AbstractsEconomics

Measuring spatial mobility - towards new perspectives on accessibility

by Marcus Mohall




Institution: Uppsala University
Department:
Year: 2015
Keywords: Mobility; phone data; spatial relationships; spatial analysis; GIS; Social Sciences; Social and Economic Geography; Samhällsvetenskap; Social och ekonomisk geografi; Masterprogram i samhällsvetenskap; Master Programme in Social Sciences; Samhällsgeografi; Samhällsgeografi
Record ID: 1342504
Full text PDF: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-243521


Abstract

In recent years, spatial data derived from cell phones has become increasingly recognized as a valuable data source for urban analysis. Using a sizeable dataset depicting the physical movements of several million Swedish and Danish cell phones during 24 hours, an analysis of aggregated individual mobility levels and mobility patterns is conducted. The analysis covers two measurements of mobility, total diurnal mobility and commuting mobility. Findings indicate that phone data may provide seminal insights on otherwise scarcely accessible information on how space is experienced and interacted with depending on the individual's residential location. The data is analysed using a broad set of spatial analysis techniques incorporating both statistical and visual representations of spatial mobility and spatial relationships.