It is a long held tenet of economic geography that land use will adjust over time in response to changes in relative accessibility. Moving operations to areas of superior accessibility reduces transaction costs in dealing with suppliers and distributors, as well as improving access to much needed workforce skills. These same dynamics apply to households. They adjust location to maximise opportunities for employment, education, recreation and other services. This paper statistically assesses and quantifies the relationship between accessibility and locational decisions of firms (jobs) and households (population) in Melbourne. The regression analysis confirmed that relative accessibility is a significant factor in a suburbÆs ability to attract and retain jobs and households. The three final transport options proposed by the East West Link Needs Assessment study in Melbourne are then used as case studies to demonstrate the varying land use impacts of apparently similar transport projects. The paper concludes that such analysis should be routine in accessing the efficacy of the proposed transport options in contributing towards broader societal goals and objectives. (a) For the covering record of the conference, please refer to ITRD no. E218380.
Samenvatting