Volume 29, Issue 3 pp. 982-996
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Human mobility and environmental factors

Chao Li

Chao Li

Urban Institute & School of Engineering, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

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Alexander Ryota Keeley

Alexander Ryota Keeley

Urban Institute & School of Engineering, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

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Shunsuke Managi

Corresponding Author

Shunsuke Managi

Urban Institute & School of Engineering, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

Correspondence

Shunsuke Managi, Urban Institute & School of Engineering, Kyushu University, 744 Motooka, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka 819-0395, Japan. Email: [email protected]

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First published: 21 April 2025

Editor Managing Review: Lynette Cheah

Abstract

Human mobility, exemplified by low-speed transportation, profoundly influences urban economics, vibrancy, and progression. With the enlarging climate change impact, a detailed exploration of the interplay between low-speed transportation and environmental elements is crucial yet seldom investigated spatially. Harnessing high-resolution origin–destination (OD) data with both spatial and temporal granularity, we construct an exceptionally precise predictive model with 88.29% accuracy. This model unravels the relationship leveraging environmental data from satellite data between January 2019 and December 2020. This study pioneers the use of Shapley additive explanation and geographically weighted panel regression to interpret extreme gradient boosting findings and spatial variability in OD data. Our analysis reveals an intriguing dichotomy: urban areas experience a decline in low-speed transportation with rising temperatures, while a positive correlation surfaces in rural regions. On average, a 1°C increase in temperature correlates to a significant reduction of 466,851 person time in low-speed transportation in Tokyo, Japan. We also identify that other environmental factors, including air pressure, wind speed, and so on, exert spatially varying impacts on low-speed transportation. Altogether, this study furnishes robust empirical evidence of the environmental effects on human mobility, presenting valuable insights for academics, policymakers, and society at large.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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