Highlights
Travel reductions during the shelter-in-place change over time in a nonlinear form.
Park trips have the least reduction (0.4%, on average) among all three destinations.
Trip to transit stations has the highest reduction (average 37%) of all destinations.
Compact development leads to a significantly lower reduction in park trips.
Compactness leads to a significantly higher reduction in grocery and transit trips.
Geography of innovation, creative clustering, urban buzz and innovation districts are place-based concepts that have emerged as a result of the US economy’s transformation to knowledge-intensive economies. The notable built environment characteristics of these concepts are spatial clustering, walkability and proximity to urban amenities, diversity, regional connectivity and agglomeration. While several of these characteristics have been associated with urban sprawl in previous studies, there is a lack of direct evidence on how urban sprawl affects innovation productivity. This national study seeks to examine the relationship between urban sprawl, place-based characteristics and innovation productivity. We used Multilevel Modelling to account for built environment characteristics at both neighbourhood and regional levels. We found that innovative firms tend to locate more in census tracts that are less compact but offer spatial proximity to firms in related business sectors. This is likely due to the higher land and property value in compact areas, which could make it unaffordable for small businesses. We also found that the regional compactness positively and significantly affects the number of innovative firms. This is likely due to the role of compact regions in supporting public transit investments, enhancing social capital and reducing poverty and racial segregation.
Emerging research suggests that planners and policy makers should explore the expanded role Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) plays in promoting innovation and economic growth. TOD station characteristics including accessibility, walkability, density, and mixed uses may create environments beneficial for creative and knowledge industries. However, the evidence linking place to productivity, as measured by firm sales volume is lacking. Using cluster analysis and Propensity Score Matching for national-level data, this research tests these relationships. Findings indicate that firms located in dense, mixed use, and walkable TODs with higher levels of activity experience increased sales. Hence, TOD and knowledge-based economic development strategies should be planned in tandem to maximize outcomes.
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