Accessibility, Location and Employment Center Growth

The purpose of this research is to examine the relationship between accessibility and the growth of employment centers in order to improve our understanding of how transportation investments influence the spatial organization of metropolitan areas. Although research on the existence of employment centers and  concentrations of employment outside the tradition downtown is extensive, there is little understanding of how these centers emerge and grow, and what role transportation access may play in this process. Research on employment centers is limited mainly by data availability: there is no publicly available source for reliable, highly detailed and disaggregate employment data. In this research, time series establishment level data for California's four largest metropolitan areas will be used to identify employment centers and analyze relationships between center growth and transport access, including direct and indirect influence of highway and airport access. This project extends previous research, funded in part by prior National Center for Metropolitan Transportation Research (METRANS) grants (e,g, project 06-16), in the following ways: (1) extends the analysis beyond the Los Angeles region; (2) uses establishment level geography, not census tract aggregates, allowing more precise measurement of centers and access measures; (3) provides detailed data on industry sector, business volume, employment, and firm births, deaths and moves; (4) uses time-series data, rather than comparisons across census years. The relationship between transportation and urban form has become a major public policy issue. Concerns about energy consumption, global climate change, and urban sprawl have led to proposals to use transportation investments to promote more concentrated land use patterns. Results of this research will contribute to the understanding of how the economic and spatial structure of metropolitan areas change over time and how these changes may be related to highway, transit, and air networks, offering valuable guidance for future policy.

• Record URL:
  http://www.metrans.org/research/11-06-accessibility-location-and-employment-center-growth

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $89910.00
• Contract Numbers:

  CALTRANS 65A0213

  11-06

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Research and Innovative Technology Administration

  University Transportation Centers Program
  1200 New Jersey Avenue
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  National Center for Metropolitan Transportation Research

  University of Southern California
  650 Childs Way, RGL 107
  Los Angeles, CA  United States  90089-0626
• Project Managers:

  Valentine Deguzman, Victoria

  Giuliano, Genevieve

• Performing Organizations:

  National Center for Metropolitan Transportation Research

  University of Southern California
  650 Childs Way, RGL 107
  Los Angeles, CA  United States  90089-0626
• Principal Investigators:

  Giuliano, Genevieve

• Start Date: 20100801
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 20130913
• Source Data: RiP Project 27264

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Accessibility; Capital investments; City planning; Climate change; Energy consumption; Industrial location; Metropolitan areas; Planning and design; Urban sprawl
• Uncontrolled Terms: Employment centers; Urban form
• Geographic Terms: Los Angeles (California)
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Economics; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; I15: Environment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01557747
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: National Center for Metropolitan Transportation Research
• Contract Numbers: CALTRANS 65A0213, 11-06
• Files: UTC, RiP
• Created Date: Mar 25 2015 1:01AM