Disruption and the matching market for new multifamily housing in Melbourne, Australia

A key area of system impact of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) is the radical improvement in the functioning of matching markets. Matching markets are markets in which agents seek to be paired with someone or something with the criteria for matching often highly specific. Traditionally, the cost and difficulty in matching means many of these markets have not functioned well. Uber and Airbnb are examples of new matching market matchmakers that have been 'turbo-charged' by new digital technologies, resulting in what Parker et al. describe as a 'platform revolution'. In this article, we examine the traditional, but poorly functioning, matching market for new multifamily housing development in Melbourne, Australia, and the potential for disruption offered by a new platform, Nightingale Housing Ltd. (NHL). Improved matching has been critical to the model and the Internet has been central to this. The NHL model has the potential for systems impact as outlined by Schwab in his conception of 4IR

Large herbivores may alter vegetation structure of semi-arid savannas through soil nutrient mediation

In savannas, the tree–grass balance is governed by water, nutrients, fire and herbivory, and their interactions. We studied the hypothesis that herbivores indirectly affect vegetation structure by changing the availability of soil nutrients, which, in turn, alters the competition between trees and grasses. Nine abandoned livestock holding-pen areas (kraals), enriched by dung and urine, were contrasted with nearby control sites in a semi-arid savanna. About 40 years after abandonment, kraal sites still showed high soil concentrations of inorganic N, extractable P, K, Ca and Mg compared to controls. Kraals also had a high plant production potential and offered high quality forage. The intense grazing and high herbivore dung and urine deposition rates in kraals fit the accelerated nutrient cycling model described for fertile systems elsewhere. Data of a concurrent experiment also showed that bush-cleared patches resulted in an increase in impala dung deposition, probably because impala preferred open sites to avoid predation. Kraal sites had very low tree densities compared to control sites, thus the high impala dung deposition rates here may be in part driven by the open structure of kraal sites, which may explain the persistence of nutrients in kraals. Experiments indicated that tree seedlings were increasingly constrained when competing with grasses under fertile conditions, which might explain the low tree recruitment observed in kraals. In conclusion, large herbivores may indirectly keep existing nutrient hotspots such as abandoned kraals structurally open by maintaining a high local soil fertility, which, in turn, constrains woody recruitment in a negative feedback loop. The maintenance of nutrient hotspots such as abandoned kraals by herbivores contributes to the structural heterogeneity of nutrient-poor savanna vegetation

The business of death: a qualitative study of financial concerns of widowed older women

BACKGROUND: The feminisation of ageing and increasing number of widowed women in contemporary society has significant implications. Older women are at risk of poor health, social, and economic outcomes upon widowhood. The aim of the study was to describe women’s experiences in the period soon after their husbands’ death, including their financial issues and concerns, and the ways in which these experiences impacted on the transition to widowhood late in life. METHODS: This was a longitudinal study using serial in-depth semi-structured interviews with 21 community-dwelling women over the age of 65 in Australia. Verbatim transcripts underwent Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. RESULTS: Thematic analysis revealed: 1) administrative burden increases vulnerability; 2) gender roles impact on transitions; and 3) financial adjustments render housing insecurity and health risk. High administrative burden within the context of significant grief and mourning was a defining feature of the early bereavement period. Complicated protracted administrative processes, insensitive interactions, and reminders of loss contributed to distress, anxiety and feelings of demoralisation. Several women identified assumption of household financial management as the most difficult aspect of coping with their husband’s death. CONCLUSIONS: Older women may have unmet needs for assistance with administrative, financial, and legal issues immediately following spousal death and potentially for years afterward. Lack of familiarity and absence of instrumental support with financial and legal issues signal the need for policy reform, resources to improve financial literacy in women throughout the life course, increased advocacy, and consideration of different support and service models

The Voices of Older Women facing housing insecurity in Victoria, Australia

Single, older women in the State of Victoria, Australia, have emerged as a group experiencing housing insecurity and being highly vulnerable to homelessness in their old age. A sizable demographic cohort, it is a group that could overwhelm the existing homelessness service system. One of the most surprising aspects of this trend is their propensity to be tertiary educated. Focus groups revealed 'critical life events' as significant, and a shared 'control belief' in the value of education. Given that education is a key means by which Australian governments seek to remedy homelessness, the entry of educated women into the homelessness population suggests policy needs to re-examine homelessness causation and explicitly apply a gender-lens

The potential of new technologies to disrupt housing policy

The research identified four main fields of technological advancement that are likely to disrupt the housing sector in future, or are already doing so: matching markets; big data; GIS mapping software; and blockchain. Technological change presents real opportunities for the housing sector, including more efficient allocation of housing stock, more accurate and transparent property management systems, and better informed planning and development processes. At the same time, however, the most advanced technological disruption to date in the housing space—the matching market Airbnb—highlights the ways in which responding to and regulating disruptive technologies presents new challenges for governments and is challenging for governments. Key challenges include the protection of privacy, the need to ensure transparency in increasingly complex technological systems, the cost and access risks associated with the commercialisation of significant technological systems, and the potential for disruption in one housing market to cause negative spillover effects in other parts of the housing sector. In responding to future technological disruptions, governments need more agile and critical policy making approaches to allow effective short-term responses to digital disruptions, as well as strategies for implementing longer-term cultural change and systems upgrades. The report identifies 10 key principles and strategies as a starting point for developing this new policy making ‘playbook’

The potential of new technologies to disrupt housing policy, AHURI Final Report No. 308

- The research identified four main fields of technological advancement that are likely to disrupt the housing sector in future, or are already doing so: matching markets; big data; GIS mapping software; and blockchain. - Technological change presents real opportunities for the housing sector, including more efficient allocation of housing stock, more accurate and transparent property management systems, and better informed planning and development processes. - At the same time, however, the most advanced technological disruption to date in the housing space-the matching market Airbnb-highlights the ways in which responding to and regulating disruptive technologies presents new challenges for governments and is challenging for governments. - Key challenges include the protection of privacy, the need to ensure transparency in increasingly complex technological systems, the cost and access risks associated with the commercialisation of significant technological systems, and the potential for disruption in one housing market to cause negative spillover effects in other parts of the housing sector. - In responding to future technological disruptions, governments need more agile and critical policy making approaches to allow effective short-term responses to digital disruptions, as well as strategies for implementing longer-term cultural change and systems upgrades. The report identifies 10 key principles and strategies as a starting point for developing this new policy making 'playbook'

Inquiry into social impact investment for housing and homelessness outcomes

This research investigated Social impact investment (SII), which aims to generate and actively measure social and financial returns. There are several promising SII models - including housing supply bonds, property funds, funding social enterprises, social impact bonds and social impact loans. Effective SII requires suppliers of goods and services, intermediaries, suppliers of capital, government and beneficiaries to work together

Matching markets in housing and housing assistance

This study identified five Australian housing markets that could be made more efficient using online technology to match highly specific buyers and sellers. The five markets considered are: swaps in public housing; disability accessible housing; low-cost private rental housing brokerage; apartment presales for low/mid income earners; and precinct-level urban redevelopment. The research also proposed solutions to how the matching markets could best operate