was used to investigate the causal structure of the conceptual model (e.g., to see the direct and indirect effects of individual attitudes and lifestyle on residential choice and travel demand).
Major findings included: 1) attitudinal and lifestyle variables were significant contributors to the understanding of the residential choice conceptual model, 2) neighborhood type had little influence on travel behavior, and 3) SEM was powerful.
Ph.D. Dissertation