Exploring Spatial Nonstationarity in Determinants of Intercity Commuting Flows: A Case Study of Suzhou–Shanghai, China

Abstract

The increasing popularity of intercity commuting is affecting regional development and people’s lifestyles. A key approach to addressing the challenges brought about by intercity commuting is analyzing its determinants. Although spatial nonstationarity seems inevitable, or at least worth examining in spatial analysis and modeling, the global perspective was commonly employed to explore the determinants of intercity commuting flows in previous studies, which might result in inaccurate estimation. This paper aims to interpret intercity commuting flows from Suzhou to Shanghai in the Yangtze River Delta region. For this purpose, mobile signaling data was used to capture human movement trajectories, and multi-source big data was used to evaluate social-economic determinants. Negative binomial (NB) regression and spatially weighted interaction models (SWIM) were applied to select significant determinants and identify their spatial nonstationarity. The results show that the following determinants are significant: (1) commuting time, (2) scale of producer services in workplace, (3) scale of non-producer services in residence, (4) housing supply in residence, (5) year of construction in residence, and (6) housing price in residence. In addition, all six significant determinants exhibit evident spatial nonstationarity in terms of significance scope and coefficient level. Compared with the geographically weighted regression (GWR), SWIM reveals that the determinants of intercity commuting flows may manifest spatial nonstationarity in both residence and workplace areas, which might deepen our understanding of the spatial nonstationarity of OD flows.

Spatial impacts of the intercity flow of long stay international visitors based on mobile phone data in Yangtze River Delta, China

“…In view of the development of high-speed transportation technology and mobile communication facilities, the flow of people, capital, information, and other factors accelerates, and space becomes dynamic and networked, Castells proposed the “Space of Flow” theory [ 8 ]. The intercity daily flow of people is actually a short-term and high-frequency travel behaviour of residents from the origin to the destination, and the resulting intercity people flow network is in line with the characteristics of the Space of Flow theory [ 9 ]. Since these two types of mobility patterns have different theoretical foundations, actors, mobility characteristics, and socio-economic bases, the two different fields of literature are not obviously interrelated.…”

“…Urban networks formed by inter-regional flows of people, capital, information, and technology are characterised by diversity. Among the flourishing theoretical and empirical studies, different types of real "flows" reflecting the characteristics of urban networks have become the mainstream of research [ 9 , 32 ]. Although the different agents that generate connections correspond to different spatial structures and driving mechanisms of intercity connections, this study focuses on the real flows of people.…”

Spatial Relationship of Inter-City Population Movement and Socio-Economic Determinants: A Case Study in China Using Multiscale Geographically Weighted Regression

“…Taking the YRD region as an example, a large number of people commute or engage in business travel between Shanghai and its surrounding areas on a daily basis. The mechanisms driving inter-city population movement in this region can be categorized into two types: the attraction of advanced producer services in Shanghai's central urban area and the attraction of advanced manufacturing in Shanghai's suburbs [11]. Similar processes also occur in the PRD, taking Guangzhou and Shenzhen as examples, whose industrial structures can also support such daily travel [63,64].…”

“…However, in the modern regional development trend where people and factors are increasingly mobile, this short-term inter-city population movement represents a more important inter-city functional linkage. For example, in the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration, one of the most regionally integrated areas in China, inter-city commuting has become an important research object, and its underlying socio-economic linkages have far-reaching implications for formulating regional development policies [11]. Inter-city business travel, non-commuting travel, and other types of travel also provide important references for outlining the regional spatial structure [10].…”

“…China's rapid economic growth and development of rapid inter-city transportation networks have led to increased mobility across cities for various purposes [10,11]. However, this growth has also resulted in widening regional disparities [12,13].…”