Affordable housing and employment opportunity: is there a spatial mismatch?

Summary

As at 2001, housing affordability is strongly spatially differentiated across Melbourne, with most affordable locations in the outer suburbs. Unemployment was spatially concentrated in outer suburban locations, especially declining industrial areas. Employment growth was high near where unemployment was high and located in areas with good public transport services. On balance, a spatial mismatch between housing and job opportunities was not apparent in Melbourne.


Project Number: 30233
Research Theme: Housing_Affordability
Project Leader: Berry, Mike
Funding Year: 2003
Research Centre: RMIT-NATSEM

Description

The relationship between the location and type of employment and residential location is one of the key dynamics underlying urban development processes. Rather than being distributed evenly throughout the urban region, employment tends to concentrate in particular locations, such as the city centre, or regional activity centres. Meanwhile the housing market distributes housing opportunity and wealth geographically, with concentrations of high value/cost areas and modestly priced areas. The housing market in Australia distributes households along affordability lines, such that lower income households tend to be located in areas where housing is more affordable (Winter and Stone 1998; Birrell, O'Connor and Rapson 1999; Wulff and Reynolds 2000).

The location of such housing may not coincide with the location of employment opportunity, which gives rise to questions of the extent of spatial mismatch in the Australian urban context. Associated with this mismatch are tenurial differences, with home-owners potentially less geographically mobile than renters. While rent assistance is potentially one means of providing mobility to overcome the geographical divide between employment opportunity and the location of affordable housing, another means of overcoming such geographic obstacles is that of urban transport. Inadequate transport has been found to be a key component of social exclusion, for example in the UK.

The project aimed to establish the extent to which the following phenomena are spatially concentrated within the metropolitan Melbourne: high housing affordability:

  • housing tenure (public/private rental/home-ownership);
  • high unemployment;
  • high employment opportunity.

It also aimed to:

  • establish how the above are geographically co-located or geographically distanciated;
  • explore any tenure effects associated with locations of high housing affordability, high unemployment and high employment opportunity;
  • explore the degree of spatial mismatch between the locations of housing affordability, unemployment concentration and employment opportunity;
  • examine the role that transport modes play in overcoming any mismatch between the location of housing affordability, and the extent to which travel costs incur a further affordability burden on low-income households.

 

More Information

Download now Final Report: No. 080: Is there a spatial mismatch between housing affordability and employment opportunity in Melbourne?
1.9 MB PDF Document

Download now Positioning Paper: No. 080: A mismatch between housing affordability and employment opportunity in Melbourne?
2.3 MB PDF Document

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