Application of mobile phone location data in mapping of commuting patterns and functional regionalization: a pilot study of Estonia

The paper presents initial steps into the research of commuting patterns and functional regions using mobile phone location data. The main aim is to introduce and discuss the potential of mobile phone location data as an alternative data sources to censuses for mapping commuting flows and subsequent functional regionalization. A set of analytical maps covering various aspects of regular daily movements of population and functional regionalization is provided. Estonia is serving as a pilot laboratory for analyses based on commuting flows derived from mobile phone location data. The maps give to reader a synthetic overview of contemporary settlement system in Estonia and introduce the potential of mobile phone location data for research in this field.