Citation

Ta N, Wang X, Hu L, Liu Z. Travel Behav. Soc. 2022; 28: 196-203.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.tbs.2022.04.004

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This paper aims to extend the current scope of gender inequality research to developing countries and to compare gendered commuting patterns in different spatial contexts. We focus on suburban residents in Beijing and Shanghai, which have comparable population and economic sizes, similar trends of residential suburbanization, but different urban structures. Based on data collected through activity diary surveys in 2017, We investigate gender differences in commuting distance and modes, and we find that the gender gap is manifested differently in the two cities. In both cities, women are less likely to commute by automobile but more reliant on public transport than men. But women's lower transport mobility is compensated with shorter commuting distances in Shanghai, a city with polycentric employment structure, but not in Beijing with a monocentric urban structure. The policy implication is that polycentric urban development with efficient public transport services can allow job-housing proximity and reduce commuting burdens for suburban working women in Chinese cities.

Language: en

Keywords

China; Commuting distance; Commuting mode; Gender difference; Monocentric; Polycentric