• Journal of the Korean Regional Science Association
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.75-93
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• 2021

By defining a travel disparity based on the degree to which travelers diversify their destinations, this paper examines how socioeconomic and spatial factors affect the travel disparity among the elderly in Seoul. This paper uses the COVID-19 pandemic as a natural experiment which can bring about different behavioral responses among the older travelers. Using the smart card data, we compare the destination diversification patterns before and after the pandemic. In the early morning(4:30-9:00), the degree of destination diversification varies between the core and the periphery and this trend persists through the pandemic. In the late morning(9:00-12:00), a new trend of disparity appeared after the pandemic. Although those who hold higher socioeconomic status and live closer to the core have a larger range of choices for destinations, the difference of range did not lead to differences in diversification before the pandemic, due to the discretionary nature of the elderly's trip. In contrast, as the elderly were forced to search alternative destinations right after the outbreak of the pandemic, the range of choices became an important factor causing observable differences in destination diversification. The findings suggest that the travel disparity observed during the pandemic is due to the difference in the range of choices by socioeconomic and spatial factors.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.437-451
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• 2011

The purpose of this study is to identify the factors that influence commuting patterns of Seoul residents after the construction of new towns. To find the determinants of commuting time for residents with jobs in Seoul, a multiple regression analysis is performed using household survey data. Overall, the findings present a plausible picture of the spatial configuration in Seoul, where younger residents with growing families move out to the suburbs to become owners of apartment homes, and drive or use mass transportation to get to work. As they get older and wealthier, other things being equal, they gravitate towards the city centre in order to reduce the time wasted on commuting. While their occupations appear to play little role, it seems that the entrapment hypothesis on female workers is supported as well. In addition, excess commuting is still prevalent due to jobs-housing mismatch in Seoul, although it is less severe than in the past. Based on these results, planners should devise better strategies to solve the inefficient commuting problem.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.24 no.7 s.93
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• pp.15-25
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• 2006

This study was to investigate the impact of region-wide travel pattern on local fiscal capacity in the Seoul metropolitan area. The study adopted both factor analysis and regression modeling for it, while using fiscal-and travel-related variables as well as urban characteristics determining travel patterns. We used the former method to compress independent variables of travel and urban characteristics because of strong correlationship between them. Four factors identified by the analysis output were adopted in regression models with some dependent variables representing local fiscal capacity. Their results resulting from both analyses showed that local fiscal inequality within the metropolitan area is driven by region-wide travel Patterns such as total trips. inner trip ratio, and the ratio of trips from and to the Seoul city.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.639-650
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• 2023

Economic development has resulted in the concentration of population and industry in the metropolitan area. Additionally, the Republic of Korea is experiencing this phenomenon, with more than half of the population living in the Seoul capital area. To alleviate this concentration of population, the Korean government implemented the new town development policy. Unfortunately, this has led to an increase in the commuting population, causing an imbalance in transportation services due to financial and policy differences in each region. This paper analyzes the level of user satisfaction with mega commuting in three aspects: mobility, accessibility, and connectivity. To objectively assess the level of user satisfaction, which is qualitative data, the Rasch Model is used to analyze the collinearity of user data. The results indicate that the level of user satisfaction differs by region, and service satisfaction with mobility is lower than that with accessibility and connectivity. Therefore, prior to the introduction of new town policies, it is necessary to develop metropolitan transportation infrastructure.

• Journal of the Korean Regional Science Association
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.67-82
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• 2016

This study aims to test the spatial mismatch hypothesis by exploring the relationship between income and commuting time in Seoul, Korea. For this purpose, we analyze the commuting times of individuals who commute to Seoul, using the data for the metropolitan household survey. We employed a hierarchial linear model(HLM) to capture the effects of both individual attributes and regional attributes, and their interactions. The results show that the commuting time decreases with household income controlling for the regional attributes, and the effect of income increases with the housing price of the location of a commuter's firm. This implies that the spatial mismatch holds for Seoul as follows: Lower personal income and housing affordablility extend individuals' commuting times, and the destinations' characteristics such as housing type and land use also have impacts on commuting time. These results have some policy implications for achieving social equity in terms of spatial structure of the city.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.447-465
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• 2004

This paper is to analyze citizens' consciousness on urban changes, especially focusing on changes in urban environment, spatial structure, and urban planning, of large cities in S. Korea, that is, Seoul, Daejeon, Daegu, and Kwangju in the 1990s. Some significant points can be described as follows. First. The most important factor influencing on the change of urban spatial structure was the expansion of residential area inner and outside of cities promoted by the traditional construction industry, and not development of high-tech industries and their complex or location of multi-national firms which can be emphasized as major factors of new urbanization process of global cities. Secondly, citizens seem to have experienced improvement and deterioration of urban environment simultaneously, emphasizing regulatory environmental policy on the one hand, and recognize the necessity of sustainable urban development within given environmental capacity and restoration of destructed and polluted environment of cities. Thirdly, the building boom of new apartment complex was a major driving force of changing urban spatial structure, but it could neither alleviate a residential gap between the poor and the rich areas nor a relief of traffic congestion. Finally, the urban policy in general was felt somewhat improved by citizens, but not in sectoral details.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.562-584
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• 2004

This paper intends to identify the structure of homogeneous regions and functional regions in Seoul based on B.J.L. Berry's ‘general field theory of spatial behavior’. The structure of homogeneous regions by using socio-economic variables can explain how the structural elements of the city are arranged. It can be ssid that Seoul has shifted towards more complicated and differentiated features in terms of homogeneous regions. The different patterns are found between the northern part to Han River where old torn areas are located and the southern part to Han River where newly urbanized areas are located. Usually, the concentric pattern and the sectoral pattern coexist, which is enhanced moving from CBD to the outskirt area. The distribution of different social classes shows irregular pattern similar to the variation of living environment. The social gap is expected to be more widening between new towns and old towns. The analysis of spatial movement pattern shows no clear hierarchical order because of current shifts towards both multi-nuclear pattern and spatial dispersion. The functional regions show duplicated structure overlapping their boundaries each other. The ‘general field theory of spatial behavior’ strongly suggests that spatial interactions among sub-areas in the city are differentiated from the basic characteristics and function of each sub-area. The attributes of homogeneous regions and functional regions are interrelated in the characteristics of isomorphic nature.