Media Release
December 2 2009
Work, Home, Community essential to urban planning
Understanding
how households and work fit together is essential to good urban policy
and planning, according to new research from the
University of South Australia to
be launched in Adelaide today.
The four-year Work, Home and Community Project, undertaken by UniSA’s
Centre
for Work + Life, shows the increasing reach of work into home life
and makes specific recommendations for more sustainable lives and
communities for the future.
Researchers surveyed more than 1000 residents – adults, teenagers,
workers, business and community service providers – from 10 traditional
and master-planned communities across four states, representing high and
low socio-economic status.
Project Manager
Dr Pip Williams said the key message to come out of the research was
that housing policy should not be considered without looking at other
activities people engage in on a daily basis, such as work, education,
business, sport, community and social commitments.
“Planning decisions about work and housing cannot be expressed
independently of each other,” Dr Williams said.
“The increasing reach of work into households and across the lifecycle,
makes it more important to understand and respond to the tighter links
between where and how we live, and where and how we work – in terms of
personal, social and economic significance.”
Centre for Work + Life Director,
Professor Barbara Pocock, said the separation of residential areas
from areas of employment forced many residents to choose between a
personal career and family care.
“The result for families is a clear division of labour,” Prof Pocock
said.
“Many highly educated and skilled women are forced to abandon careers in
the city and take lower skilled jobs close to home in order to be
available to their children and many family-oriented men have to trade
time with their children for long commutes and long working hours.
“The reconfiguration of work in terms of hours, intensity and
responsibility means increased pressure on families, with increased need
for child-care support and informal social linking.
“In newer planned suburbs, support from community services and extended
family is scarcer, while the predominance of busy high-mortgaged
dual-income families makes community interaction more elusive,
especially for singles and retirees.
“In older traditional suburbs, work demands are less intrusive and the
presence of long-standing residents leads to increased social stability
and support.”
Dr Williams said the research, conducted through focus groups,
interviews and surveys, found teenagers wanted access to jobs while
still at school; young Australians sought access to study and employment
opportunities; middle-aged Australians were putting together jobs and
families and looking for good spatial links between work and family; and
older Australians increasingly wanted and expected to have some access
to employment as they gradually stepped into retirement.
“This means that understanding how work and households change and fit
together is essential to good urban policy and planning,” she said.
“Urban and housing environments impact on work behaviours, most clearly
in terms of physical proximity, use of time and the contours of social
relationships. Essentially these intersecting domains comprise the
resource pool that shapes the amount of choice and control people have
over their social lives and the kinds of communities they can create.
“But it also runs the other way: the location, availability and terms of
work also affect how well households function and the capacity for
community relationships.”
The project report makes specific stakeholder recommendations to all
levels of government, planners and developers, schools, business and
individuals.
Recommendations include:
Governments should consider the broad and multiple activities of
residents in any community development.
Housing development that ignores the employment, mobility and
recreational activities of residents create demands for individuals and
households that affect the functioning of the whole community.
Good infrastructure planning including transport options (road and rail)
and essential services (education facilities, child care options, post
office, banking, medical, retail) should precede housing in new
developments as much as possible.
Co-location of work and home should be a priority of planning.
Planners and developers need to incorporate physical and social
infrastructure that reflects the diversity of residents (young children,
teenagers, workers, non-workers, elderly).
The provision of excellent public transport should be considered
essential to the sustainability of suburban and urban communities.
Forward planning of public transport infrastructure will ensure new
developments are well connected and facilitate the development of
sustainable travel habits early on.
Planners should consider how residents are likely to engage in the
labour market.
Build communities near areas of appropriate work, e.g. do not build new
communities for the middle-class a long distance from professional jobs.
The full report is available online at
http://www.unisa.edu.au/hawkeinstitute/cwl/default.asp
Launch: 10am – 12 noon, Intercontinental Adelaide, North Terrace,
Adelaide
Contact for interview
-
Dr Pip Williams mobile 0423 298 685; Prof Barbara Pocock
mobile 0414 244 606
Media contact
- Kelly Stone office (08) 8302 0963 mobile 0417 861 832 email kelly.stone@unisa.edu.au