University of Szeged Faculty of Science and Informatics Doctoral School of Earth Sciences Department of Economic and Social Geography Post-suburban transformation in the functional urban region of Budapest in the context of changing commuting patterns PhD Thesis Imre KESER Ő Supervisor: Dr. Judit Timár, senior researcher Szeged 2013 Table of contents TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................ II LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................. IV LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................. V ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................. VI COPYRIGHT ........................................................................................................................ VI 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1 1.1. RESEARCH BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................. 1 1.2. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES ................................................................................................................ 4 1.3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .......................................................................................................... 5 1.4. THE STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS ................................................................................................... 7 2. TERMINOLOGY AND DEFINITIONS .......................................................................... 8 2.1. THE DEFINITION OF COMMUTING .................................................................................................. 8 2.2. THE DEFINITION OF SUBURBANISATION ..................................................................................... 11 2.3. THE DEFINITION AND DELIMITATION OF THE FUNCTIONAL URBAN REGION .............................. 12 2.4. CHAPTER CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................................. 15 3. URBAN CHANGE IN THE POST-FORDIST CONTEXT ......................................... 16 3.1. POST -FORDIST URBAN TRANSFORMATION ................................................................................. 16 3.2. TYPICAL FORMS AND PROCESSES IN POST -SUBURBIA ................................................................ 18 3.3. FROM PROTO -SUBURBAN TO POST -SUBURBAN : TRANSFORMATION OF CITIES IN POST -SOCIALIST COUNTRIES ............................................................................................................................................ 20 3.4. POST -SUBURBANISATION AROUND BUDAPEST ? ......................................................................... 22 3.5. URBAN TRANSFORMATION AND COMMUTING PATTERNS ........................................................... 26 3.5.1. The USA and Western Europe ........................................................................................... 26 3.5.2. Central and Eastern Europe ............................................................................................... 28 3.6. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF COMMUTING PATTERNS ................................................................... 29 3.6.1. The characteristics of commuters ...................................................................................... 30 3.6.2. The attributes of commuting trips ...................................................................................... 31 3.7. CHAPTER CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................................. 32 4. METHODS USED FOR THE QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS .................................... 33 4.1. DATA SOURCES ........................................................................................................................... 33 4.2. QUANTITATIVE METHODS ........................................................................................................... 35 4.2.1. The methodology of statistical analysis ............................................................................. 35 4.2.2. Calculation of the suburbanisation index ........................................................................... 36 5. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF COMMUTING TO WORK IN THE BUDAPEST FUR .......................................................................................................................................... 38 5.1. ANALYSIS OF AGGREGATE DATA ................................................................................................ 38 5.1.1. Demand for jobs................................................................................................................. 38 5.1.2. Supply of jobs .................................................................................................................... 40 5.1.3. The development of commuting in the Budapest FUR...................................................... 47 5.1.3.1. Commuting before 1990 ............................................................................................ 47 5.1.3.2. Cross-commuting ...................................................................................................... 48 5.1.3.3. Reverse commuting ................................................................................................... 53 5.1.3.4. Educational status of commuters .............................................................................. 54 5.2. ANALYSIS OF THE HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS ................................................................................... 57 5.2.1. Characteristics of commuters ............................................................................................. 57 ii 5.2.1.1. Net household income ............................................................................................... 57 5.2.1.2. Educational attainment ............................................................................................. 58 5.2.1.3. Car ownership ........................................................................................................... 59 5.2.2. Characteristics of commuting trips .................................................................................... 60 5.2.2.1. Commuting patterns .................................................................................................. 60 5.2.2.2. Modal split ................................................................................................................ 60 5.2.2.3. Travel time ................................................................................................................ 61 5.2.2.4. Commuting distance .................................................................................................. 62 5.3. CHAPTER CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................................. 64 6. COMMUTING TO SCHOOL ......................................................................................... 65 6.1. THE EDUCATION SYSTEM IN HUNGARY ...................................................................................... 66 6.2. COMMUTING TO PRIMARY SCHOOL IN THE FUR ........................................................................ 66 6.2.1. Demand and supply ........................................................................................................... 66 6.2.2. Commuting patterns ........................................................................................................... 67 6.3. COMMUTING TO SECONDARY SCHOOL ....................................................................................... 71 6.3.1. Demand and supply ........................................................................................................... 71 6.3.2. Secondary school commuting between 1990 and 2010 ..................................................... 77 6.4. SOCIO -ECONOMIC BACKGROUND OF COMMUTING STUDENTS ................................................... 80 6.4.1. Net household income ....................................................................................................... 80 6.4.2. Educational level of parents ............................................................................................... 81 6.4.3. Car ownership .................................................................................................................... 82 6.5. CHARACTERISTICS OF COMMUTING TRIPS .................................................................................. 83 6.5.1. Commuting patterns ........................................................................................................... 83 6.5.2. Travel mode ....................................................................................................................... 83 6.5.3. Commuting distance .......................................................................................................... 85 6.5.4. Commuting time ................................................................................................................ 86 6.5.5. Departure time from home ................................................................................................. 86 6.6. THE IMPLICATIONS OF COMMUTING TO SCHOOL .......................................................................