Time–space convergence and urban decentralisation

The phenomenon of time–space convergence (or compression) has been considered to be associated with the technological advances that have shortened our travel time. Advances in transport technology have gradually diminished travel times, and this process has been discussed in the context of international- or national-level transport changes. This paper investigates the changing relationship between space and time at the urban level. The changing relationship between commuting time and distance in the Seoul Metropolitan Area (SMA) is empirically analysed by using the 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2005 two-percent sample data of the Korean Census of Population and Housing. The study results empirically demonstrate the close relationship between the urban decentralisation process and the time–space convergence phenomenon. The key findings of this research are that commuting time per distance unit in the SMA shortened over the 15 years of the study period, and this improvement was greater for longer journeys than for shorter trips. The empirical evidence of this research shows that workers have migrated to faster commuting modes such as car and subway and away from slower modes such as buses, so that commuting time has decreased or remained constant even as commuting distance in the SMA has increased.