IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v13y2016i2p190-d63394.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effects of the Residential Environment on Health in Japan Linked with Travel Behavior

Author

Listed:
  • David Perez Barbosa

    (Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation, Hiroshima University, 1-5-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-8529, Japan)

  • Junyi Zhang

    (Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation, Hiroshima University, 1-5-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-8529, Japan)

  • Hajime Seya

    (Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation, Hiroshima University, 1-5-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-8529, Japan)

Abstract

This paper aims to clarify how the residential environment is associated with overall health-related quality of life (QOL) via active travel (walking and cycling), by reflecting the influence of different trip purposes in Japan. The health-related QOL includes physical, mental, and social dimensions. For this study we implemented a questionnaire survey in 20 cities in Japan in 2010 and obtained valid answers from 1202 respondents. The residential environment is defined in terms of distances to and densities of different daily facilities extracted from both the survey and external GIS data. We found that the effects of residential environment on active travel behavior are mixed and limited, depending on types of trip makers. Unexpectedly, travel behavior has no direct effects on the health-related QOL. The residential environment, which is only observed indirectly via lifestyle habits for commuters, has limited effects on health. As for noncommuters, neither their travel behavior nor the residential environment influences their health-related QOL.

Suggested Citation

  • David Perez Barbosa & Junyi Zhang & Hajime Seya, 2016. "Effects of the Residential Environment on Health in Japan Linked with Travel Behavior," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-23, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:13:y:2016:i:2:p:190-:d:63394
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/13/2/190/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/13/2/190/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    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. Mokhtarian, Patricia L. & Cao, Xinyu, 2008. "Examining the impacts of residential self-selection on travel behavior: A focus on methodologies," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 204-228, March.
    3. Cao, Xinyu (Jason) & Mokhtarian, Patricia L. & Handy, Susan L., 2009. "The relationship between the built environment and nonwork travel: A case study of Northern California," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 43(5), pages 548-559, June.
    4. Pauline Van den Berg & Astrid Kemperman & Boy De Kleijn & Aloys Borgers, 2015. "Locations that Support Social Activity Participation of the Aging Population," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-18, August.
    5. Saelens, B.E. & Sallis, J.F. & Black, J.B. & Chen, D., 2003. "Neighborhood-Based Differences in Physical Activity: An Environment Scale Evaluation," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(9), pages 1552-1558.
    6. Spinney, Jamie E.L. & Scott, Darren M. & Newbold, K. Bruce, 2009. "Transport mobility benefits and quality of life: A time-use perspective of elderly Canadians," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 1-11, January.
    7. Frumkin, H., 2003. "Healthy Places: Exploring the Evidence," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(9), pages 1451-1456.
    8. Marcial Echenique & Anthony Hargreaves & Gordon Mitchell & Anil Namdeo, 2012. "Growing Cities Sustainably," Journal of the American Planning Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 78(2), pages 121-137.
    9. Resnik, D.B., 2010. "Urban sprawl, smart growth, and deliberative democracy," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 100(10), pages 1852-1856.
    10. Kenneth Train, 1980. "A Structured Logit Model of Auto Ownership and Mode Choice," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 47(2), pages 357-370.
    11. Stanley, John K. & Hensher, David A. & Stanley, Janet R. & Vella-Brodrick, Dianne, 2011. "Mobility, social exclusion and well-being: Exploring the links," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 45(8), pages 789-801, October.
    12. Pucher, J. & Buehler, R. & Bassett, D.R. & Dannenberg, A.L., 2010. "Walking and cycling to health: A comparative analysis of city, state, and international data," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 100(10), pages 1986-1992.
    13. Davis, Adrian, 2005. "Transport and health--what is the connection? An exploration of concepts of health held by highways committee Chairs in England," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 324-333, July.
    14. Handy, Susan & Cao, Xinyu & Mokhtarian, Patricia L., 2005. "Correlation or causality between the built environment and travel behavior? Evidence from Northern California," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt5b76c5kg, University of California Transportation Center.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. 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.
    2. Faizeh Hatami & Jean-Claude Thill, 2022. "Spatiotemporal Evaluation of the Built Environment’s Impact on Commuting Duration," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-19, June.
    3. Wang, Donggen & Lin, Tao, 2013. "Built environments, social environments, and activity-travel behavior: a case study of Hong Kong," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 286-295.
    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. 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).
    6. Chowdhury, Tufayel & Scott, Darren M., 2020. "An analysis of the built environment and auto travel in Halifax, Canada," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 23-33.
    7. John Stanley & Janet Stanley, 2023. "Improving Appraisal Methodology for Land Use Transport Measures to Reduce Risk of Social Exclusion," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-18, August.
    8. Ding, Chuan & Wang, Donggen & Liu, Chao & Zhang, Yi & Yang, Jiawen, 2017. "Exploring the influence of built environment on travel mode choice considering the mediating effects of car ownership and travel distance," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 65-80.
    9. Van Acker, Veronique & Ho, Loan & Stevens, Larissa & Mulley, Corinne, 2020. "Quantifying the effects of childhood and previous residential experiences on the use of public transport," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    10. Ding, Yu & Lu, Huapu, 2016. "Activity participation as a mediating variable to analyze the effect of land use on travel behavior: A structural equation modeling approach," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 23-28.
    11. Chetan Doddamani & M. Manoj, 2023. "Analysis of the influences of built environment measures on household car and motorcycle ownership decisions in Hubli-Dharwad cities," Transportation, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 205-243, February.
    12. Sheng, Lu & Wu, Xiao & He, Yan, 2023. "Impact of residential relocation on activity-travel behaviors between household couples: A case study of Kunming, China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    13. Keskisaari, Ville & Ottelin, Juudit & Heinonen, Jukka, 2017. "Greenhouse gas impacts of different modality style classes using latent class travel behavior model," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 155-164.
    14. 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.
    15. Md. Kamruzzaman & Simon Washington & Douglas Baker & Wendy Brown & Billie Giles-Corti & Gavin Turrell, 2016. "Built environment impacts on walking for transport in Brisbane, Australia," Transportation, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 53-77, January.
    16. Lee, Sungwon & Lee, Bumsoo, 2014. "The influence of urban form on GHG emissions in the U.S. household sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 534-549.
    17. 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.
    18. Jahanshahi, Kaveh & Jin, Ying & Williams, Ian, 2015. "Direct and indirect influences on employed adults’ travel in the UK: New insights from the National Travel Survey data 2002–2010," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 288-306.
    19. De Vos, Jonas & Van Acker, Veronique & Witlox, Frank, 2014. "The influence of attitudes on Transit-Oriented Development: An explorative analysis," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 326-329.
    20. Susilo, Yusak O. & Waygood, E. Owen D., 2012. "A long term analysis of the mechanisms underlying children’s activity-travel engagements in the Osaka metropolitan area," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 41-50.

    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:gam:jijerp:v:13:y:2016:i:2:p:190-:d:63394. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.