2026-10-13

96 journals· 339 candidates — 8 worth your time· 55 without an open abstract

no arXiv arXiv answered and returned nothing this day, so this issue covers the rest. The papers below are real — what is missing is the other half of the scope, not the reading.

Headline

Subsidized housing, transit fares, telehealth borders, heat wealth loss, and employment

Today, together

tag shift
no tag ran above its 30-day average
shares references
Worse urban environments increase transit use under peripheralization: Causal evidence from a natural experiment in Shanghai shares 11 references with How the built environment promotes sustainable commuting mode choice among groups with heterogeneous travel preferences? (2026-07-24)
3 of them
  • Examining the impacts of residential self-selection on travel behavior: A focus on methodologies
  • Travel and the Built Environment
  • Correlation or causality between the built environment and travel behavior? Evidence from Northern California
; Worse urban environments increase transit use under peripheralization: Causal evidence from a natural experiment in Shanghai shares 6 references with Do electric vehicles increase driving? Behavioral and spatial evidence of rebound effects from causal and spatial machine learning (2026-08-21)
3 of them
  • Car ownership as a mediating variable in car travel behaviour research using a structural equation modelling approach to identify its dual relationship
  • Travel and the Built Environment
  • Using machine-learning models to understand nonlinear relationships between land use and travel
; Worse urban environments increase transit use under peripheralization: Causal evidence from a natural experiment in Shanghai shares 6 references with Tracking walking change post-relocation: A big data quasi-experiment of built environment effects (2026-07-22)
3 of them
  • Travel and the Built Environment
  • Travel behaviour and life course: Examining changes in car use after residential relocation in Beijing
  • Changing travel behaviour and attitudes following a residential relocation
counted over the 8 papers published above
on the same shoulders
no foundation work was cited by four of the day's papers counted over the 61 of this day's 63 named papers whose reference lists we have — standing on the same older work is not the same as being about the same thing
first appearance
China Academy of Urban Planning and Design; Chongqing Technology and Business University; Guangdong University Of Finances and Economics; and 7 more none of them on a paper we published in the 123 days before this issue

Two counts, not one counted twice: every row here but “on the same shoulders” counts the papers published above, and that one counts every paper this day named — those and the ones under Also published today, whose abstracts we could not read.

Using 2024 survey data from five US transit agencies and four cumulative linked mixed models, researchers measured how fare-free transit users react to fare reinstatements and service alterations. Another study developed the Regulatory Two-Step Virtual Catchment Area model to incorporate cross-border licensure laws into spatial accessibility metrics for telehealth. Finally, an analysis combining high-resolution asset wealth data with hourly temperature records across Africa from 2000 to 2023 demonstrated that extreme heat reduced annual continental asset wealth growth by 2.42%.

published: Cities

Zhaolin Wang, Wei Zeng, Yingying Wang, et al.
Cities

Nanjing Agricultural University

China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance · Urban and Rural Development Challenges · Land Rights and Reforms · China · Nanjing Agricultural University · Chongqing Technology and Business University

How does the provision of urban subsidized housing impact the migrant workers' rural homestead withdrawal: Evidence from the Chengdu-Chongqing region, China

Using survey data from the Chengdu-Chongqing region in China, a nonlinear probability model evaluated how urban subsidized housing impacts migrant workers' rural homestead withdrawal. The provision of subsidized housing significantly increases the probability of rural land relinquishment, an effect driven by improved economic, social, and psychological urban integration. The impact is most pronounced among new-generation migrant workers, in suburban and outlying villages, and through public rental housing compared to affordable housing.

Why it matters — The findings demonstrate that urban housing assistance directly influences rural land management, showing that securing subsidized urban residence encourages rural migrants to permanently relinquish rural homesteads rather than maintaining dual residential footholds.

Caveat: Results depend on survey data from a single Chinese megacity region and may not generalize to areas with different land tenure or housing subsidy regimes.

Cities · doi

published: Transportation

Jorge Manuel Manuel Diaz-Gutierrez, Andisheh Ranjbari
Transportation

Pennsylvania State University

Transportation Planning and Optimization · Transportation and Mobility Innovations · Urban Transport and Accessibility · United States · Pennsylvania State University

Fare sensitivity at point zero: How fare-free transit riders react to fare reinstatement and service changes?

Analyzing 2024 survey data from five US transit agencies using four cumulative linked mixed models, this study measures how fare-free transit users react to fare reinstatements and service alterations. Riders are 7.6 times more likely to reduce transit use for each dollar increase in fare, valuing a $1 reinstated fare equivalent to roughly a 20-minute travel time increase, and a $2 fare equivalent to 35 minutes. Reintroducing fares above $1.30 risks losing 50% of new users, while fares exceeding $1.90 predict a 50% drop in total ridership across the studied systems.

Why it matters — This refutes the common assumption that transit riders are insensitive to fare changes, showing that removing and then reinstating fares creates far higher fare sensitivity than standard elasticity models predict.

Caveat: Findings rely on self-reported survey responses regarding hypothetical fare reinstatements rather than observed behavioral card-swipe data.

Transportation · pdf · doi

published: Applied Geography

Patrick Danso, Liang Mao
Applied Geography

University of Florida

Telemedicine and Telehealth Implementation · Global Health Workforce Issues · ICT Impact and Policies · United States · University of Florida

Mapping regulatory frictions in telehealth: A spatial accessibility approach using the R-2SVCA model

The authors developed the Regulatory Two-Step Virtual Catchment Area (R-2SVCA) model to incorporate cross-border licensure laws into spatial accessibility metrics. Applying the framework to US telepsychology and the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact (PSYPACT), the study found that state regulatory borders redistribute service access, while PSYPACT membership reverses the typical rural-urban accessibility gradient by aiding rural populations in participating states at the expense of those in non-member states.

Why it matters — This approach quantifies how administrative barriers distort virtual healthcare delivery, enabling planners to evaluate state-level licensure policies and target border populations losing access due to jurisdictional limits.

Caveat: The empirical evaluation is restricted to a single medical specialty (telepsychology) within the United States.

Applied Geography · doi

published: Applied Geography

Mengjie Wang, Mian Yang, Deren Li, et al.
Applied Geography

Wuhan University

Climate Change Policy and Economics · Sustainable Finance and Green Bonds · Climate variability and models · Wuhan University · State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying Mapping and Remote Sensing · Wuhan Business University

Spatial heterogeneity of extreme temperature impacts on African asset wealth growth

Analysis combining high-resolution asset wealth data with hourly temperature records across Africa from 2000 to 2023 demonstrates that extreme heat reduced annual continental asset wealth growth by 2.42%. Rural communities lost 2.54% of annual growth compared to 0.34% in urban centers, with damage escalating further from urban cores. The poorest settlements forfeited nearly 50% of their annual asset growth due to extreme heat, whereas the wealthiest settlements lost 1.24%, causing Middle Africa to lose 16.33% of its annual growth.

Why it matters — This quantifies how extreme climate events actively widen economic inequality across a continent by selectively stripping growth from remote, low-wealth populations while leaving wealthier urban centers relatively insulated.

Applied Geography · doi

published: City Culture and Society

Hossam Hewidy
City Culture and Society

Aalto University

Urban Planning and Governance · Urban Planning and Valuation · Urbanization and City Planning · Aalto University

“Planning beyond words: Power, discourse, and the making of a stigmatised suburb in Helsinki”

Using qualitative desk research, this study analyzed planning documents, architectural competition materials, and news media coverage surrounding the Kontula strip mall in Helsinki. By combining discourse theory, framing analysis, territorial stigmatization, and rent gap theory, the author demonstrates how official planning discourse abstracts space and omits immigrant-led retail, while architectural visions promote demolition and large-scale redevelopment.

Why it matters — It shows that urban renewal and anti-segregation policies rely on discursive infrastructures that systematically delegitimize existing informal socio-spatial networks to lay the groundwork for rent-gap exploitation.

Caveat: The findings are derived from a qualitative case study focused on a single suburban location in Helsinki.

City Culture and Society · doi

published: Cities

Dahao Zhang, Guojun Zhang, Chunshan Zhou
Cities

Guangdong University Of Finances and Economics

Digital Economy and Transformation · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Economic Growth and Development · China · Guangdong University Of Finances and Economics · Sun Yat-sen University

Impact of digital economy development on the sectoral employment structure in China: Analysis of direct and mediating effects

Using a seven-dimension index covering indicators like mobile users, express delivery volume, AI searches, and digital finance, this study analyzed the evolution of China's digital economy from 2011 to 2022 and its impact on workforce allocation. Digital economic growth expanded employment in information and transportation, science-education-culture-health, and hospitality sectors, while reducing job shares in agriculture and manufacturing. Patent volume and the proportion of the tertiary industry were identified as the primary drivers mediating these shifts.

Why it matters — It quantifies the specific trade-offs of digital expansion across distinct industries, replacing broad assumptions about job creation with evidence of net losses in primary and manufacturing sectors alongside gains in service industries.

Cities · doi

published: Cities

Hongri Sun, Zuopeng Ma, Guolei Zhou, et al.
Cities

Northeast Normal University

Urbanization and City Planning · Urban Planning and Governance · Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies · Northeast Normal University · Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology

The associations between housing vacancy and public facility allocation in shrinking cities: Perspective based on physical spatial structure and residents' perceptions

This study evaluated the relationship between rising housing vacancy and public facility allocation across shrinking cities in Northeast China, examining public administration, commercial services, and facility diversity through physical spatial metrics and resident surveys. The findings demonstrate that facility diversity is particularly responsive to housing vacancy rates, with severely vacant cities experiencing larger shifts in facility distribution and stronger negative impacts on resident satisfaction. Additionally, local neighborhood atmosphere was found to moderate how residents perceive the link between vacant housing and nearby commercial services.

Why it matters — It provides empirical evidence on how urban shrinkage alters specific categories of municipal services, demonstrating that facility diversity declines more sharply than individual service types as housing vacancy worsens.

Caveat: The study relies on cross-sectional survey data to capture residents' perceptions, which limits causal claims about how neighborhood atmosphere alters attitudes over time.

Cities · doi

published: Cities

Huiqin Liu, Yuchen Huang, Waishan Qiu, et al.
Cities

Tongji University

Urban Transport and Accessibility · Transportation Planning and Optimization · Regional Economics and Spatial Analysis · causal inference · Shanghai · Tongji University

Worse urban environments increase transit use under peripheralization: Causal evidence from a natural experiment in Shanghai

Using a survey of 5,967 households across Shanghai resettlement communities, this study leveraged a quasi-random housing allocation scheme alongside double machine learning and causal mediation analysis to evaluate travel behavior changes. Deterioration in the built environment—specifically reduced land-use mix, lower accessibility, and decreased transit service provision—decreased active travel while increasing public transit reliance. The effect operates through constrained adjustments in car and non-motorized vehicle ownership under institutional motorization limits.

Why it matters — The findings counter standard Western suburbanization models by demonstrating that degraded peripheral environments can force higher transit dependency rather than car use when institutional barriers limit automobile acquisition.

Caveat: The findings rely on self-reported survey data from a single megacity under unique local car-ownership restrictions.

Cities · doi

Still cited

Reid Ewing, Robert Cervero (2010), Travel and the Built Environment 1 of today's items cite it · 103 of 3240 in the archive stand on it

Also published today

These appeared today in journals we track. Their abstracts are not openly available, so we cannot summarise them.