Office dispersal in metropolitan areas 1: a review and framework for analysis

Policies advocating restraint on the growth of office activity in central areas, and the dispersal of that activity to suburban centres have become increasingly popular in large metropolitan areas in Britain and Australia in recent years. This is the first of two papers which explore the implications of such a policy in detail. For these policies have been based on rather subjective judgements and on conventional wisdom; it has simply been assumed that they would solve growing problems of central congestion, environmental disamenity and job access. Little attention has been paid to the full range and distribution of costs and benefits that might arise. Experience to date has suggested that while an office dispersal policy has the potential to reduce problems in the central area, it can also give rise to serious problems of congestion, increased energy consumption and inequities of access in suburban areas. These problems which stem from the likely switch from public transport to cars for work journeys have generally been ignored by those advocating dispersal policies, and have received little attention in the few academic studies of this area. The paper concludes by outlining the assumptions and methodology adopted for a comprehensive case study of the cost and benefits of an office dispersal policy within the metropolitan area of Sydney, Australia.