affordable housing: the productivity dimension - … · affordable housing: the productivity...

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Affordable housing: the productivity dimensionDr Marcus Spiller, SGS Economics & Planning Pty Ltd Principal and Partner

Thesocialhousingpolicycommunityhasitsfoundationsintheearlyyearsofthelong,post-warboom.Publicinvestmentinhousingwasthenseenasanadjuncttoindustrialdevelopment–aladdertoopportunityforordinaryworkingpeople.

Sincetheearly80s,policymakinginsocialhousinghasbeenshepherded,orbludgeoned,intoamuchnarrower‘welfaresafetynetrole’.Now,socialhousingtendstobeseenastheshelteroptionoflastresort.Therehavebeennichevariationstothisthemewith,forexample,initiativestosecure‘keyworker’housinginregionswithbuoyantlabourmarkets,butoverallthenarrowfocusprevails.Moreover,itseemsincreasinglydifficulttogeneratesupportforinvestmentinsocialhousingregardlessofwhereaparticulargovernmentmightsitonthepoliticalspectrum.

Thispaperarguesthatafreshconstituencyforsocialhousingcanbestbebuiltbyre-focussingonthelinkbetweenadequatehousingandhumancapitaldevelopment.Thatis,thesocialhousingpolicycommunityneedstoshowhowinvestmentinthissector,alongsideotherspatialpolicyinitiatives,canbeusedtobuildskillsandcreateamoreadaptableeconomy,justastheoriginalarchitectsofsocialhousingpolicyhadenvisaged.

Productivityandhumancapitaldevelopmentareprioritiesofallgovernmentsastheystrivetomaintainlivingstandardsinthefaceofanageingpopulation.

Tomakethemostofthisstrategytorevitalisethesocialhousingagenda,thispolicycommunitywillneedtoovercomeabarrierofitsownmaking–thedividebetweenhousingpolicyandurbanpolicy.Sadly,thesetwospheresofpublicsectorendeavourtocontinuetooperateinsilos.

IwillillustratethesepropositionsbyreferencetopatternsofurbandevelopmentinmetropolitanBrisbane.Indoingso,thepaperdrawsonimagesfromarecentGrattanInstitutereportentitledProductive cities: opportunity in a changing economy.1SGSEconomics&PlanningPtyLtd(SGS)providedpro-bonoadviceandmappingassistancetotheInstituteinrespectofthisreport.

AstarksocialpolarizationisbeginningtotakeholdintheBrisbanemetropolitanarea.Thisisbadinandofitself,butitisalsocreatingamismatchbetweentheneedsoftheknowledgeeconomyandthelocationofvitalhumanresourcesrequiredtosustainit.

AsisevidentinFigure1thesouthernsuburbsofthemetropolitanareahaveasharplylowerincomeprofilethantherestofBrisbane,whilehighincome‘enclaves’haveestablishedinthecentralcity,thewesternsuburbsandneighbourhoodsalongtheriver.

Thissocio-economicdivisionreflectsstructuralshiftsintheregionaleconomy,withemploymentinthedesign,brokerageandproblemsolvingaspectsofmodernindustryclusteringintheinnercity,whilethemakinganddistributionaspectsareconfined,orpushed,toouterurbanareas.

Asaresult,workerswithuniversityqualificationsaremoreheavilyrepresentedintheinnercityand‘riversuburbs’(Figure2).Overthepastcoupleofdecades,theknowledgeintensityofallindustrieshasmovedup,demandingmoreuniversity-trainedworkersacrosstheboard.However,the‘in-board’biasinthelocationoftheseworkershasbecomemorepronounced(Figure3).Thesestructuralshiftsare,perhaps,evenmorepronouncedwhenobservedintheinverse.Workerswithnopostschoolqualificationsareclearlyconcentratedinouterareas(Figure4),asare‘disconnected’youngpeople,thatis,thosethatarenotineducation,trainingoremployment(Figure5).

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Tocompoundthisintuitivelyunhelpfulpatternofseparationbetweenthoseengagedinproductionwork(ornowork)andthoseengagedinbrokerageandproblemsolving,itwouldappearthatBrisbane’stransportsystemeffectivelylocksworkersinouterareasoutofmorelucrativelabourmarkets.Residentsinoutlyingsuburbshavesignificantlyloweraccesstoemploymentopportunitiesthantheirin-boardcounterparts.Thisholdsforcar-borneworkers(Figure6),butbecomesquiteextremeforthoseworkerswhomustusepublictransport

toreachemployment(ortraining,oranyotheropportunityinFigure7).

Asidefromthenegativeconsequencesforsocialcohesion,thisfragmentationinlabourmarketsbodesillforBrisbane’sproductivity;thatis,itscapacitytogeneratetheincomerequiredtomeettheneedsofagrowingandageingpopulation.Indeed,a‘double-whammy’effectisatplay.Theinnerurbanknowledgeeconomyfacesgoodgrowthprospectsbecauseittendstobestronglyexportoriented–problem-solvingservices

aredeliveredtoclientswellbeyondBrisbanetootherpartsoftheState,thenationandtheworld.Whatitneedstogrowisaccesstowelltrainedworkers.Unfortunately,asubstantialpartofthe‘brains’potentiallyavailabletoBrisbane’sinnerurbanservicessectorisstrandedinremote,inaccessibleresidentiallocations.Atthesametime,workersintheseouterareasaredeniedtheopportunitytodeveloptheirskillsbecausetheyareconfinedtoamuchshallowerjobspoolbyaninadequatepublictransportsystem.Innercityindustryand

Figure 4

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outerurbanworkersbothloseintheprocess.

Providingcheaphousingontheurbanfringe,possiblyinanefforttocreatemoreaffordablehousing,isactingasabrakeonBrisbane’seconomicperformance.

Policiesarerequiredtobetterconnectfringesuburbsintomainstreamlabourmarkets.Thismeansradicallyrethinkingpublictransportstrategies.

Itisalsoimportanttoexpandhousingsupplyinalreadywell-connectedsuburbsandtomakesurethatareasonableshareofthisisavailableassocialhousing.ThistoowillhelpmitigatewastageinBrisbane’shumancapitalstock,byensuringthatthosemostatriskofpermanentdisengagementfromthelabourforceareexposedtotrainingandjobopportunities.

Socialhousingpolicycan,andshould,beframedaspartofthesolutiontothiseconomicdevelopmentchallenge

ofbuildingthebestqualitylabourforcefora21stcenturyeconomy.Thisisrequiredifthecommunityatlarge,andgovernments,aretoonceagaincommitsignificantresourcestothesocialhousingproject.

Endnote

1. GrattanInstitutereport,Productive cities: opportunity in a changing economy http://grattan.edu.au/events/event/productive-cities-opportunity-in-a-changing-economy

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