Neoliberalism and Suburban Employment: Western Sydney in the 1990s

During the past 15 years metropolitan planning strategies of the NSW state government have done little to address the spatial distribution of either employment or labour market equity within the metropolis. In the fast‐growing outer western suburbs, the government has focused on attracting business investment to increase the stock of local jobs and to improve employment ‘self‐sufficiency’— a dominantly neoliberal policy framework. This paper explores a widening gulf between the reality of outer urban change and this policy framework by considering changes in the location of jobs and in the employment experiences of residents in Greater Western Sydney (GWS). Evidence is drawn from census journey‐to‐work data (1991–2001). While holding a majority of manufacturing jobs in Sydney, GWS also experienced continued growth of jobs in service industries during the 1990s. Yet the relative importance of employment in the city's fast‐growth finance and business services sector still lags well behind that of inner and northern parts of the city. The focus on growing the regional stock of jobs has not addressed problems of labour market access faced by residents of particular localities and the goal of employment self‐sufficiency has not delivered greater equity to outer suburban labour markets. A focus on sufficiency of access to employment for residents of GWS draws attention not only to regional stocks of jobs but also to the provision of social infrastructure and state‐provided services to outer suburban populations as they continue to expand.     

Mapping schools' NAPLAN results: a spatial inequality of school outcomes in Australia

This article identifies spatial dimensions of educational outcomes using maps of the 2016 Grade 5 reading results for Australia's National Assessment Program–Literacy and Numeracy for all Australian schools. A geographical information system (GIS) was used to overlay schools' results onto suburbs' advantage or disadvantage to visualise spatial patterns. We then examined the extent to which school results “cluster” in socio‐economically advantaged and disadvantaged suburbs and considered the consistency of spatial patterns for results across major cities. That work illustrates both how GIS can foreground educational inequality and how “the spatial” is more than corollary for student socio‐economic status. Results show substantial differences between urban and remote areas and towns of different size. Maps of cities visualise spatial “clustering” patterns of school results, with most schools in advantaged suburbs having high results and almost no schools in disadvantaged suburbs having high results. Educational outcomes strongly align to local socio‐demographic characteristics, and parallel host communities’ levels of advantage or disadvantage. Differences between public and private schools are less significant than within‐sector differences for schools in advantaged or disadvantaged locales. Patterns in all cities are consistent—schools in advantaged suburbs predominantly have high results, whereas non‐government schools generally perform better than government schools in disadvantaged suburbs. Most concerning is the persistent and increasing trajectory of results in advantaged, and more so in disadvantaged suburbs, of all cities since the first National Assessment Program–Literacy and Numeracy in 2008. Ameliorating spatial inequality between primary schools is one of the greatest challenges for Australians.     

Geographies of adult multigenerational family households in metropolitan Sydney

This paper investigates spatial trends of multigenerational adult families in metropolitan Sydney. Australia's immigrant gateway city, Sydney has high housing costs and infrastructure pressures, and planning policies support higher residential densities. In this context, the accommodation of persons living in multigenerational families is examined, by major region of origin, their geographies in Sydney, and by housing costs and constraints. Results highlight that cultural origins were influential in multigenerational household formations, and such formation is higher in areas of first and second ethnic community formation areas. Multigenerational living is also more common in middle ring and outer areas of cheaper housing. Implications are drawn for more nuanced housing policies in Sydney and comparable cities, given that detached and semi‐detached houses were favoured by these households, whereas two‐fifths of new housing constructed in Sydney in 2011 consists of two or less bedroom apartments.     

A CITY IN MOTION: TIME-SPACE ACTIVITY AND MOBILITY PATTERNS OF SUBURBAN INHABITANTS AND THE STRUCTURATION OF THE SPATIAL ORGANIZATION OF THE PRAGUE METROPOLITAN AREA

This contribution attempts to reveal the relations between new suburban areas and other parts of the Prague metropolitan area by investigating the time‐space activity and mobility patterns of the inhabitants of newly built suburban districts. The focus on some aspects of the everyday life of people in new suburbs helps us to identify the impact of suburbanization on the changing geography of the metropolitan region and to better understand how the spatial organization of the Prague metropolitan area is produced, reproduced and transformed. We use several interrelated concepts, which serve the theoretical foundation of our work, namely time geography, structuration theory and the post‐communist city. The empirical data utilized are primarily based on 262 diaries completed by eighty‐eight individuals from thirty‐eight households, accompanied by household questionnaires and interviews with the heads of households. The research confirmed the implicit, generally unspoken view that new suburbs in the Prague metropolitan region are heavily dependent on the core of the metropolitan area for the provision of jobs and services. However, newly built suburban shopping facilities to some extent disrupt this pattern, keeping some daily activities of inhabitants within the suburban zone. In addition to empirical observations, the key purpose of this contribution has been to discuss and apply time geography concepts and methods to the research of urban restructuring, and to understand the structuration of metropolitan spatial organization.     

The Hollowing Out of Brazilian Metropolitan Governance As We Know It: Restructuring and Rescaling the Developmental State in Metropolitan Space

Despite regulatory and financial rollout of the state at a number of scales, and a strengthening of the institutional framework that guides territorial planning and management, Brazilian metropolitan governance continues to be characterized by fragmented and relatively competitive organizational structures. Likewise, the Brazilian metropolis is marked by economic dynamism and intense socio‐spatial and environmental contradictions. Much of the mainstream literature on metropolitan governance has emphasized a natural “optimum” scale for planning and management in city‐regions, articulated by public and private stakeholders aimed at the coordinated delivery of economic, social and environmental services. Combining the literature on new state spaces and critical Brazilian urban‐regional studies, this paper provides an alternative framework to understand the impasse of Brazilian metropolitan areas, which is grounded within a geo‐historic reading of the contradictory projects and strategies of the developmental state and the contested nature of metropolitan scale itself.     

THE EFFECTS OF TAXES,EXPENDITURES, AND PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE ON METROPOLITAN AREA EMPLOYMENT*

ABSTRACT. Data for 28 metropolitan areas over a 15-year period are used to determine the impacts of government spending, taxes, and public infrastructure on total employment and disaggregated employment. After carefully controlling for the government budget constraint we find that taxes are negatively related to total employment and education spending is positively related to total employment. Nevertheless, we find that it is difficult for metropolitan areas to influence the composition of their employment with government tax and expenditure policies. Moreover, at current levels of public infrastructure, marginal changes in infrastructure have no strong effect on employment.     

Are new patterns of low‐income distribution emerging in Canadian metropolitan areas?

Recent studies on urban poverty in Canadian cities suggest a growing spatial concentration of poor populations within metropolitan regions. This article assesses trends in the intra‐urban distribution of the poor population from 1986 to 2006 in eight of Canada's largest cities. We consider five well‐known dimensions of segregation, as identified by Massey and Denton (1988) , in order to examine changes in the spatial distribution of poor populations within metropolitan areas: evenness, exposure, concentration, clustering, and centralization. These indices were calculated for low‐income populations at the census tract level using data from five Canadian censuses. Although each metropolitan area has distinctive characteristics, we were able to identify some general trends. The results suggest that, in 2006 compared to 1986, low‐income populations lived in more spatially concentrated areas, which were, at the same time, socioeconomically more homogeneous and more dispersed throughout the metropolitan area. In addition, we observed that over the last twenty years areas of poverty have been located, for the most part, in neighbourhoods adjacent to downtown cores. Nevertheless, we found that poverty has mostly increased in suburban areas located outside inner‐city neighbourhoods. Growing socioeconomic homogeneity and dispersion of low income areas in metropolitan areas reveal new spatial patterns of urban poverty distribution. These findings should be cause for concern as social isolation in the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods could affect the life chances and opportunities for the residents of those areas.     

Multilevel Instruments for Infrastructure Investment: Evaluating State Revolving Funds for Water

In recent decades, the federal government has introduced complex, multilevel state‐operated revolving loan fund programs as an instrument for promoting state and local investment in national infrastructure priorities while limiting direct federal involvement in implementation. A federally funded state revolving fund (SRF) program combines features of a categorical matching grant to states and a subsidized loan program to localities, both of which should lower the effective price of infrastructure investment and therefore promote higher levels of infrastructure investment. However, little evidence exists to date on whether these programs stimulate new subnational spending or instead displace spending that would have occurred otherwise. We evaluate the stimulus effects of SRFs by examining the two largest such programs, the Clean Water and the Drinking Water SRF Programs. Analyzing 17 years of state‐level panel data, we find evidence that the flow of federal funds to states under the SRF programs stimulates new local investment in wastewater infrastructure, but not in drinking water infrastructure. In discussing several possible explanations for these divergent results, we argue for further research that emphasizes the intergovernmental features of this financing tool.     

上海大都市区物联网产业集聚与空间演化

新兴技术产业的空间集聚与扩散对大都市区的空间结构有直接的影响,厘清新兴技术产业的空间分布和区位选择规律对新兴产业集群培育和大都市区空间结构调整都具有重要的政策意义。本文分析了上海市物联网企业的空间分布和集聚特征,结果发现初创期物联网企业在郊区集聚,随后向郊区其他区域扩散,并呈现出从单极向多极集聚转变的空间演化进程。通过构建负二项回归探究上海物联网企业的区位选择因素,结果表明制度因素和企业集聚效应对企业区位选择有重要影响。在产业发展初创期,企业区位选择受政府管制和市场机制双重影响,其中制度因素发挥了关键作用;而在随后的兴起期,产业集聚效应对新企业的入驻具有强大的吸引力。     

GOVERNMENT QUALITY AND THE ECONOMIC RETURNS OF TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT IN EUROPEAN REGIONS

Transport infrastructure investment is a cornerstone of growth‐promoting strategies. However, the link between infrastructure investment and economic performance remains unclear. This may be a consequence of overlooking the role of government institutions. This paper assesses the connection between regional quality of government and the returns of different types of road infrastructure in the regions of the European Union. The results unveil the influence of regional quality of government on the economic returns of transport infrastructure. In weak institutional contexts, investment in motorways—the preferred option by governments—yields significantly lower returns than the more humble secondary road. Government institutions also affect the returns of transport maintenance investment.     

A Sydney and Melbourne comparison of intra-urban differentials in unemployment rates

This article reports on multiple regression analyses of unemployment rates in the local government areas of Sydney and Melbourne which show that the spatial inequalities in unemployment risks may be greater in Sydney than in Melbourne. It explores the reasons for the difference and their implications for future trends in spatial inequalities.     

Metropolitan Governance in Sydney: A Case of ‘Joint Decision-Making’

This article analyses metropolitan governance arrangements in contemporary Sydney. Debate about the efficacy of these arrangements typically degenerates into an argument about the pros and cons of institutional consolidation. The article moves beyond this dispute, drawing on the concept of ‘actor-centred institutionalism’ to argue that Sydney's urban sprawl, combined with its rigid institutional setting, has produced what can be described as a ‘joint decision system’ of governance. Effective metropolitan governance in Sydney mainly depends on the ability to reach negotiated agreements within this system. However, a rising level of conflict between the New South Wales State government and local councils located within metropolitan Sydney increases the likeliness of undesirable blockades within the joint decision system. The article concludes that a cautious exercise of new overriding powers by the State government is crucial to promoting more effective metropolitan governance in Sydney.     

新国家空间理论视角下城市群的国家空间选择性研究

基于新国家空间理论,将城市群置于社会经济转型宏观背景下,分析其空间选择的国家空间项目与国家空间策略,并初步探讨了其空间效应。城市群作为目前国家空间选择性的具体形式,其产生背景、依据以及生产策略体现了国家空间选择性内涵与演变路径,是国家应对城市企业主义危机采取的一种新型城市与区域治理形式。在国家空间项目及其策略的支持下,城市群享有优先于其它地区发展的特权并实现经济快速发展,从而培育地方增长极并推动区域协调发展。然而,城市群的空间选择并未改变城市企业主义的逻辑而是将其转移到了区域尺度,并且存在城市间竞争激烈等一系列问题,亟待与其它空间项目与策略的配套实施以实现区域崛起并提高国家竞争力。     

SPRAWL,BLIGHT, AND THE ROLE OF URBAN CONTAINMENT POLICIES: EVIDENCE FROM U.S. CITIES

U.S. post‐war suburbanization has reshaped the spatial pattern of growth in many metropolitan areas, with population and employment shift toward the suburbs resulting in the urban decay of central cities. This being the case, the adoption of adequate anti‐sprawl policies should lead to a reduction in city blight. Availability of detailed blight measures at the city level enables us to undertake a novel empirical analysis to test this hypothesis. The empirical specification presented here identifies the specific impact of more stringent anti‐sprawl policies adopted at the metro level, proxied by the adoption of urban containment policies, on city blight. Results indicate that the adoption of such policies has effectively contributed to the reduction of downtown deterioration.     

Waiting for Miracles: The Commercialization of Urban Water Services in Zambia

This article focuses on the commercialization of urban water services in Zambia. It aims to demonstrate the tension between cost recovery and service extension when water sector reforms combine investment cuts with price increases. It is argued that in low‐income economies where infrastructure limitations are serious and poverty is widespread, heavy reliance on ‘tariff rationalization’ with low levels of investment can lead to reduced access to water and render water charges unaffordable. Reforms to public services can prove futile in the absence of upfront resources for investment in the restoration and extension of the existing infrastructure. In many ways, Zambia typifies other low‐income economies; this study thus offers useful lessons for them.     

Central Cities as Engines of Metropolitan Area Growth*

The paper analyzes the role of central cities as engines of economic growth in their metropolitan area. We wonder if there are increasing returns to central city growth at the metropolitan level arising from the positive externalities associated with the unique features of central cities. To answer this question we analyze the causality between the economic growth of Spanish central cities and the growth of the other jurisdictions belonging to their metropolitan area (i.e., the suburbs). The analysis uses population and economic activity data for a sample of 28 Spanish metropolitan areas during 35 years. We use a Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) framework to estimate long‐run equilibrium relationships between the growth of central cities and their suburbs. The combination of panel data and a VECM is an innovative approach that is still being developed in econometrics. The results suggest that central city growth has a long‐run positive effect on the growth of the suburbs. We also inquire as to whether or not this positive effect depends on the size of the central city. The results suggest that the effect is much higher in the case of the largest cities, but that it is also important in the case of the smaller ones.     

Restructuring of Sydney's Central Industrial Area: Process and Local Impacts

Since World War II Sydneys central industrial area has lost more than 80 per cent of its manufacturing workforce and no longer the dominant centre of manufacturing in Sydney, is now just one of a number of important centres. Unlike inner cities of the United Kingdom and United States, de-industrialisation in Sydney's central city has not caused a trapped population of displaced workers The first aim of this paper is to outline the restructuring of the central industrial area Two major periods of restructuring can be distinguished Up to the early I9 70s change in the industrial area was driven by intra- metropolitan forces. Since then international forces, and related major infrastructure developments, have substantially accelerated job bss. The second aim is to document the impacts which restructuring has had on the inner city workforce Jobs lost up to the early 1970s did not disadvantage inner city workers because employers as well as workers were moving to the suburbs Since then inner city workers in traditional blue collar occupations have been more strongly affected by de-industrialisation than the city as whole but the numbers involved have been too small to have been of much political interest Social problems in the inner city resulting from restructuring in the industrial area have been masked by strong gentrification.     

Geographic and Network Neighbors: Spillover Effects of Telecommunications Infrastructure

This paper tests for spatial spillover effects of state-level telecommunications infrastructure investment on state output, using panel data for 48 U.S. states from 1970 through 1997. As information and communication technologies support more industrial locational freedom, states may use telecommunications infrastructure investment as a competitive tool for attracting factors of production. In a production-function framework, this effect would manifest itself as a negative output spillover effect from telecommunications infrastructure investment. Findings indicate that a state benefits from its own telecommunications infrastructure, but telecommunications investment by other states has a negative impact on its output growth path, and proximity amplifies this negative spillover effect.     

北京都市区就业-居住空间结构及特征研究

近二十年来,在经济社会转型和城市化进程不断加快的背景下,我国许多大城市的就业-居住空间结构发生了巨大的变化。本研究以北京都市区为例,建立北京都市区就业-居住基础地理信息数据库,运用GIS空间分析技术对北京就业-居住空间关系进行多尺度分析,在界定就业中心和居住中心的基础上,评价北京都市区的就业与居住平衡状况。研究结果表明,就业-居住分离是当今北京城市空间结构的突出特征。