Despite widespread community and professional recognition and acceptance of the issue, there are many ways to measure and define the concept of jobs closer to home. In NSW, the State Plan measure is the proportion of the population with access to a centre within 30 minutes by public transport, with a range of supporting indicators. The paper discusses the definition and measurement issues using data for Sydney. A central issue is conflict between opportunities for jobs closer to home, and actual behaviour of workers in choosing a job closer to home. Policy initiatives can focus on increasing opportunities for jobs closer to home, but this may not be reflected in actual behaviour. In working towards the objective, planning needs to recognise the different reasons why people may not choose a job close to home. The paper discusses policy approaches to achieving jobs closer to home such as transport improvements, strategic land use planning for housing and job location, work practices and the role of information, and related impacts on other policy objectives such as public transport use and air quality. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E216058.
Abstract