Daily Interaction of Housing and Labour Markets in North West England

Abstract

Hincks S. Daily interaction of housing and labour markets in North West England, Regional Studies. The importance of the daily spatial interaction of housing and labour markets has long been recognized due to the role that housing and labour market interaction plays in structuring cities and regions. However, the extent to which policies are sensitized to the interaction of residential and workplace locations is questionable. This paper undertakes a systematic examination of the daily interaction of sub-regional housing and labour markets drawing on 2001 Census commuting data from North West England. The intention is to provide evidence of the nature of the daily spatial interaction of housing and labour markets to inform policy.

Hincks S. L'interaction quotidienne des marchés du logement et du travail dans le nord-ouest de l'Angleterre, Regional Studies. Depuis des années on reconnaît l'importance de l'interaction géographique quotidienne des marchés du logement et du travail à cause du rôle joué par l'interaction des marchés du logement et du travail dans la structure des grandes villes et des régions. Cependant, l'importance de la sensibilisation des politiques à l'interaction des lieux de résidence et des lieux de travail est douteux. Cet article examine systématiquement l'interaction quotidienne des marchés du logement et du travail sous-regionaux, puisant dans les données provenant du recensement de 2001 auprès des trajets quotidiens dans le nord-ouest d'Angleterre pour se rendre au travail. On cherche à fournir des preuves des caractéristiques de l'interaction géographique quotidienne des marchés du logement et du travail pour informer la politique.

Marchés du logement Marchés du travail Trajets quotidiens Interaction quotidienne

Hincks S. Tägliche Wechselwirkungen zwischen dem Wohnungs- und Arbeitsmarkt von Nordwestengland, Regional Studies. Die Bedeutung der täglichen räumlichen Wechselwirkungen zwischen dem Wohnungs- und Arbeitsmarkt wird schon seit langem anerkannt, da diese Wechselwirkungen bei der Strukturierung von Städten und Regionen eine Rolle spielen. Allerdings ist fraglich, in welchem Umfang bei den Politiken die Wechselwirkungen zwischen Wohn- und Arbeitsorten berücksichtigt werden. In diesem Beitrag werden die täglichen Wechselwirkungen zwischen dem subregionalen Wohnungs- und Arbeitsmarkt anhand der in der Volkszählung von 2001 erfassten Berufspendlerdaten Nordwestenglands systematisch untersucht. Ziel ist die Bereitstellung von Belegen für die Art der täglichen räumlichen Wechselwirkungen zwischen dem Wohnungs- und Arbeitsmarkt zur entsprechenden Ausgestaltung der Politik.

Wohnungsmarkt Arbeitsmarkt Pendlerverkehr Tägliche Wechselwirkungen

Hincks S. Interacción diaria entre los mercados de vivienda y trabajo en el noroeste de Inglaterra, Regional Studies. Desde hace tiempo se reconoce la importancia de la interacción espacial diaria entre los mercados de vivienda y trabajo debido al papel que desempeña la interacción entre tales mercados en la estructuración de ciudades y regiones. Sin embargo, se cuestiona en qué medida las políticas están sensibilizadas con la interacción entre los lugares de residencia y de trabajo. En este artículo llevamos a cabo un examen sistemático de la interacción diaria entre los mercados de vivienda y trabajo a nivel subregional basándonos en los datos sobre los desplazamientos al trabajo del Censo de 2001 del noroeste de Inglaterra. Nuestro objetivo es ofrecer evidencias del tipo de la interacción espacial diaria entre los mercados de vivienda y trabajo para dar forma a las políticas relevantes.

Mercados de la vivienda Mercados de trabajo Desplazamientos al trabajo Interacción diaria

Keywords:

• Housing markets
• Labour markets
• Commuting
• Daily interaction

JEL classifications:

• J40
• J60
• R3
• R31

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank Cecilia Wong, two anonymous referees, and the Editor for their constructive comments on the drafting of this paper. The usual disclaimer applies.

Notes

Castree et al. (2004, p. 260) define local as ‘the relatively small geographical scale at which daily life is played out’.

Estate agent knowledge was used in the delineation of HMAs based on the assumption that, in their catchment area, estate agents have specialist knowledge of housing market operation and are aware of the typical patterns of prospective-mover search behaviour (Palm, 1978). Initially, a number of settlements in the region were identified that were broadly consistent with those covered by TTWAs, reflecting the assumption that the HMAs and TTWAs should be geographically comparable (Jones, 2002). In these settlements, the branches of national estate agents were contacted to enable the compilation of a list of settlements judged to constitute local markets that could be drawn upon in guiding the delineation of HMAs. In areas where national estate agent coverage was low, local estate agents were used, and this proved necessary in parts of Cheshire and Cumbria. The consultation was then extended beyond the initial core settlements to identify further settlements that might constitute the cores of additional HMAs. In total, forty-three potential core HMA settlements were identified through estate agent consultation.

The function applied is as follows:

where F _a,a is the number of people who both live and work in the area concerned; R _a is the number of workers living in the area concerned (demand side); and W _a is the number of people who work in the area concerned (supply side).

The 2001 SWS records the origin and destination of commuters between their dominant place of work and their usual (primary) residential location.

The lack of consistency in ward geographies between census periods is part of the reason why the UK's most recent definitive analysis of counterurbanization was undertaken using local authority boundaries which have remained more stable over time (Champion et al., 1998).

For example, in the UK, the Urban White Paper Our Towns and Cities: The Future. Delivering an Urban Renaissance (Department for Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR), 2000), Sustainable Communities; Building for the Future (ODPM, 2003), and more recently the Ecotowns agenda have all been implemented to promote the idea of the ‘urban idyll’ and to reduce long-distance, car-dependent commuting.