Imbalance between local commuting accessibility and residential locations of households by income class in the Seoul Metropolitan Area

The issue of residential location segregation by income class has long been discussed and considered in the field of urban geography as a significant social problem. However, research analysing the effect of local commuting accessibility to residential locations by income class is limited. This study aims to reinterpret the classical theory of job-housing imbalance from a modern perspective using analytical methodology. A utility-based local accessibility index for commuting was estimated and accessibility was calculated considering the travel characteristics of households in each income class. The relationship between local commuting accessibility and the residential location of each income class household was analysed considering the spatial correlation between them. The findings showed that positive spatial correlations existed between local commuting accessibility and residential location of houses of all income classes, implying that all households, regardless of income class, are in areas with good access. However, analyses by controlling for housing and residential characteristics of each region showed that middle- and high-income households were in residential locations where accessibility is higher while low-income households were found in residential locations with lesser accessibility.