Gendered activity spaces: trends over three decades in Germany

Abstract

The paper studies gender differences in activity patterns and activity spaces (in terms of trip frequencies and travel distances to various activities) over the period 1976 to 2008. The results show gender convergence both in trip frequencies and travel distances. The growth of activity spaces is less pronounced in large cities than in small towns and municipalities, supporting the hypotheses of sustainability in transport development in the cities and of diverging patterns in travel trends between cities and the countryside. A cohort analysis of commute and shopping trip distances shows cohort effects as well as changes over the life-course. Again, the results reflect increasingly egalitarian gender roles.