Access to jobs in Greater Sydney

A city’s infrastructure facilitates its smooth operation, quality of life, economic outcomes and environmental performance. Transport infrastructure in particular seeks to maximise labour productivity by improving accessibility. Using Effective Job Density (EJD) as a measure, SGS has completed a spatial analysis of Greater Sydney in ten yearly increments to 2041.

The analysis provides an understanding of the role of transport infrastructure and its relationship with jobs across the city. EJD is a measure of urban agglomeration where ‘the spatial concentration of economic activities can take the form of concentration in industry clusters or employment centers within a city’^[1]. EJD is calculated using the following formula:

The analysis uses travel zone level data for private vehicles, with two inputs: travel time from location a to location b, and the number of jobs at location b. Employment and transport travel time data for each travel zone was sourced from Transport for NSW, Transport Performance and Analytics. The travel times include car based travel only and considers travelling in the morning peak. The projections of employment are based on Land Use 2014 and considers existing trends and policy at the time they were created. The modelling also assumes that there will be some additional investment in transport infrastructure consistent with policy across Greater Sydney. Any detailed policy work would need to review and update these specific assumptions as required.

EJD values were normalised across all time periods, on a scale of 1-10 and then categorised into 10 unit increments. This allows a comparison across time periods on a like-for-like basis. The larger the category, the greater the employment accessibility.

The interactive map provides the results of the EJD analysis. The mapping could be considered a base case. The map does not display the industries of employment, or how changes in transport infrastructure could affect the accessibility or indeed the location of these jobs over time. Future additional analysis could focus on the mix of jobs by industries and take into account other infrastructure such as public or active transport. This would provide a stronger understanding of the impact travel times have on access to employment and city productivity.

Access to jobs is an important measure of city productivity. This analysis showcases the powerful analytical tools available to inform investment decisions. The delivery of new infrastructure should be consistent with long term strategic planning for a city, aligning investment with a preferred spatial and economic structure of the city. This will provide greater certainty and can help make sure the highest priority projects are being delivered.

Note: SGS will seek to update this analysis with the latest Land Use 2016 forecasts once available.

Footnotes

1. Strange, William C. "urban agglomeration." The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Second Edition. Eds. Steven N. Durlauf and Lawrence E. Blume. Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics Online. Palgrave Macmillan. 10 April 2017. <http://www.dictionaryofeconomics.com/article?id=pde2008_U000064> doi:10.1057/9780230226203.1769