From Neighborhood Life Circles to Commuting Life Circles: Insights into the Job–Housing Imbalance in China

Global disparities in housing and job availability pose a serious threat to urban sustainable development. This study presents a new concept of a 15-min commuting life circle, which is based on four job categories and four specific travel modes. Utilizing workplace-centric areas and travel modes as radius parameters, the study measures and compares these life circles. Results reveal substantial regional imbalances in job–housing ratios, especially in government-represented functional areas, while office building-represented functional areas face the most severe imbalances. Based on these findings, this study underlines the possibility of developing 15-min commuting life circles appropriate to various workplace-centric areas.