A multilevel analysis of pupils’ travel distance to primary school

Simultaneously modelling origins and destinations

Bibliographic Data

ID19230484
AuthorsHaichao Huang (0000-0002-1074-3022, Peking University), Myles Gould (0000-0002-7104-0312, University of Leeds, corresponding author), Nik Lomax (0000-0001-9504-7570, University of Leeds), Jie Yang (0000-0001-6912-4966, Peking University), Jiawen Yang (0009-0007-6482-6724, Peking University)
Year2026
Publication date2026-05-27
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueUrban Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0042-0980 • E-ISSN: 1360-063X
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/00420980261446373
OpenAlexW7162565644
LanguageEN
References cited57

Understanding children’s travel distance to school is essential for promoting educational equity and well-being. In China, the hukou (household registration) system, which regulates access to education and other public services by place of official registration, shapes the distribution of educational resources. Yet little research has examined school travel distance in this context or the individual and contextual sources of its variation. This study employs nested and cross-classified multilevel models to analyse how individual and contextual factors affect pupils’ travel distances, as well as exploring interactions between these factors, and link these findings to hukou-based enrolment. By simultaneously considering multiple geographies, this study reveals that children’s travel distance is shaped by both individual-level factors and contextual-level determinants at both origins and destinations. Individual and contextual variables are not isolated in this process, with hukou status as a key individual factor, school type mediating the relationship between hukou and travel distance, and a cross-level interaction also existing between neighbourhood population density and hukou status. Those findings indicate that hukou-based school enrolment plays an important role in shaping pupils’ travel distances, making reform of related enrolment policies a priority for advancing educational equity and guiding future planning

Context (archaeology) · Destinations · Educational Equity · Equity (law) · Multilevel model · Multilevel modelling · Neighbourhood (mathematics) · Place Attachment and Urban Studies · Transportation Planning and Optimization · Urban Transport and Accessibility