Heterogeneous residential location effects: Variations in how suburban communities shape older adults' active travel—A case study from Xiamen

Abstract

Emerging research highlights the crucial role of the suburban older population as a burgeoning population facing both social and physical constraints on mobility. However, the extent to which the variance in the built environment can encourage older adults to travel actively across various suburban communities remains ambiguous. This study identifies three distinct community types (i.e., inner–suburban, suburban center, and outer–suburban) based on specific social and morphological factors impacting Xiamen, China. It employs coarsened exact matching (CEM), an innovative matching procedure, to estimate causal inference regarding older adults' responsiveness to the built environment across different communities compared with propensity score matching (PSM). The results reveal nonequilibrium effects of built environments across unevenly developed or suburbanized communities. Residents of suburban centers exhibit the highest levels of active travel engagement, with the built environment playing a significant role. This influence, driven by individual life choices, is particularly impactful in shaping sustainable urban forms within both inner and outer suburban cohorts. These findings can provide valuable insights for decision-makers, guiding the development of more nuanced and regionally inclusive intervention strategies, thereby accommodating disparities among suburban subareas.