{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,16]],"date-time":"2026-04-16T11:15:42Z","timestamp":1776338142094,"version":"3.51.2"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,16]],"date-time":"2026-04-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1776297600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100012166","name":"National Key R&D Program of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2022YFC3800105"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2022YFC3800105"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100012166","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJGI"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Rapid urbanization in megacities has exacerbated the spatial mismatch between employment and housing, necessitating effective spatial optimization strategies. However, classical optimization models often rely on the idealized assumption of \u201cproximity maximization,\u201d failing to account for the complex, nonlinear regularities of actual human mobility. To address this disconnect between theoretical modeling and real-world behavior, this study establishes a job\u2013housing balance optimization framework integrated with empirical commuting patterns. Using Shenzhen as a case study, we analyze citywide commuting big data since 2024 to characterize the power law relationship between commuting population size and distance. We propose a novel optimization model that partitions residential areas into \u201ccommuting rings\u201d on the basis of observed distance-decay functions rather than simple Euclidean proximity. We applied the proposed method to current and future planning scenarios and successfully generated spatial regulation schemes that decentralize employment functions to peripheral areas while strategically densifying residential zones. By respecting the \u201cheavy-tailed\u201d nature of commuting distributions, this approach offers urban planners a more robust tool for reducing aggregate commuting burdens without violating the behavioral realities of the workforce.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijgi15040176","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,16]],"date-time":"2026-04-16T10:14:46Z","timestamp":1776334486000},"page":"176","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Optimization of the Job\u2013Housing Balance in Megacities by Integrating Commuting Behavior Patterns: A Case Study of Shenzhen"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Yuhong","family":"Bai","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Shuyan","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Beijing Municipal Ecological Environment Monitoring Center, Beijing 100048, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Changfeng","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"China Academy of Urban Planning and Design, Beijing 100037, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2171-8025","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Wangshu","family":"Mu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"126","DOI":"10.1016\/j.landurbplan.2017.02.014","article-title":"Urban agglomeration: An evolving concept of an emerging phenomenon","volume":"162","author":"Fang","year":"2017","journal-title":"Landsc. 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