Ripples and undulations in the perceived supply-demand mismatch surfaces of London’s job market

Abstract

In all cities there is a potential for a mismatch to occur between the demand for and supply of jobs. This mismatch is reflective of the balance struck between jobs and housing. This mismatch is non-uniformly perceived by different occupations. The present paper introduces a method to simulate and represent the mismatch surfaces in the perceptions of different social groups that can be compared through visualization using a standard balanced plane. The three-dimensional visualization of the results of the London metropolitan area demonstrates that the commuting advantages - higher levels of commuting affordability through various transport systems, and the configuration of the land-use system - lead to larger ‘flooded areas’ under the balanced plane (S mi =0) and a more scattered pattern of the job centres from the central city to suburban areas for people in higher managerial occupations. Evaluation of these surfaces further show the east-south and north-south divisions perceived by occupations.