The role of urban transformation on inter-suburban commuting : evidence from Jakarta metropolitan area, Indonesia

Post-suburbanization, shifting the focus of urban spatial development to its periphery, is becoming a global policy concern. Changing urban form affects travel behavior, where the traditional suburb-to-CBD commuting pattern has been contested by inter-suburban commuting. This empirical study investigates how employment decentralization and its associated heterogeneous suburban amenities have influenced commuting dynamics between suburbs in a developing country. Using the case of the Jakarta Metropolitan Area (JMA), Indonesia, spatial panel regression is applied to model inter-suburban commuting between 2008 and 2015. The results indicate that peripheral employment expansion due to industrial decentralization is followed by a significant increase in inter-suburban commuting. The mono-functional industrial subcenter has attracted more commuters from other suburbs. Yet, it also pushed some residents to commute away for jobs in service firms. The study has added a better understanding of urban form-travel behavior relationships that have seldom been researched from the Global South perspective