Workforces on the move: Commuting patterns in New Zealand
Workforces on the move: Commuting patterns in New Zealand
Highlights • • • •
Auckland’s four cities (North Shore, Auckland, Waitakere, and Manukau), Wellington’s four cities (Porirua, Upper Hutt, Lower Hutt, and Wellington), and Christchurch city have the largest labour markets in New Zealand. Almost half of the working population in New Zealand work in these cities. Employment within the Auckland, Wellington, and Canterbury regions is dominated by these cities. Areas on the periphery of these cities, particularly around the Auckland metropolis and Christchurch, have some of the fastest population growth rates in New Zealand.
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Workforces on the move: Commuting patterns in New Zealand
Figure 1 Local Commuting Areas in New Zealand 2006 Census
Note: Commuting zones are based on area units and identify the main commuter inflows. Map class boundaries are based on Jenks ‘natural breaks’ algorithm to give an accurate sense of flows within the data.
Introduction Commuting Patterns in New Zealand focuses on the largest cities in the Auckland (North Shore, Auckland, Waitakere, and Manukau) and Wellington (Porirua, Upper, Lower Hutt, and Wellington) regions, and Christchurch city. This report is largely based on information from the 1996, 2001 and 2006 Censuses of Population and Dwellings. One of the main variables used in this report is workplace address, which when combined with information about usual residence, allows for the exploration of commuting patterns. The information gained can then be integrated with other social and economic variables from the census to give a rich picture of commuters.
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Workforces on the move: Commuting patterns in New Zealand
This report will answer the following questions: How extensive are commuting zones around these cities? To what extent have commuting patterns changed over time? What differences are evident between these three areas? In recent years, the ease and relatively low cost of transport has resulted in the expansion of residential developments in the peripheries of cities. Commuting between areas has grown since the 1990s, particularly for people living in districts around the largest cities in New Zealand. This growth replicates patterns observed in countries such as Britain and the United States. Some researchers have argued that commuting may be partly driven by lower house prices in surrounding areas. A British study (Cameron and Muellbauer, 1998) suggested that “Inter-regional migration is influenced by relative employment and earnings opportunities. But strongly offsetting forces operate from relative house prices. Commuting, at least to contiguous regions, is often an alternative to migration.” The simple choice that people make about where they should live and work has significant consequences. The desire for rural living, for cheaper properties on the edge of cities, or for remaining in a small town while obtaining a better job in the city affects transport systems and causes subsequent congestion. Smaller towns close to cities have also expanded as people choose to move for reasons of cost and lifestyle. Although these developments have occurred throughout New Zealand, the most visible effect is in the Auckland region, which has experienced the largest numerical increase in population. This increase has also been replicated to some extent in Wellington and Christchurch.
Commuting in New Zealand Figure 2 shows commuting zones in New Zealand based on the inflows of employed people into an area. The Auckland metropolis, Wellington’s four cities, and Christchurch had the largest commuting inflows. Other cities in New Zealand, such as Hamilton and Dunedin, are also major commuting centres.
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Workforces on the move: Commuting patterns in New Zealand
Figure 2 Commuting Flows in North Island and South Island 2006 Census
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Workforces on the move: Commuting patterns in New Zealand
Figures 1 and 2 show the extent to which the largest urban centres dominate employment in New Zealand. Figure 3 reveals the changes in the number of inbound commuters by urban/rural profile classification. The rise in the number of commuters into main urban areas between 1996 and 2006 is dramatic, representing a 21 percent increase from the 1996 total, and much higher than the population growth rate for main urban areas for this period (13.9 percent). In 1996, main urban area inflows accounted for 73.1 percent of all commuter journeys. In 2006, this proportion rose to 75 percent. Figure 3
In both 1996 and 2006, the Auckland metropolis, Wellington’s four cities, and Christchurch city dominated commuting, particularly within their regions. The concentration of employment in these major cities is evident when looking at the surrounding areas. In the Auckland region for example, almost 9 out of every 10 employed people worked in the Auckland metropolis. By contrast, 8.5 out of 10 people (86 percent) in the Auckland region actually lived in the Auckland metropolis. Between 1996 and 2006, there was a substantial increase in the number of people commuting to the main cities in the Auckland, Wellington, and Canterbury regions (23, 11 and 16 percent, respectively) although the proportion of people in the region who commute to these cities has undergone little change. In some of the smaller regions, in particular Bay of Plenty, Waikato, and Manawatu-Wanganui, both the number and proportion of people working in each region’s main city has increased. Tauranga city
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Workforces on the move: Commuting patterns in New Zealand
had the most spectacular shift, with a 48 percent increase in numbers between 1996 and 2006. Figure 4
Commuting across territorial authorities Many commuting zones cross territorial authority boundaries (the boundaries of districts and cities). In New Zealand, territorial authorities with the lowest proportion of people who lived and worked in the same area were on the periphery of a city, such as Papakura, Selwyn, and Waimakariri districts, or part of a wider metropolis (such as Waitakere or Porirua cities).
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Workforces on the move: Commuting patterns in New Zealand
Figure 5
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Workforces on the move: Commuting patterns in New Zealand
Figure 6 Population Living and Working Within Their Area Unit of Residence 2006 Census
Population growth in areas close to large urban centres Districts on the peripheries of larger cities experienced some of the highest growth rates in New Zealand between 1996 and 2006. People move to the periphery of a city for several reasons, such as cheaper housing with larger sections or for a small town lifestyle. Most people tended not to move far. In figure 7 for example, people to the west of Christchurch moved to new subdivisions in the towns of Rolleston, Lincoln, and surrounding areas, while people living to the north of Christchurch moved to the northern edges of the city.
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Workforces on the move: Commuting patterns in New Zealand
Figure 7 Migration to Rural Areas and Small Towns Near Christchurch City 2001–2006 Censuses
Note: The size of each arrow is proportional to the flow of people. Growth rates tend to be particularly high in small towns and rural areas close to cities, particularly in the Auckland and Canterbury regions. Statistics NZ has developed an experimental urban/rural classification that is based on commuting patterns in these areas. The information in this classification clearly shows that minor and secondary urban areas and rural areas with strong links to main urban areas have experienced some of the highest growth rates. For example, between the 1996 and 2006 Censuses, satellite urban areas and rural areas with high urban influence in the Auckland region have experienced a population increase of approximately 28 percent. In Canterbury, growth rates were even higher in satellite urban areas (35 percent) and rural areas with high urban influence (46 percent). In contrast, however, growth rates for satellite urban areas in the Wellington region declined slightly during this period but rural areas with high urban influence increased in population by 29 percent.
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Workforces on the move: Commuting patterns in New Zealand
Figure 8
Relationship between commuting and migration Information about commuting is available from the Census of Population and Dwellings, which asks people about their usual residence and workplace address. Unfortunately, the census does not allow for the exploration of the drivers that prompt people to commute rather than migrate. People who choose to work outside their own local area do so for several reasons, which the census does not record. However, the Survey of Dynamics and Motivations for Migration in New Zealand, a supplement to the Household Labour Force Survey in the March 2007 quarter, can tell us some of the drivers behind migration. This survey revealed that social (including living with others, living closer to others) and environmental reasons (including proximity to services and facilities), rather than employment, were the main reasons why people moved. The survey also showed where people moved from and where they moved to, which revealed some interesting patterns by occupation. Professionals, one of the groups most likely to be engaged in long-distance commuting, were more likely to move from urban areas to rural areas. According to the survey, the Auckland region had the highest percentage of people that stayed within the region (92 percent) rather than moving outside, perhaps reflecting the strength of its labour market. The Wellington and Canterbury regions also had much higher proportions of people who moved within their region (85 and 88 percent, respectively).
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Workforces on the move: Commuting patterns in New Zealand
Figure 9
Characteristics of long-distance commuters Information from the 2007 Survey of Dynamics and Motivations for Migration in New Zealand showed that people were more likely to be motivated in their choice of abode by social and environmental factors. While there is no available information on why people commute long distances, there is information on their characteristics. Information from the census showed some common traits among long-distance commuters (people commuting from one territorial authority to another) who gave a workplace address in the major cities of Auckland and Wellington, and Christchurch city. They are more likely to be male, have higher educational qualifications and higher incomes.
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Workforces on the move: Commuting patterns in New Zealand
Table 1 Annual Personal Median Income of Employed Population By workplace address and usual residence 2006 Census Workplace address
Usual residence
North Island outside Auckland and Wellington Four cities of Auckland Four cities of Wellington South Island outside Christchurch Christchurch city Total New Zealand
North Island Workplace Four cities South Island outside Four cities Christchurch address not of outside Auckland of Auckland City further Wellington Christchurch and defined W ellington 32,031 44,363 48,152 29,532 33,659 27,748
Total
32,202
38,054 36,801 27,744
39,008 45,334 36,330
46,250 40,859 43,611
33,751 38,334 30,466
36,775 42,500 39,476
29,509 30,088 28,372
37,737 39,395 30,696
29,808 32,178
44,286 39,449
49,524 41,285
37,369 30,631
33,514 34,247
28,102 28,531
32,955 34,247
These commuters were also more likely to be partnered, which may partly explain the motivation for commuting rather than migrating, particularly if that partner is employed in their local district. The difference in partnership status was particularly marked for males in the South Island who gave Christchurch as a workplace destination (see figure 10). Figure 10
The three largest labour markets in New Zealand are centred in the largest cities, and a significant proportion of the national workforce works within these labour markets. Figures from the 2006 Census showed that in the North Island, 1 in 2 of the employed population gave a workplace address in either the four cities of Auckland (the Auckland metropolis) or the four cities of Wellington (the Wellington metropolis). In the South Island, just over 1 out of every 3 people gave a workplace address in Christchurch city. Between 1996 and 2006, the peripheries of these cities had some of the fastest growth rates in New Zealand as commuting zones expanded to include the surrounding countryside.
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Workforces on the move: Commuting patterns in New Zealand
References and further reading Reference Cameron, G & Muellbauer, J (1998). The housing market and regional commuting and migration choices (CEPR discussion papers, 1945). London: Centre for Economic Policy Research. Available from http://ideas.repec.org/p/cpr/ceprdp/1945.html.
Further reading on New Zealand labour market areas Newell, J & Perry, M (2003). Functional labour markets revealed by travel to work data 1991 and 2001. Wellington: Monitoring and Evaluation Research Associates and Department of Management and Enterprise Development, Massey University. Available from http://www.dol.govt.nz/publication-view.asp?ID=180. Statistics New Zealand. Survey of Dynamics and Motivations for Migration in New Zealand: March 2007 quarter. Available from www.stats.govt.nz/products-andservices/info-releases/survey-dynamics-motivations-migration-new-zealand.htm.
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