Meaning of accessibility in decisions about residential relocation – results of a qualitative sociological survey in Czech cities
Abstract
The transformation of countries in Central and Eastern Europe represents a challenge regarding spatial development of urban areas. Simultaneously, these countries, including the Czech Republic, have experienced a great boom in transport and individual car transport in particular.
The aggregated data demonstrate that the residential suburbanization is connected to the use of car for commuting and thus a change in modal split toward a higher share of car. An analysis of the change in accessibility and its effects on everyday life activities and individual time budget is presented.
The analysis is based on qualitative data on travel behavior and its changes in an urban population of persons who have recently changed their place of residence. The results indicate that the accessibility of leisure time activities are at least as important as the accessibility of city centers in the process of residential locality choice.