Spatial inequality of job accessibility in Shanghai: A geographical skills mismatch perspective

Abstract

This study explores the spatial inequality of job accessibility in urban China, focusing on geographical skills mismatch in Shanghai. Our results suggest that geographical skills mismatch should be a critical concern in measuring job accessibility because the urban villages create residential sites for low-skill workers in central Shanghai. Based on the job accessibility index considering geographical skills mismatch, the floating population has high job accessibility in the periphery of the central urban area because there are affordable housing prices. The spatial distribution of the registered population's job accessibility still follows the core-periphery pattern. The spatial mismatch between the job centers for floating and registered populations might enlarge the segregation between them. The path analysis reveals that the housing/rent market, urban structure, and education attainment collectively shape job accessibility through residential segregation. Furthermore, path analysis manifests that high-skill people, mainly living in the central urban area, have significantly higher job accessibility. The polycentric development fails to create self-contained job centers for low-skill people. Future policies should pay attention to connecting the low-skill workers and their job markets through public rental housing or improving the public transit system.