Growth in Commuting Distances in French Polycentric Metropolitan Areas: Paris, Lyon and Marseille

Abstract

It has frequently been suggested in the literature that a polycentric distribution of employment and people shortens commuting distances because people locate within or close to their employment sub-centre (the co-location hypothesis). Having studied the three biggest French metropolitan areas over the past decade it has been established that co-location affects only a minority of inhabitants, of whom there are fewer in 1999 than there were nine years earlier. Indeed, the majority of people living in a sub-centre work outside their sub-centre of residence. This situation was even more marked in 1999 than it was in 1990. In addition to this, the majority of jobs located in sub-centres are held by non-residents who are generally living further and further from their place of work.

The impact of urban form on commuting in large Chinese cities

“…Some studies found that polycentric structures lead to lower average distances than monocentric structures (e.g. Gordon et al 1989;Song 1992;Guiliano and Small 1993;Spence and Frost 1995;Alpkokin et al 2008) whereas other studies found opposite results (Baccaini 1997;Cervero and Wu 1997;Ewing 1997;Schwanen et al 2003;Aguilera 2005). In their study on 50 metropolitan areas in the U.S., Yang et al (2012) found that the relation depends on the threshold of population density that is used to define polycentricity: high density polycentricity increases commuting times whereas moderate high-density polycentricity lengthens commuting times.…”

Employment suburbanisation, reverse commuting and travel behaviour by residents of the central city in the Paris metropolitan area

“…As in most metropolitan areas, several employment sub-centres have developed or gained in strength (Aguiléra, 2005). The biggest (in terms of total number of jobs) are located in the first crown and are close to the central city, in its surrounding municipalities, such as the La Défense business centre in the western part of the first crown.…”

“…home to work journeys, have largely followed these general trends (Aguiléra, 2005;Alpkokin et al, 2008;Giuliano and Small, 1993;Shearmur, 2006). The suburbanisation of jobs and housing has thus led to the development of suburb-to-suburb commuting and reverse commuting, defined as home-to-work journeys from the central city to the outskirts (Christopher et al, 1995).…”

Regional Differences in Spatial Flexibility: Long Commutes and Job Related Migration Intentions in the Netherlands

“…Although some studies have concluded that this is the case, others have come to the opposite conclusion . For example, Clark and Kuijpers-Linde (1994) concluded that during the transition to a polycentric urban system in the Randstad there will be more congestion and increased commuting times (see also Aguilera 2005;Williams 2005).…”