Coordinating Employment, Transport and Housing in Cities: An Institutional Perspective

Abstract

This paper outlines a reconceptualisation of the relationship between employment, housing and transport in cities that draws upon insights drawn from structuration theory and institutional sociology. It identifies the need for a new focus, one that lies between the structural and the individual—the institution—as well as the need for the integration of time-space into analyses. Institutions are embedded social action. The unique formations of institutional matrices (households, labour markets, housing markets and transport systems) are identified as sites for further research and policy development. The paper calls for future research to identify who gains and who loses within the current, and future, configurations of institutions in cities. Changes in individual behaviour and the policies to enable or to constrain such behaviour should be evaluated in this light.