Governments of major cities around the world are suggesting that businesses shift to suburbs to alleviate the housing and transportation issues. This policy contains advantages such as affordability of housing system and reduction in environmental degradation, with possible drawbacks include decrease in profit of the relocating businesses and reduced productivity of the employees.
One of the major benefits of the recommended policy is that more people will be able to afford houses in the city. Access to housing is one of the basic rights of human but skyrocketing prices of the urban housing market have made it difficult for locals to afford it. This law will ensure that there are enough spaces available for people to reside in cities, resulting in a price reduction of the houses. Another positive outcome of this policy involves positive environmental enhancement. As people living in cities will shift to the outskirts due to the relocation of the businesses, private cars moving in the cities will reduce noticeably. Due to the reduction of personal vehicles, carbon emission in cities will also decrease. Consequently, air quality of the cities will increase, providing better health. For example, in cities like Tokyo, decentralising businesses has helped reduce congestion significantly.
Despite these positives, there are certain drawbacks revolving the policy, reduced profits for businesses is one of the negatives. Suburbs may not provide the same infrastructural availability as of cities for the operation of companies. To fully operate, businesses would need to build an entire new system which might heavily cost them, eventually leading to loss of profit. Moreover, city dwellers working in these businesses would require long hours to commute, resulting in reduced productivity. Long commuting hours will take a toll on the health of the employees and they might focus less on the tasks, causing decrease in profitability of the businesses. For instance, employees who commute over two hours daily often experience fatigue, reducing their efficiency at work.
In conclusion, the policy advised by the governments of different nations has considerable positive and negative outcomes. Although environmental enhancement and affordable housing systems are evident, economic drawbacks cannot be overlooked.