Photo: Tram: abc.net.au
Our bursting cities part 1: housing solutions
By Hilary Harper on Life MattersShare
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As Australian cities grow at a rapid rate, the people who can no longer afford to live there, get pushed out.
Many of them are what economists call key workers — the teachers, nurses, police, health and emergency workers whose jobs are crucial for the running of our cities.
We know this is bad for the individuals who get pushed out, but researchers say it’s bad for everyone.
Actually, urban planner Professor Peter Phibbs says, if things don’t change, we’re “sleepwalking” our way into a major economic disaster.
So what can be done to turn things around?
Guests:
Dr Somwrita Sarkar, senior lecturer in design and computation, with an interest in city science research, University of Sydney
Professor Peter Phibbs, geographer, planner, social economist and director of the Henry Halloran Trust, University of SydneyDuration: 19min 32secBroadcast: Thu 27 Feb 2020, 9:06am
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Duration: 41 minutes 50 seconds41m
AUSTRALIA has one of five fastest growing cities in the World!
WHY is this so?
When we are not China, India, Indonesia …
MELBOURNE
KEY WORKERS are being squeezed out, and that is bad for all of us!
Where you can afford to live and where you need to be are two very different
places …
HOW BIG are cities getting around the World?
By 2050 there will be 9 BILLION People on the planet with some 68 -70% living in
Cities.
-in 2008 we crossed the landmark with 55/60% of the World’s population living in cities
-Australia is one of the most highly urbanised countries
-a lot to do with changing economic patterns of jobs and services
-driving people inherently to where people conglomerate in large numbers
–international migrant program is a significant proportion of our growth
-migrants are attracted to Sydney and Melbourne for employment
–a large proportion are international students
-our migration program was ramped up in 2009 because of the GFC
-Melbourne’s growth double that of a lot of other global cities; playing catch up with
transport and infrastructure in Sydney and Melbourne
–one of the key findings is that economic growth is not across the board; the extra wealth generated goes to the top income brackets; it is not trickling down!
-a key issue is housing because housing is a basic need, and an economic opportunity *
If you are thinking about housing as an economic opportunity and if you have a lot of people who have the wealth to purchase housing at higher and higher prices you have a situation where you are pushing a lot of people out of the Housing Market
-a moderate income earner whose salary is not good enough to buy a house in the city you want to live in
-the housing market is a huge generator of wealth inequalities
-very sharp reduction in interest rates; phenomenal impact with staggering price of housing
-low and moderate income earners cannot afford to save the deposit
.Australia’s rental properties on World standards are quite expensive
.now looking at 3% interest rates
.doubling the housing prices in the cities
-key workers are struggling to meet the deposit gap for homes close to the city
-teachers and nurses are moving a long way to buy more affordable housing
.with commutes of 2 hours each way to work
.hospitals are struggling to recruit staff because they can’t afford to live anywhere appropriate
.the consequence e.g. intensive care nurses end up working in nursing homes, in general nursing
.problems are emerging now unlike for nurses who bought homes in the early 1990s
-talking about the idea of Poly Centric Cities
.the nature of some jobs is to be concentrated, and the nature of some jobs to be dispersed
.Sydney a traditional city in which a large number commute to the single concentrated hub or a large number to the dispersed areas
.those living on the periphery travel longer to reach concentrated hubs
.if there were more hubs and mixed-use development providing access to a service is also someone else’s job
.a number of different CBDs and hubs rather than a single one; talking of a more efficient structure
.where no-one has to travel beyond 30 or 40 minutes each day to access their job or the service they require
-it comes down to coordination between local government, metropolitan and state level
.with the Greater Sydney Commission (GSC) at the metropolitan level
.the Department of Planning at the state level
.and local government with an incredibly important role concerning social and community infrastructure
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