The existing literature of emerging markets fails to provide evidence to clarify if people choose their residential location based on commuting to work or other socioeconomic or household factors. The present paper seeks to provide such evidence in South Asia using the case study of a small city in Pakistan. This exploratory study was facilitated by primary data collected from 365 adults in Hafizabad, Pakistan, using face-to-face interviews in 2018. Two research questions were answered: (1) with what socioeconomic or mobility-related variables are the residential self-selections correlated? (2) how strong is the possible association of commuting to work to residential location choices compared to other factors, including social, economic, and family-related issues? The results of Chi-square tests and Proportional Reduction in Error analyses show that the three variables of neighborhood place, gender, and housing tenure type are associated with residential location choices. These findings are partly in line with studies on high-income countries, but gender and housing tenure are more specific to developing countries. Moreover, results of a Binary Logistic model show that marital status and house ownership of other household members define whether people choose their living place based on commuting rather than other socioeconomic and household issues. The finding of the latter variable contrasts with behaviors in high-income countries, whereas the former variable has some similarities. These findings highlight some contextual differences between house location selection in South Asia and other regions.

Urban sprawl is a particular pattern of the street network and land use. The relationship between street networks and sprawl has been discussed by urban scholars in developed and high-income countries. Nevertheless, there is a lack of research on the relationships between street connectivity and urban travel behavior, particularly among emerging markets. This paper aims to study correlations between urban mobility and street-length density as an indicator for assessing the compactness of an area by developing two hierarchical regression models and controlling for socioeconomic variables in two large Pakistani cities: Lahore and Rawalpindi. Moreover, this paper defines optimal cutoff values for street-length density and active transport. Finally, three chi-square tests were conducted to assess the differences between using different mode choices by people living in sprawled neighborhoods versus compact neighborhoods. Our findings confirm the use of different transport modes depending on the purpose of the trip (commuting or non-commuting), length of trip (within or outside the neighborhood), and starting point (sprawled neighborhood or compact area). We also find a positive correlation between street-length density around homes and commuting distance, the frequency of public transport use, and the use of private motor vehicles in commuting trips in the two cities. Street-length density around workplaces is correlated with commuting distance, the frequency of public transport use, and the use of private motor vehicles when socioeconomic variables (including age, daily activity, and monthly income) are controlled for in the two models. The behavior of Pakistani residents changes with a street-length density of 137 and 144.7 m/m² for homes and workplaces, respectively, in terms of using active mobility.

The neighborhood effect on keeping non-commuting trips inside neighborhoods has not yet been investigated in developing countries. The modeling of non-commuting trips inside neighborhoods helps understand how to avoid unnecessary journeys by car into different parts of the city. This paper, therefore, attempts to clarify (1) the similarities and differences in the socioeconomic characteristics and the perceptions of people in sprawled and compact neighborhoods, (2) correlations between, on the one hand, the choice of destinations of non-commuting trips for shopping and entertainment activities and, on the other, the socioeconomic features, travel behavior, and perceptions of residents in the two large Pakistani cities of Lahore and Rawalpindi, (3) the similarities and differences in the determinants of non-commuting destinations inside neighborhoods in compact and sprawled districts. The paper develops four Binary Logistic (BL) regression models, with two models for each type of neighborhood. The findings show that trips to shopping areas inside compact districts are correlated with a sense of belonging to the neighborhood, frequency of public transport use, residential location, and mode choice of non-commuting trips to destinations both inside and outside the neighborhood. On the other hand, the number of non-commuting trips, mode choice for non-commuting trips outside the neighborhood, frequency of public transport use, the attractiveness of shops, and monthly income (please see the Note) are significant determinants for trips to the shopping area in sprawled districts. Age, gender, possession of a driver’s license, income, number of non-commuting trips, mode choice for non-commuting trips outside of the neighborhood, car ownership, and attractiveness of shops in a neighborhood are correlated with trips to entertainment locations inside the neighborhood in compact districts. Finally, the attractiveness of shops, quality of social and recreational facilities, a sense of belonging to a neighborhood, choice of residential location, gender, age, possession of a driver’s license, number of cars in the household, and income are determinants of trips to entertainment locations in sprawled districts. A chi-square test confirms the differences across gender, daily activity, monthly income, frequency of public transport use, residential location choice, and the quality of social and recreational facilities for sprawled and compact districts in Pakistan.

Urban homelessness is a problem faced by both developed and developing countries due to various causes requiring contextualized responses. Governments have used temporary housing like shelter homes to combat homelessness, but providing adequate facilities and ensuring their use by the homeless remain significant challenges. This research article investigates the efficacy of shelter homes (locally known as Pannah Gahs) in Lahore. The objective is to explore the migration purposes of occupants contributing to urban homelessness, evaluate their satisfaction with shelter home facilities and understand their future migration intentions. Unstructured key informant interviews with Pannah Gah officials and semi-structured interviews of selected homeless people staying in the Panah Gahs were conducted. The finding reveals that, unlike in other developing countries, the government’s compassionate approach to treating homeless people with dignity, the security measures in place, and the staff training at Pannah Gahs have encouraged the homeless to use these facilities more frequently. However, most seemingly urban homeless people are economic migrants with homes elsewhere thus exhibiting a multilocality character. Employed homeless individuals often seek their own housing, while job-seeking homeless individuals tend to stay in their current situations due to financial constraints. The study highlights policy implications, advocating for a nuanced definition of homelessness considering economic migrants and spatially split households. It emphasizes the need for government support, such as affordable housing, and stresses that successful shelter home programs require government commitment, stakeholder collaboration, and comprehensive support services to restore the dignity and self-respect of the homeless.