Evolving patterns of employment concentration in Sydney

A growing literature has been investigating whether urban areas are becoming polycentric through the emergence of contiguous employment concentrations in suburban areas, or whether cities are becoming subject to generalised employment dispersion as Gordon and Richardson (1996) argue with respect to Los Angeles. Research methods to identify sub-centres include ESDA, non-parametric quantitative techniques and both parametric and non-parametric econometric techniques, including locally weighted regression. In this paper, we address a gap in the recent Australian literature (but see Pfister et al, 2000), by utilising the approach developed by Giuliano and Small (1991) to investigate whether employment concentrations are emerging in suburban areas of Sydney, using Census employment data for 2001 and 2006 defined across Travel Zones. The evolution of the urban structure is important because it conveys theoretical insights about the role of agglomeration forces, as well as affecting spatial patterns of commuting, and hence urban sustainability.