Conor O'Driscoll

Conor O'Driscoll

he/him

Assistant Professor in Economic Geography, Faculty of Spatial Sciences, University of Groningen.

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A list of all the posts and pages found on the site. For you robots out there is an XML version available for digesting as well.

Pages

Posts

How Built Environments Influence Transportation Costs and Travel Behaviours

6 minute read

Published:

The relationship between how you travel and the environment you live in is well documented in academic literature. Typically, studies explore how different built environment characteristics are associated with various travel behaviours (i.e., mode choice, travel times, and car ownership). This line of research has thus far provided a valuable evidence base for policymakers looking to design land-use and transport policies which positively contribute to sustainability goals and missions. However, our recent research (co-authored with Dr. Kevin Credit takes a different approach by analyzing how local environments impact travel costs for commuters in the Dublin Metropolitan Area.

Welcome to the site

1 minute read

Published:

Welcome to my website! My name is Conor O’Driscoll and I am an Assistant Professor in Economic Geography within the University of Groningen’s Faculty of Spatial Sciences.

portfolio

Does fear of failure hamper Irish business innovation?

Published:

This piece disseminates the main findings from a published report analysing the Irish innovation ecosystem. This report uses the insights from major stakeholders, across a wide range of industries/sectors, alongside rigourous conceptual analysis to highlight ways in which the Irish innovation ecosystem can evolve and become better equipped to handle the challenges of an ever-changing world.

The Links Between Where We Live and How We Commute

Published:

This piece illustrates the main findings from my ongoing research about the relationships between local built environments and commuting behaviours. It emphasizes that research such as this can positively contribute to pressing policymaking missions concerned reducing the environmental damage attributable to human activity.

Commuting and Land-Use Patterns in Ireland

Published:

This blog post describes the major findings from a recent research paper. In this paper, we use fine-grain spatial data and individual-level census data to analyse the interrelationships between socio-demographic characteristics, local built environments, and travel mode choices for commuters across the Republic of Ireland. This post describes the major findings of this work and situates the implications of these findings in the context of pressing policymaking issues in Ireland.

Why out of town retail parks don’t make sense in a climate crisis

Published:

This short piece illustrates the findings of ongoing research investigating the environmental damage attributable to travel behaviours and the spatial distribution of economic activities. The discussion centres around the environmental, economic, and social problems attributable to peripherally-located retail centres, using the metropolitan area of Cork, Ireland, as a case study.

Retail Centres in Cork, Ireland: The case of Carrigtwohill

Published:

This radio interview was hosted by the national broadcaster of the Republic of Ireland. The discussion centres around a regional debate surrounding the location of a proposed major retail outlet. Using findings from my PhD research, I make the case that current plans do not align with policymaking missions to develop more sustainably in the Cork metropolitan area. You can find this interview here. The relevant segment begins at 1 hour and 13 minutes into the broadcast.

Commuting in Kildare

Published:

I was invited onto a regional radio station Kildare Today to discuss recent research which explored the cost-effectiveness associated travelling by different modes of transport when commuting in the Dublin Metropolitan Area. The context of the discussion centred around this piece, published previously by RTE Brainstorm. You can listen to this discussion here. The research paper associated with these discussions explores the cost-effectiveness associated travelling by different modes of transport when commuting in the Dublin Metropolitan Area.

publications

Retail sprawl and CO2 emissions: Retail centres in Irish cities

Published in Journal of Transport Geography, 2022

This paper uses fine-grain spatial network data and individual-level census data to examine how location-effects influence transport-related emissions and travel mode choice when shopping in Irelands five city regions.

Recommended citation: Conor O’Driscoll, Frank Crowley, Justin Doran, Nóirín McCarthy. 2022. Retail sprawl and CO2 emissions: Retail centres in Irish cities. Journal of Transport Geography, 102, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2022.103376

Measuring land-use mixing across the Republic of Ireland: source data comparisons

Published in Journal of Maps, 2023

This paper uses fine-grain spatial data to measure land-use mixing across the five major cities of the Republic of Ireland and creates high-quality cartographic outputs to visualise patterns in the distribution of land-use configurations.

Recommended citation: Conor O’Driscoll, Frank Crowley, Justin Doran & Nóirín McCarthy. 2023. Measuring land-use mixing across the Republic of Ireland: source data comparisons. Journal of Maps, 19:1, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1080/17445647.2023.2214165

Land-use mixing in Irish cities: Implications for sustainable development

Published in Land Use Policy, 2023

This paper uses fine-grain spatial data to measure the levels of land-use mixing (land-use entropy) across the five major cities of the Republic of Ireland, and assesses the impacts these patterns may have on regional economic, environmental, and social outcomes.

Recommended citation: Conor O’Driscoll, Frank Crowley, Justin Doran, Nóirín McCarthy. 2023. Land-use mixing in Irish cities: Implications for sustainable development. Land Use Policy, 128, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2023.106615

How the relationship between socio-demographics, residential environments and travel influence commuter choices

Published in Regional Studies, 2024

This paper uses Generalised Structural Equation Modelling, fine-grain spatial data, and individual-level census data to explore the determinants of travel mode choices.

Recommended citation: Conor O’Driscoll, Frank Crowley, Justin Doran & Nóirín McCarthy. 2023. How the relationship between socio-demographics, residential environments and travel influence commuter choices. Regional Studies, 58:3, 636-653. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2023.2199779

Assessing modal tradeoffs and associated built environment characteristics using a cost-distance framework

Published in Journal of Transport Geography, 2024

This paper uses cost-distance ratios and random forest modelling to measure the mobility costs of different transport modes when commuting in the Dublin metropolitan area.

Recommended citation: Kevin Credit and Conor O’Driscoll. 2024. Assessing modal tradeoffs and associated built environment characteristics using a cost-distance framework. Journal of Transport Geography, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2024.103870

talks

Writing and Research in University

Published:

This talk was hosted for undergraduate students who were about to undertake the first research project of their academic journies. The purpose of this talk was to introduce them to writing conventions, techniques, and illustrate expectations surrounding what is “expected” in the writings of a university student. The slides for this talk can be found here.

Regional Studies Association (Irish Section) Workshop on Transportation Issues in Ireland

Published:

This workshop, hosted by the Regional Studies Association (Irish Section), covered the topic of pressing transportation issues in Ireland. At this workshop, I presented ongoing research about commuting flows in the Cork Metropolitan Area, while other notable speakers included Dr. Kevin Credit of Maynooth University and Prof. Hannah Daly of University College Cork. The slides for this talk can be found here.

Navigating Change: The PhD Journey and Life After

Published:

This was an invited talk open to all the PhD students within the Cork University Business School. The substance of the talk concerned my own PhD journey and how I have adjusted to “life after”. The slides for this talk can be found here.

teaching

Microeconomics - UCC

Undergraduate course, University College Cork, Department of Economics, 2022

This covers a series of courses I taught at University College Cork. The content relates to undergraduate microeconomics, and was taught to students studying economics, finance, and commerce. Relevant materials can be made available upon request, but click the link in the title to see an overview of the course contents.

Macroeconomics - UCC

Undergraduate course, University College Cork, Department of Economics, 2023

This covers a series of courses I taught at University College Cork. The content relates to undergraduate macroeconomics, and was taught to students studying economics, finance, and commerce. Relevant materials can be made available upon request, but click the link in the title to see an overview of the course contents.

Statistics and Econometrics - UCC

Undergraduate course, University College Cork, Department of Economics, 2023

This covers a series of courses I taught at University College Cork. The content relates to undergraduate statistics and econometrics, and was taught to students studying economics, finance, and commerce. Relevant materials can be made available upon request, but click the link in the title to see an overview of the course contents.

GESTAT1 - RUG

Undergraduate course, University of Groningen, Faculty of Spatial Sciences, Department of Economic Geography, 2023

This is an introductory statistics course for bachelor students studying geography, planning, and economic geography. Relevant materials will be made available soon.

GESTAT2 - RUG

Undergraduate course, University of Groningen, Faculty of Spatial Sciences, Department of Economic Geography, 2024

This is an intermediate statistics course for bachelor students studying geography, planning, and economic geography. Relevant materials will be made available soon.

Economic Geography: Theory and Application - RUG

Undergraduate course, University of Groningen, Faculty of Spatial Sciences, Department of Economic Geography, 2024

This is an introductory course to Economic Geography for masters students. The emphasis of this course lay in bridging the gap between theory and practice. Relevant materials will be made available soon.