372 / 2019-02-14 11:58:17

Understanding the Modifiable Areal Unit Problem on Employment Self-containment and Jobs-housing Balance Using Big Data

全体主题 > Big data in Urban Planning and Management

Previous studies on employment self-containment (ESC) and jobs–housing balance (JHB) were based on different spatial analysis areal units, and their results were affected by the modifiable areal unit prob-lem (MAUP). This study aims to examine the effect of MAUP on the spatial variation of ESC and JHB and the relationship between the two variables by utilizing mobile phone positioning data in Shenzhen, a megacity in southern China. Individual-level journey-to-work trips are examined and aggregated into different spatial areal units. The average ESC increases with the increase in spatial areal units, and the relation-ship between JHB and ESC is amplified when the spatial areal unit in-creases with spatial aggregation. A 2 km grid cell is found to be an appropriate spatial areal unit for the analysis of ESC in Shenzhen be-cause it is the turning point in which the increase in ESC started to slow down, and the decrease in the coefficient of variation began to diminish. The 2 km grid cell also can encourage workers to select non-motorized travel modes. This study helps to understand the effect of MAUP on ESC and JHB as well as finding the appropriate grid size for the analysis of the relationship between the two variables. The finding further suggests that the appropriate spatial unit for the analysis of ESC and JHB may be related to the transport mode of the city under study.