Continuum modeling approach to the spatial analysis of air quality and housing location choice

Abstract

Today, air pollution is a great issue, and the transport sector is an important emission source. In this study, we present an integrated land use, transport, and environment model in which transport-related pollutants are assumed to influence people's housing location choices, and a continuum modeling approach is applied. The pollutants generated by the transport sector are dispersed by the wind and they affect air quality. The air quality changes people's housing choices, which in turn changes their travel behavior. We assume that the road users are continuously distributed over the city, that the road network is relatively dense, and that this network can be approximated as a continuum. The total demand is categorized into several classes, and the modeled region contains several subdistricts. People who live in different subdistricts or who belong to different classes of commuters are assumed to have different perceptions of travel time, air quality, and the housing provision–demand relationship. The finite element method and the Newton–Raphson algorithm are adopted to solve this problem, and a numerical valuation is given to illustrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed model.