Exploring the relationship between jobs and housing in China’s megacities: the case of Guangzhou and Shenzhen

Abstract

The jobs-housing imbalance is a critical problem in many megacities. However, prevalent research tends to focus on the numerical balance while overlooking the balance in affordability. Moreover, studies connecting jobs-housing relationships with employment characteristics are limited. Taking Guangzhou and Shenzhen as the cases, this study conducts a spatial autocorrelation analysis based on online jobs and housing big data to explore the spatial relationships between jobs and housing in terms of both availability and affordability as well as their associations with employment attributes. This study reveals that jobs-housing mismatches usually exist in suburban areas between urban cores and peripheries. Additionally, the percentages of job postings with different characteristics vary across different categories of jobs-housing relationships. The findings underscore the necessity of integrating job opportunities and housing in the development of suburban areas, while also advocating for enhanced housing provisions in suburban industrial zones. Furthermore, the study suggests that individuals in the private sector, lacking employer-provided accommodations, holding bachelor’s degrees, or possessing moderate to minimal work experience, should be prioritized while making housing policies as they are more susceptible to experiencing jobs-housing imbalances. These insights contribute to the policy formulation for different groups of workers, thereby fostering jobs-housing balance.

Keywords

• jobs-housing balance
• employment
• housing
• sales market
• rental market