Response to Van Wee and Boarnet

Næss, Petter

doi:10.5198/jtlu.v7i3.724

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 11 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Therefore, for planners aiming to influence travel through land use planning in a particular city, knowing the average from a large and heterogeneous number of cities may not be very helpful. Add to this that urban planners normally do not need quantitative estimates of effect sizes-they just need to make knowledge-based professional judgment about the appropriateness of a proposed land use for achieving a transport policy goal (Naess 2014;Tennøy et al 2016). 4…”

Section: Contexts Are Different But Context Matters!mentioning

confidence: 99%

Meta-Analyses of Built Environment Effects on Travel: No New Platinum Standard

Næss

2019

Journal of Planning Education and Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This commentary presents a critique of a particular, strictly quantitative way of reviewing research findings within the field of land use and transportation studies, so-called meta-analyses. Beyond criticism raised earlier, the article draws attention to serious bias resulting when meta-analysis include studies encumbered with model specification error due to poor understanding of causal mechanisms. The article also discusses underestimated limitations due to neglect of differences between geographical contexts and inconsistent measurement of variables across studies. An example of an alternative approach is offered at the end of the article.

show abstract

Section: Contexts Are Different But Context Matters!mentioning

confidence: 99%

Meta-Analyses of Built Environment Effects on Travel: No New Platinum Standard

Næss

2019

Journal of Planning Education and Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…pers on residential self-selection are (mostly) conceptual (e.g., Cao, 2015;van Wee & Boarnet, 2014;Chatman, 2014;Zhang, 2014;Naess, 2014aNaess, , 2014bNaess, , 2009Chen & Lin, 2011;Bohte, Maat, & van Wee, 2009;Mokhtarian & Cao, 2008). Cao et al (2009a) provides a systematic set of conceptualizations, reproduced in Figure 1.…”

Section: 2mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although this is most important for conceptual and methodological development, it has practical importance for providing planners and decision makers with more robust evidence on causality. Knowledge of the magnitude of the effects of different built environments on travel behavior in different contexts contributes to more realistic expectations of the effects that can be achieved by different interventions (Naess, 2014b). This will assist in determining the economic and wider societal impacts of future intervention strategies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Residential self-selection in quasi-experimental and natural experimental studies: An extended conceptualization of the relationship between the built environment and travel behavior

Heinen

Wee

Panter

et al. 2018

JTLU

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Despite a large body of research suggesting that the built environment influences individual travel behavior, uncertainty remains about the true nature, size, and strength of any causal relationships between the built environment and travel behavior. Residential self-selection, the phenomenon whereby individuals or households select a residential area based on their transport attitudes, is a frequently proposed alternative explanation for the reported associations. To resolve the issue of residential self-selection, longitudinal studies are often recommended. In this paper, we argue that intervention study designs are insufficient to fully resolve the problem and that intervention studies on the built environment and travel behavior may still be biased by residential self-selection. The aim of this paper is to extend existing conceptualizations of the relationships between the built environment, travel behavior, and attitudes and to provide suggestions for how a causal relationship between the built environment and travel behavior may be ascertained with more accurate estimates of effect sizes. We discuss the complexities of determining causal effects in intervention studies with participants who relocate, and the biases that may occur. We illustrate the complexities by presenting extended conceptualizations. Based on these conceptualizations, we provide considerations for future research. We suggest repeating analyses with and without individuals who relocated during the study, and with and without statistical controls for residential relocation. Additional quantitative and qualitative analyses will be necessary to obtain more accurate effect size estimates and a better understanding of the causal relationships.

show abstract

“…The implicit assumption when including such control variables (unless the statistical method treats them as endogenous variables allowing for bidirectional influences) is that transport attitudes influence residential location, but not the other way round. For critiques of this assumption, see Naess (2009Naess ( , 2014a; for a further discussion see also Boarnet 2014, andNaess 2014b).…”

Section: Correlationismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Built Environment, Causality and Travel

Næss

2015

Transport Reviews

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Within research into influences of the built environment on travel behaviour, the issue of causality has gained increased attention. Several attempts have been made in order to identify the true effects of built environment characteristics by controlling for attitudinal and lifestyle factors and by applying more sophisticated techniques of analysis. Most research still suffers from insufficient theorizing and empirical investigation of causal mechanisms. An implicit conception of causality in terms of correlation between subsequent events appears to be widespread. This paper argues that such a conception of causality is inadequate and can lead to model specification error. Instead, a conception of causality as tendencies engendered by generative mechanisms is proposed. Based on such an understanding, the paper discusses in what sense the built environment can be said to exert causal influences on travel behaviour. In order to integrate knowledge about causal influences at the level of the individual and at the city level, a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods is recommended.

show abstract

Response to Van Wee and Boarnet

Abstract: N. A.

Cited by 8 publications

References 11 publications

Meta-Analyses of Built Environment Effects on Travel: No New Platinum Standard

Meta-Analyses of Built Environment Effects on Travel: No New Platinum Standard

Residential self-selection in quasi-experimental and natural experimental studies: An extended conceptualization of the relationship between the built environment and travel behavior

Built Environment, Causality and Travel

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About