Identification of Commute-based Metropolitan Areas and their Resilience under a Public Health Crisis

Identification of Commute-based Metropolitan Areas and their Resilience under a Public Health Crisis | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Identification of Commute-based Metropolitan Areas and their Resilience under a Public Health Crisis Yi Jiang, Jade Laranjo This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8060817/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract We delineate metropolitan areas (MAs) in the Philippines using cellphone-based flow data as a proxy for daily commutes. The analysis reveals several large MAs not officially recognized but growing faster than administratively defined cities, and differing spatial extents for the three designated MAs. During the initial weeks of COVID-19, severe mobility restrictions causes MA fragmentation and contraction. As restrictions eased, many MAs quickly rebounded, with previously separated municipalities reintegrating. Regression analysis highlights that proximity, administrative boundaries, accessibility, and labor market complementarity between core and peripheral municipalities are important factors driving MA resilience. JEL codes: I18, O18, R12, R58 Social science/Economics Social science/Development studies Metropolitan areas COVID-19 urban resilience labor market Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8060817","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":548518103,"identity":"74754f1b-ef1c-40e4-9cf6-5d53d36ae851","order_by":0,"name":"Yi Jiang","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAtUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACZoaEA0BKjoEhh0QtxiRogYLEBqK1GBxneHjg547a9P723AMMH/fUEqHlMEPCwd4zx3NnnHmXwDjj2XHitBzgbTuW23Ajx4CZ58AxIm3523YsXZ4kLYd522oSDCBaaghrkQRpkW07YLgR6JeDMw4cIKyF7/yZ5I9v2+rk5Y7nHnzw4UAdYS0KB3gSgNRhMOcAjIEXyDewg9wCN5wIW0bBKBgFo2DEAQCWWkcLMzL5YAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6383-9813","institution":"Asian Development Bank","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Yi","middleName":"","lastName":"Jiang","suffix":""},{"id":548518104,"identity":"e4b075ff-0ef3-4264-97cd-5b3dc9715d0f","order_by":1,"name":"Jade Laranjo","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Asian Development Bank","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jade","middleName":"","lastName":"Laranjo","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-11-08 02:25:12","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8060817/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8060817/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":104782512,"identity":"bf7f1aa6-7e26-4725-a853-86acfe4cb175","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-17 07:57:26","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1530764,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"MAidentificationandresiliencewithauthorsclean.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8060817/v1_covered_84534a84-8a17-4007-b65d-97065393f650.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Identification of Commute-based Metropolitan Areas and their Resilience under a Public Health Crisis","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Metropolitan areas, COVID-19, urban resilience, labor market","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8060817/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8060817/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eWe delineate metropolitan areas (MAs) in the Philippines using cellphone-based flow data as a proxy for daily commutes. 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