Shahana Sultana
Doctor of Philosophy candidate
Property, Urban planning
Biography
I am interested in developing my expertise in housing, housing and economic informality, economies and housing nexus, and urban planning. To pursue my dream, I started my PhD program in 2023 at the School of Design, University of Melbourne. It’s a joint PhD program between the University of Melbourne and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. I received the Melbourne Research Scholarship and the Shanghai Government Scholarship to conduct my research. My PhD research focuses on exploring the nexus between the location of creative jobs and housing market dynamics.
I have graduated in geography and environment from the University of Dhaka, with a specialisation in urban planning. I have been teaching at a university since 2016 and currently, I am on study leave. Throughout my academic journey, I have published research articles and book chapters, coordinated research projects, and attended national and international conferences.
Thesis
Effects of the location of creative job concentration on the local housing market: with Melbourne as a case
According to the creative class theory, a location’s quality of place is important in attracting creative people and creative economies which foster economic development. Quality of place refers to the dense urban milieu, and openness to new ideas, thoughts, and diversity. The inner cities are believed to possess the maximum attributes of quality of place, with creative people and jobs being concentrated there. However, empirical evidence has shown that creative people often live in city suburbs to enjoy a quiet nature-oriented lifestyle and access affordable housing, which deviates from what the theory suggests. Creative jobs are primarily clustered in the city centre to access the agglomeration benefits. However, creative jobs are emerging and concentrating in the city suburbs, often to avoid the negative effects of agglomeration economies. Thus, when creative jobs are concentrated in suburbs, it may affect the housing market of city suburbs. Studies reveal that the growth of creative jobs in the city centre has drastically affected the housing market, which pushed away many creative and non-creative people, as well as creative firms from the city centre. However, the concentration effect of creative jobs may differ between the city centre and city suburbs, and within the city suburbs due to different location characteristics and local contexts. Moreover, the creative class and housing suppliers may respond differently to the emerging job concentration and changing housing market. The current literature lacks a holistic understanding of how creative job concentration influences the local housing market while considering the job location and the point of view of the creative class and housing suppliers. Therefore, this research aims to investigate the location effect of creative job concentration on the local housing demand and supply market by taking into account the city suburbs.