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How cities can become more conducive to sustainable travel patterns is a pressing matter in urban research. In the built environment–travel literature, several features potentially promoting sustainable mobility remain under-researched. One concerns the precise role of local accessibility – in terms of the number, variety and specific types of amenities – in promoting the slow modes of walking and cycling and in reducing car use. Another is the possibility that the standard assumption of a linear relationship between density and (un)sustainable travel is flawed. To fill these gaps, we explore specific local amenity supply types that stimulate a large share of residents to walk or cycle, avoiding long drives, to accomplish their daily activities. In a case study of the Västra Götaland region in Sweden, we analyse a combination of high-quality micro data from registers and the national travel survey using a stepwise statistical approach. We find evidence of non-linear discontinuities and significant geographical variation in how local accessibility affects travel behaviour. While more neighbourhood amenities contribute to more walking/cycling, the effect of establishing additional amenities varies amongst neighbourhood types and travel variables. Local everyday services, for example, grocery stores and preschools, are critical in triggering change. The findings inform urban planning by showing how a basic supply of essential amenities could contribute to better prerequisites for walking or cycling and reduced car dependence by inducing residents to choose local options.

The present study evaluates the interplay between the effects of host countries' characteristics and self-selection patterns of immigrants from a highly developed country on their economic assimilation in other developed countries. The focus is on immigrants originated from Germany during 1990-2000 who migrated to Sweden and the US. The results show that almost all German immigrants reached full earnings assimilation with natives of similar observed attributes, and that the assimilation of highly educated Germans was better than that of the less educated. It was also found that the skilled immigrants were compensated for their human capital acquired in Germany. Finally, the better assimilation of German immigrants, especially the highly educated, took place in the US. This finding was probably the result of an interaction between the Germans' pattern of self-selection and the US context of reception.

The time older people spend on various daily activities is critical for their health and well-being. New generations of older adults are increasingly expected to participate in ‘active’ activities. We explore shifts in active time use among upcoming cohorts of older people in Sweden. Recognizing the diverging meanings associated with the active ageing concept, we develop a classification model comprising the spheres of work, social engagement, and active leisure. We observe differences in time use of the ‘older middle-aged’ (pre-retirement), ‘young old’, and ‘older old’ observed in 2000/2001 and 2010/2011. We draw on two cross sections of Swedish time-use survey data covering 120 activities related to people’s everyday lives. We measure between-cohort differences in mean time use and employ covariate analysis to control for the influence of group-wise changes in socio-demographics. Linear regression is used to explore social differentiation, e.g. the influence of gender. Comparisons between new and previous generations indicate substantial increases in overall active ageing activity: increases by 7 h per week among the older old and 3.5 h among the young old and older middle-aged. New generations spend more time on work, paid or unpaid, and leisure digital interaction; for some, this is counteracted by less free time spent on social engagement. The new generation of the older old group spends more time on outdoor activity and exercise. These time-use patterns are gendered and dependent on education, mainly due to changes in cohort composition.

Urban transport investment decision-making has relied on traditional modelling tools that forecast travel demand based on existing travel patterns. This approach has also underpinned decisions about future urban development. Latent travel demand is poorly understood, and this is particularly important given policy aspirations for the take-up of more sustainable transport modes such as public transport. Accessibility tools can make an important contribution to future development and investment decisions given this policy aspiration. In this paper, public transport supply is assessed using an accessibility tool and then compared to travel patterns. By assessing both public transport supply and travel demand through an accessibility lens we are able to gain insight into the latent demand for public transport. An innovative segmentation type approach is employed by comparing supply and demand and from this a typology is proposed as a framework for a more holistic public transport investment strategy. This takes into account public transport accessibility, travel demand of trip makers and their socio-economic situation, set in the context of the urban region.

A standard proposition in the migration literature is that emigrants are not drawn randomly from their source population, but rather compose a self-selected group in terms of labour market characteristics. Such self-selection refers to observed characteristics, such as education, or occupation, as well as unobserved characteristics such as cognitive abilities. However, due to data limitations, most previous studies on selectivity have analysed immigrants' characteristics at destinations rather than using data from their source countries. This paper assesses emigrants' selectivity patterns by following the full-risk population of natives over a long period of time (over 20 years). It also includes an innovative measure of selectivity on unobserved characteristics-namely, school performance-as a proxy for individual motivation and cognitive abilities, and it compares it to the widely used measure of income residuals. We use Swedish register data and assess the probabilities of leaving Sweden between 1993 and 2014 among men and women born in Sweden between 1975 and 1978. We further look for differences among Swedish emigrants who chose different countries of destination. The findings suggest that emigrants are positively self-selected in terms of their observed characteristics, whereas selectivity patterns in terms of unobserved characteristics are more complex. When we assess unobservable characteristics using compulsory school grades as a proxy, emigrants are found to be positively self-selected, while when using income residuals, we find that the effect is U-shaped. Individuals leaving to non-Nordic countries are also found to be more positively self-selected than those heading to neighbouring countries. We discuss these findings and their implications in light of economic and sociological theories.The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10680-022-09634-3.

The potential for residents of smaller urban and rural areas to benefit from sustainable accessibility is an under-researched area. This paper explores accessibility to important every-day amenities within short travel times and how this differs across geography and mode of travel. The analysis draws on a combination of novel open-source data of the transport system and official Swedish register data of the total population of individuals and workplaces geocoded at a 100-meter resolution. The findings show considerable variation in accessibility to everyday amenities by travel mode for different settlement types. While the car provides good accessibility, short trips by bicycle are a very competitive alternative in urban and suburban areas. Access to every-day amenities by active travel modes is limited outside urban areas. Employing accessibility analysis by settlement type offers a powerful policy support tool for planners charged with developing measures to address sustainable accessibility for small urban and rural areas.

We study the interplay between host countries’ characteristics and self-selection patterns in relation to refugees’ economic assimilation using a natural experiment in which immigrants from one region migrated to three destinations under similar circumstances. We focus on emigrants fleeing from Argentina and Chile during the military regimes there to the United States, Sweden, and Israel. We find that those refugees show patterns of selection and assimilation similar to those of economic immigrants. Immigrants to the United States and Israel exhibit better selection patterns and consequently faster assimilation than immigrants to Sweden even considering the positive effect of the Swedish market structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks insight into the kind of compact development that leads to reduced car driving by examining the significance of local amenities relative to the traditional “five Ds of the built environment.” Regression models of unique microdata covering all of Sweden show that an increasing number of amenities near home causes more people to give up driving and instead walk and cycle, and that the presence of even a few local amenities can mean shorter travel distances. After detailed consideration of local amenities, street network design has little significance, and the effects of diversity and density are significantly weakened.

Comparing the daily time use of three consecutive cohorts of Swedish young adults 20–29 years old, we analyse changes in free-time activity patterns over a period when private Information and Communications Technology (ICT) use was introduced, expanded, and went online. We use Swedish Time Use Survey (TUS) data from 1990/1991, 2000/2001 and 2010/2011 and apply covariate analysis, controlling for important socio-economic factors. Our theoretical approach complements a regular displacement/enhancement perspective by emphasizing the role of time elasticities, time-use priorities, and free-time availability (i.e. being time-poor vs time-rich). Results indicate that online time increased considerably, adapting to increased free time. In addition, offline time spent on social activities, activities with other people, reading books and newspapers and offline hobbies consistently declined. TV viewing increased among the time-rich, fuelling overall screen time. Time spent on outdoor physical activity, entertainment, culture, and voluntary work appear unaffected. The balance between in-home and out-of-home time remained unchanged.

We evaluate changes in proximity (in terms of walkability) to essential services in the city region of Gothenburg, Sweden, 1994–2014, when sustainability policy goals were set to promote urban densification and non-motorized mobility. Simultaneously, public services were deregulated, reducing political capacity to control their accessibility. Considering this tension and welfare regime theory, we investigate to what extent typically regulated and deregulated services (libraries, pharmacies, primary schools, and grocery stores) have come closer to the population in areas of different densities and centralities. We draw on unique micro-level data comprising the detailed locations of population and services analyzed using decomposition. Results indicate that services the most (libraries) and least (grocery stores) controlled by public policy decreased in proximity. In contrast, recently deregulated services (pharmacies and primary schools) became more accessible by foot due to disruptive market change. While population relocation reduced the proportion of people living near the services, the changing geography of amenities was a more important driver of proximity change. We argue that sustainability goals to realize proximity have far-reaching repercussions for urban governance, emphasizing the need to assess proximity changes at detailed scale levels.

We explore from a time-use perspective how private use of computers and the Internet [information and communications technologies (ICTs)] is transforming everyday life. Data from the Swedish 2010–2011 Time-Use Survey reflect a situation in which Internet use has spread widely and become routine for many. Using covariate analysis, we analyse differences in general time use between four groups of ICT users ranging from non-users to heavy users. The theoretical departure point is a nuanced discussion of the time-displacement concept. Results indicate that private time spent using ICTs is associated primarily with individuals’ available free time, that is, elastic relative to time for paid work (i.e. contracted time). Heavy ICT users spend more time on activities carried out alone, are more home centred, and less mobile. Heavy use is associated with somewhat less committed time spent, for example, on maintenance work or taking care of children. Regarding personal time, time for meals is negatively rel...

Telework, long promoted as a way to reduce daily travel and address congestion problems, has been extensively studied in transport research. Empirical consensus has long held that telework reduces overall travel, but several updated studies now suggest the opposite. Meanwhile, telework has steadily increased in many countries, and few studies have examined contexts where regular teleworkers have grown to form an early majority. We study how telework influences daily travel in such a context, namely, Sweden from 2011 to 2016. Using representative micro-data from the Swedish National Travel Survey, this study also captures travel behaviour during the defined period when the telework was actually practiced, distinguishing different telework arrangements and analysing a range of travel behavioral outcomes. We conclude that telework leads to reduced travel demand, more use of active transport modes, and congestion relief. Important differences between full- and part-day teleworkers are also highlighted, stressing the importance of understanding telework as a diversified coping strategy for organizing the spatiotemporality of everyday life., Highlights • This paper aims to investigate how telework influences daily travel in Sweden. • We use representative micro-data from the Swedish National Travel Survey 2011–2016. • Teleworkers make significantly fewer and shorter trips than non-teleworkers. • Teleworking leads to more use of active transport modes and congestion relief. • Important differences between full- and part-day teleworkers are highlighted.

Scholars argue that everyday travel behavior is related less to location than to individual choice, due to the space–time convergence evident with increasing individual mobility. Yet, very few studies have empirically measured trends in the relative significance of location for travel habits over time. This article uses multilevel models based on official register data covering the total Swedish working population to explore how home–work distance varied among workers and across residential areas between 1990 and 2010. The results indicate growing variation in home–work distance for workers living in the same residential neighborhoods and that the significance of residential location for the home–work distance decreased throughout the studied period. The results may suggest that there is less scope now than in the early 1990s for shaping commuting behavior by altering the built environment in Sweden.

The traditional important role of maps used for educational purposes has gained further potential with recent advances in GIS technology. But beyond specific courses in cartography this potential seems little realized in geography teaching. This article investigates the extent to which any learning benefits may be derived from the use of such technologies. A controlled experiment was conducted to examine whether information recall is improved when cartographic information on population distribution is presented in 2D versus 3D form. The results show statistically significant differences in learning benefits between the two formats, largely in favor of 2D representation. These findings suggest that learning benefits can be derived from paying greater attention to map format in educational settings.

Geography, in terms of the built environment and location patterns, was traditionally, and still is, emphasized by many scholars, policymakers, and planners as greatly influencing people’s daily travel behaviour. However, taking recent decades of rapidly increasing mobility capabilities (physical as well as virtual) into account, and the related increase in individual choice opportunities, others argue that the importance of geographic factors has gradually dissolved. Starting from this discussion, the overall aim of this thesis is to examine the current role and relative significance of the built environment for the geographical extension of individuals’ daily travel in Sweden. The thesis is based on three empirical studies in which particular attention is paid to detailing the impact of geographic factors on various daily travel activities (paper I); exploring possible changes over time in the importance of the built environment for home–work distances (paper II); and the potential relaxing of the relationships between locational structures and travel behaviour when people regularly use ICTs and telework (paper III). All three papers apply multivariate quantitative approaches to a unique combination of detailed, high spatially resolved micro-data, including the national travel surveys and register data of the total population. An overall conclusion of the thesis is that the proximity of various aspects of the built environment to home still plays an important role in how far people in Sweden travel daily. However, the analyses, informed by theory emphasizing everyday spatiotemporal constraints, reveal that these relationships have become relaxed in several important respects. First, the specific time–spatial constraints associated with different daily activities that motivate trips and travel are key and also differentiating factors. When considering trips taken during holidays and for everyday leisure purposes, the built environment is less important for the observed daily travelled distance. Whereas service trips to a greater extent is associated with the built environment surrounding home, and work trips even more. Second, important changes occur over time, here examined in the case of work trips. Workers living in the same neighbourhood increasingly travel divergent distances between home and work. This suggests a continued decrease in the influence of the built environment on work related travel. Third, in terms of time-spatial relaxation, a rapid increase of telework lately is an important case. The built environment influences teleworkers’ daily travel to a lesser extent than it does regular workers’ daily travel since telework allows for the freer scheduling of daily activities in time and space. Conclusively, the results confirm the importance of considering spatiotemporal constraints related to daily activities when exploring the role of the built environment and its importance for daily travel. More generally, the thesis also remind us that the importance of the built environment changes as an integral part of larger societal transformations connected with development of mobility technologies and profound socio-economic and demographic changes.