benefits of compact, mixed use development

This study attempts to determine whether urban form impacts upward economic and social mobility. Upward mobility was defined as moving from the lowest income quintile to one multiple quintiles higher. Urban form was quantified using the sprawl index created by Ewing, et al., while endo- and exogenous variables like social capital, racial segregation, and income segregation were taken from additional academic studies. The authors used structural equation modeling to estimate the effects of sprawl on upward mobility. They found that the relationship between sprawl (specifically commute times) is negatively correlated with upward mobility.