IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v238y2019ic30.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Disentangling residential self-selection from impacts of built environment characteristics on travel behaviors for older adults

Author

Listed:
  • Zang, Peng
  • Lu, Yi
  • Ma, Jing
  • Xie, Bo
  • Wang, Ruoyu
  • Liu, Ye

Abstract

In the context of population ageing in many developed and developing countries, encouraging active transport behaviors of older adults, is a key public health priority. However, many cross-sectional studies assessing the impact of built environment characteristics on travel behavior fail to address residential self-selection bias, and hence the causal relationship is uncertain. A large-scale public housing scheme provided this study with a unique research opportunity to distinguish residential self-selection from the effects of built environment characteristics on the travel behaviors of older adults (N = 13,468 and 3,961 in two analyses respectively) in Hong Kong, because public housing residents have little freedom to choose their residential locations. The results showed that the elderly living in public housing estates generally have fewer trips, shorter overall travel times and distances, and fewer motorized trips including those by rail or private car than those living in private housing estates. In addition, the results for walking, walking times, numbers of trips, and travel distance for elderly people in public and private housing all exhibited markedly different associations with built environment characteristics. Strength of built environment-travel behavior associations dropped by approximately 30–50% after controlling for the effect of residential self-selection. The results indicate that both built environment characteristics and residential self-selection affect travel behaviors.

Suggested Citation

  • Zang, Peng & Lu, Yi & Ma, Jing & Xie, Bo & Wang, Ruoyu & Liu, Ye, 2019. "Disentangling residential self-selection from impacts of built environment characteristics on travel behaviors for older adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 238(C), pages 1-1.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:238:y:2019:i:c:30
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112515
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027795361930509X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112515?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Reid Ewing & Robert Cervero, 2010. "Travel and the Built Environment," Journal of the American Planning Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 76(3), pages 265-294.
    2. Giles-Corti, Billie & Bull, Fiona & Knuiman, Matthew & McCormack, Gavin & Van Niel, Kimberly & Timperio, Anna & Christian, Hayley & Foster, Sarah & Divitini, Mark & Middleton, Nick & Boruff, Bryan, 2013. "The influence of urban design on neighbourhood walking following residential relocation: Longitudinal results from the RESIDE study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 20-30.
    3. Lu, Yi & Sarkar, Chinmoy & Xiao, Yang, 2018. "The effect of street-level greenery on walking behavior: Evidence from Hong Kong," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 41-49.
    4. Lin, Tao & Wang, Donggen & Guan, Xiaodong, 2017. "The built environment, travel attitude, and travel behavior: Residential self-selection or residential determination?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 111-122.
    5. Paul van de Coevering & Kees Maat & Bert van Wee, 2015. "Multi-period Research Designs for Identifying Causal Effects of Built Environment Characteristics on Travel Behaviour," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(4), pages 512-532, July.
    6. Chaudhury, Habib & Campo, Michael & Michael, Yvonne & Mahmood, Atiya, 2016. "Neighbourhood environment and physical activity in older adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 104-113.
    7. Ettema, Dick & Nieuwenhuis, Roy, 2017. "Residential self-selection and travel behaviour: What are the effects of attitudes, reasons for location choice and the built environment?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 146-155.
    8. Boarnet, Marlon & Crane, Randall, 2001. "The influence of land use on travel behavior: specification and estimation strategies," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 35(9), pages 823-845, November.
    9. Hirsch, J.A. & Roux, A.V.D. & Moore, K.A. & Evenson, K.R. & Rodriguez, D.A., 2014. "Change in walking and body mass index following residential relocation: The multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 104(3), pages 49-56.
    10. Cao, Xinyu (Jason), 2015. "Heterogeneous effects of neighborhood type on commute mode choice: An exploration of residential dissonance in the Twin Cities," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 188-196.
    11. Diez Roux, Ana V., 2004. "Estimating neighborhood health effects: the challenges of causal inference in a complex world," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 58(10), pages 1953-1960, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jingfei Zhang & Lijun Zhang & Yaochen Qin & Xia Wang & Zhicheng Zheng, 2019. "Impact of Residential Self-Selection on Low-Carbon Behavior: Evidence from Zhengzhou, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-17, December.
    2. Zacharias Dermatis & Athina Lazakidou & Athanasios Anastasiou & Panagiotis Liargovas, 2021. "Analyzing Socio-Economic and Geographical Factors that Affect the Health of the Elderly," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 12(4), pages 1925-1948, December.
    3. Houshmand Masoumi & Atif Bilal Aslam & Irfan Ahmad Rana & Muhammad Ahmad & Nida Naeem, 2022. "Relationship of Residential Location Choice with Commute Travels and Socioeconomics in the Small Towns of South Asia: The Case of Hafizabad, Pakistan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-15, March.
    4. Shen, Chi & Lai, Sha & Deng, Qiwei & Cao, Dan & Zhao, Dantong & Zhao, Yaxin & Zhou, Zhongliang & Dong, Wanyue & Chen, Xi, 2023. "Do Primary Healthcare Facilities in More Remote Areas Provide More Medical Services? Spatial Evidence from Rural Western China," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1309, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    5. Liu, Tiantian & Ding, Chuan, 2024. "Revisiting built environment and travel behavior: A natural experiment accounting for residential self-selection," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    6. Wang, Xiaoge & Liu, Ye & Zhu, Chunwu & Yao, Yao & Helbich, Marco, 2022. "Associations between the streetscape built environment and walking to school among primary schoolchildren in Beijing, China," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    7. Bhat, Chandra R. & Mondal, Aupal, 2022. "A New Flexible Generalized Heterogeneous Data Model (GHDM) with an Application to Examine the Effect of High Density Neighborhood Living on Bicycling Frequency," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 244-266.
    8. Zhao, Juanjuan & Ren, Huan & Gu, Yan & Pan, Haojie, 2023. "Relationships between the residential environment, travel attitude and behaviour among knowledge workers: The role of job types," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    9. Zhu, Pengyu & Tan, Xinying & Zhao, Songnian & Shi, Shuai & Wang, Mingshu, 2022. "Land use regulations, transit investment, and commuting preferences," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    10. Tae-Hyoung Tommy Gim, 2023. "Residential self-selection or socio-ecological interaction? the effects of sociodemographic and attitudinal characteristics on the built environment–travel behavior relationship," Transportation, Springer, vol. 50(4), pages 1347-1398, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wang, Fenglong & Mao, Zidan & Wang, Donggen, 2020. "Residential relocation and travel satisfaction change: An empirical study in Beijing, China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 341-353.
    2. Zhao, Juanjuan & Ren, Huan & Gu, Yan & Pan, Haojie, 2023. "Relationships between the residential environment, travel attitude and behaviour among knowledge workers: The role of job types," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    3. Phani Kumar, P. & Ravi Sekhar, Ch. & Parida, Manoranjan, 2018. "Residential dissonance in TOD neighborhoods," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 166-177.
    4. van Wee, Bert & De Vos, Jonas & Maat, Kees, 2019. "Impacts of the built environment and travel behaviour on attitudes: Theories underpinning the reverse causality hypothesis," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    5. De Vos, Jonas & Ettema, Dick & Witlox, Frank, 2018. "Changing travel behaviour and attitudes following a residential relocation," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 131-147.
    6. De Vos, Jonas & Mouratidis, Kostas & Cheng, Long & Kamruzzaman, Md., 2021. "Does a residential relocation enable satisfying travel?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 188-201.
    7. Xue, Fei & Yao, Enjian & Jin, Fanglei, 2020. "Exploring residential relocation behavior for families with workers and students; a study from Beijing, China," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    8. De Vos, Jonas & Singleton, Patrick A., 2020. "Travel and cognitive dissonance," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 525-536.
    9. Kajosaari, Anna & Hasanzadeh, Kamyar & Kyttä, Marketta, 2019. "Residential dissonance and walking for transport," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 134-144.
    10. van de Coevering, Paul & Maat, Kees & van Wee, Bert, 2018. "Residential self-selection, reverse causality and residential dissonance. A latent class transition model of interactions between the built environment, travel attitudes and travel behavior," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 466-479.
    11. Guan, Xiaodong & Wang, Donggen, 2019. "Influences of the built environment on travel: A household-based perspective," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 710-724.
    12. Janke, Julia, 2021. "Re-visiting residential self-selection and dissonance: Does intra-household decision-making change the results?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 379-401.
    13. Aston, Laura & Currie, Graham & Kamruzzaman, Md. & Delbosc, Alexa & Teller, David, 2020. "Study design impacts on built environment and transit use research," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    14. Faan Chen & Adriano Borges Costa, 2024. "Exploring the causal effects of the built environment on travel behavior: a unique randomized experiment in Shanghai," Transportation, Springer, vol. 51(1), pages 215-245, February.
    15. Young-Jae Kim & Ayoung Woo, 2016. "What’s the Score? Walkable Environments and Subsidized Households," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-20, April.
    16. Tae-Hyoung Tommy Gim, 2023. "Residential self-selection or socio-ecological interaction? the effects of sociodemographic and attitudinal characteristics on the built environment–travel behavior relationship," Transportation, Springer, vol. 50(4), pages 1347-1398, August.
    17. Rahman, Mashrur & Sciara, Gian-Claudia, 2022. "Travel attitudes, the built environment and travel behavior relationships: Causal insights from social psychology theories," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 44-54.
    18. van de Coevering, Paul & Maat, Kees & van Wee, Bert, 2021. "Causes and effects between attitudes, the built environment and car kilometres: A longitudinal analysis," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    19. Huang, Yu & Parker, Dawn & Minaker, Leia, 2021. "Identifying latent demand for transit-oriented development neighbourhoods: Evidence from a mid-sized urban area in Canada," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    20. Jingfei Zhang & Lijun Zhang & Yaochen Qin & Xia Wang & Zhicheng Zheng, 2019. "Impact of Residential Self-Selection on Low-Carbon Behavior: Evidence from Zhengzhou, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-17, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:238:y:2019:i:c:30. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.