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This study examines workers" mode-choice responses to a typical job decentralization policy implemented in China"s urban developmentgovernment job relocation (GJR) to new towns in the urban periphery. Broadly, the literature suggests that job decentralization tends to increase car commuting; however, little is known about the effects of China"s GJR initiatives on individuals" commuting mode choices. Using Kunming as a case study, this study examines how workers" commuting mode choices have shifted in response to GJR policy. Our study analyzes two travel survey datasets that span the job relocation process: 1) stated preference (SP) data on workers" anticipated mode choices after a move of workplace to a planned new town; and 2) revealed preference (RP) data on workers" actual choices of commuting mode after their jobs were moved. The findings suggest that after job relocation, workers" actual commuting modes shift from more sustainable modes towards cars. The determinants of workers" mode choices differ substantially between the hypothetical and actual setting of job relocation. The anticipated mode choices are largely determined by socio-demographic characteristics whereas the actual mode choices are strongly influenced by travel time and housing locations. The evidence from this study offers two important implications for future planning practice of job decentralization.First, planners and policy-makers should be skeptical about the transportation benefits of job decentralization. Second, while SP surveys can assist planners to predict individuals" mode-choice responses, the robustness of SP results should be carefully assessed before translating into the evidence base for informing job decentralization policy-makings.

Over the past three decades, China's cities have undergone massive spatial restructuring in the wake of market reforms and economic growth. One consequence has been a rapid migration of urban residents to the periphery. Some movers have been forced out either by rising urban rents or government reclamation of their residences. Others have relocated willingly to modernized housing or for other lifestyle reasons. This article examines the effects of relocation to the urban edge on household well-being. It explores the factors underlying changes in housing and transportation costs as households move to the periphery. The research also examines whether those who moved involuntarily are affected differently from those who moved by choice. Results show that, relative to those who moved by choice, involuntary movers are disproportionately and adversely affected in terms of job accessibility, commute time, housing consumption and disposable income. The findings also show that, compared with higher-income households, lower-income groups are disproportionately affected in relation to housing costs, accessibility losses, disposable income and household worker composition. These results indicate that relocation compensation for involuntarily relocated households should be expanded to include more than just housing value: it should encompass urban location changes, household needs and relocation costs.