Understanding the Spatial Effects of Unaffordable Housing Using the Commuting Patterns of Workers in the New Zealand Integrated Data Infrastructure

Commuting behaviour has been intensively examined by geographers, urban planners, and transportation researchers, but little is known about how commuting behaviour is spatially linked with the job and housing markets in urban cities. New Zealand has been recognised as one of the countries having the...

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Main Authors: Chuyi Xiong, Ka Shing Cheung, Olga Filippova
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-07-01
Series:ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/10/7/457
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author Chuyi Xiong
Ka Shing Cheung
Olga Filippova
author_facet Chuyi Xiong
Ka Shing Cheung
Olga Filippova
author_sort Chuyi Xiong
collection DOAJ
description Commuting behaviour has been intensively examined by geographers, urban planners, and transportation researchers, but little is known about how commuting behaviour is spatially linked with the job and housing markets in urban cities. New Zealand has been recognised as one of the countries having the most unaffordable housing over the past decade. A group of middle-class professionals called ‘key workers’, also known during the pandemic as ‘essential workers’, provide essential services for the community, but cannot afford to live near their workplaces due to a lack of affordable housing. As a result, these key workers incur significant sub-optimal commuting. Such job-housing imbalance has contributed to a so-called spatial mismatch problem. This study aims to visualise the excess commuting patterns of individual workers using the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI) from Statistics New Zealand. The visualisation suggests that over the last demi-decade, housing unaffordability has partially distorted the commuting patterns of key workers in Auckland. More of the working population, in particular those key workers, are displaced to the outer rings of the city. While there is an overall reduction in excess commuting across three groups of workers, key workers remain the working population with a disproportionate long excess commute.
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spelling doaj.art-a089e56eeb6041fdb97c7488c1a20be22023-11-22T03:54:49ZengMDPI AGISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information2220-99642021-07-0110745710.3390/ijgi10070457Understanding the Spatial Effects of Unaffordable Housing Using the Commuting Patterns of Workers in the New Zealand Integrated Data InfrastructureChuyi Xiong0Ka Shing Cheung1Olga Filippova2Department of Property, The University of Auckland Business School, Auckland 1142, New ZealandDepartment of Property, The University of Auckland Business School, Auckland 1142, New ZealandDepartment of Property, The University of Auckland Business School, Auckland 1142, New ZealandCommuting behaviour has been intensively examined by geographers, urban planners, and transportation researchers, but little is known about how commuting behaviour is spatially linked with the job and housing markets in urban cities. New Zealand has been recognised as one of the countries having the most unaffordable housing over the past decade. A group of middle-class professionals called ‘key workers’, also known during the pandemic as ‘essential workers’, provide essential services for the community, but cannot afford to live near their workplaces due to a lack of affordable housing. As a result, these key workers incur significant sub-optimal commuting. Such job-housing imbalance has contributed to a so-called spatial mismatch problem. This study aims to visualise the excess commuting patterns of individual workers using the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI) from Statistics New Zealand. The visualisation suggests that over the last demi-decade, housing unaffordability has partially distorted the commuting patterns of key workers in Auckland. More of the working population, in particular those key workers, are displaced to the outer rings of the city. While there is an overall reduction in excess commuting across three groups of workers, key workers remain the working population with a disproportionate long excess commute.https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/10/7/457job-housing imbalancegeo-visualisationspatial analysisexcess commutingAucklandIntegrated data infrastructure (IDI)
spellingShingle Chuyi Xiong
Ka Shing Cheung
Olga Filippova
Understanding the Spatial Effects of Unaffordable Housing Using the Commuting Patterns of Workers in the New Zealand Integrated Data Infrastructure
ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information
job-housing imbalance
geo-visualisation
spatial analysis
excess commuting
Auckland
Integrated data infrastructure (IDI)
title Understanding the Spatial Effects of Unaffordable Housing Using the Commuting Patterns of Workers in the New Zealand Integrated Data Infrastructure
title_full Understanding the Spatial Effects of Unaffordable Housing Using the Commuting Patterns of Workers in the New Zealand Integrated Data Infrastructure
title_fullStr Understanding the Spatial Effects of Unaffordable Housing Using the Commuting Patterns of Workers in the New Zealand Integrated Data Infrastructure
title_full_unstemmed Understanding the Spatial Effects of Unaffordable Housing Using the Commuting Patterns of Workers in the New Zealand Integrated Data Infrastructure
title_short Understanding the Spatial Effects of Unaffordable Housing Using the Commuting Patterns of Workers in the New Zealand Integrated Data Infrastructure
title_sort understanding the spatial effects of unaffordable housing using the commuting patterns of workers in the new zealand integrated data infrastructure
topic job-housing imbalance
geo-visualisation
spatial analysis
excess commuting
Auckland
Integrated data infrastructure (IDI)
url https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/10/7/457
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