Going carless in different urban fabrics

Socio-demographics of household car ownership

Bibliographic Data

ID19337979
AuthorsL E Karjalainen (0000-0001-8313-7755, University of Helsinki, corresponding author), Maija Tiitu (0000-0003-4759-4670, Finnish Environment Institute), Jari Lyytimäki (0000-0003-3308-5234, Finnish Environment Institute), Ville Helminen (0000-0002-6823-5653, Finnish Environment Institute), Petri Tapio (0000-0002-2226-7289, University of Turku), Anu Tuominen (0000-0001-8325-5604, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland), Tommi Vasankari (0000-0001-7209-9351, Urho Kaleva Kekkonen Institute), J Lehtimäki (0000-0001-7220-1985, Finnish Environment Institute), Riikka Paloniemi (0000-0003-2853-535X, Finnish Environment Institute)
Year2023
Volume50
Issue1
Pages107-142
Publication date2023-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueTransportation (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0049-4488 • E-ISSN: 1572-9435
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s11116-021-10239-8
OpenAlexW3216763720
LanguageEN
Citations received14
References cited36

Diverse physical features of urban areas alongside socio-demographic characteristics affect car ownership, and hence the daily mobility choices. As a case of sustainable mobility, we explore how various urban environments and socio-demographics associate with the spatial and social distribution of household car ownership and carlessness in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, Finland. Three urban fabrics characterizing the study area are established based on the transportation mode (walking, public transportation, or automobile) the physical urban environment primarily supports. The national level Monitoring System of Spatial Structure and Urban Form database, and the National Travel Survey (2016) are utilized to further include spatial and socio-demographic variables into our analysis across these fabrics. Our results show that households with and without cars differ in terms of residential distance to the city center, neighborhood density, house type, and socio-demographic profiles. Single pensioners and students are most likely to be carless, whereas families represent the opposite. Within the carless households the differences are also evident between different groups. For the more affluent households residing in dense and well-connected areas, and mostly possessing driver’s licenses, carlessness is presumably a choice. Contrarily, many other carless households represent the less affluent often located in the more distant, low-density, and less accessible areas, while also possessing less driver’s licenses, making carlessness more of a constraint, as the local urban fabric does not support such lifestyle. Consequently, carless households should be increasingly recognized as a focus group in sustainable urban planning in terms of identifiable best practices and potential vulnerability

Business · Car ownership · Demographic economics · Demographics · Distribution (mathematics) · Economic growth · Geography · Metropolitan area · Public transport · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Transport engineering · Demography · Homelessness and Social Issues · Migration, Aging, and Tourism Studies · Urban Transport and Accessibility

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