Effects of Metro Transit on the Job–Housing Balance in Xi’an, China

Abstract

Job–housing balance has been widely studied as a means to promote sustainable urban planning. Many studies have been conducted to explore how to improve the job–housing balance, but there is inadequate evidence of the effects of metro transit. This paper constructs a difference-in-differences (DID) model to investigate the impacts of the presence of metro transit on the job–housing balance. Considering the distribution of metro stations varies between different regions, a continuous DID model is further built to analyze the impacts of metro service intensity (measured by the number of metro stations). The results show that metro transit is negatively associated with job–housing balance, and such an association increases with each year since the metro operation. We find that the job–housing relationship of the districts where the metro passes and its adjacent areas are both impacted by metro transit. The operation of the metro is not conducive to achieve job–housing balance. This research provides an important reference for making supportive policies to improve the regional job–housing balance and to facilitate sustainable urban development.