The impact of social segregation on human mobility in developing and industrialized regions

• Published in: EPJ Data Science
• Main Authors: Amini, Alexander A., Kung, Kevin S., Kang, Chaogui, Sobolevsky, Stanislav, Ratti, Carlo
• Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. SENSEable City Laboratory
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Springer Science+Business Media 2014
• Subjects: Alta; Wood Buffalo
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/88094

This study leverages mobile phone data to analyze human mobility patterns in a developing nation, especially in comparison to those of a more industrialized nation. Developing regions, such as the Ivory Coast, are marked by a number of factors that may influence mobility, such as less infrastructural coverage and maturity, less economic resources and stability, and in some cases, more cultural and language-based diversity. By comparing mobile phone data collected from the Ivory Coast to similar data collected in Portugal, we are able to highlight both qualitative and quantitative differences in mobility patterns - such as differences in likelihood to travel, as well as in the time required to travel - that are relevant to consideration on policy, infrastructure, and economic development. Our study illustrates how cultural and linguistic diversity in developing regions (such as Ivory Coast) can present challenges to mobility models that perform well and were conceptualized in less culturally diverse regions. Finally, we address these challenges by proposing novel techniques to assess the strength of borders in a regional partitioning scheme and to quantify the impact of border strength on mobility model accuracy. Ericsson, Inc. Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) program National Science Foundation (U.S.) King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology MIT-Portugal Program AT & T Volkswagenwerk Audi AG BBVA (Firm) Coca-Cola Company Expo Milano 2015 Ferrovial (Firm) Wood Buffalo (Alta. : Regional municipality)