The Impact of COVID-19 on the Jobs-Housing Dynamic Balance: Empirical Evidence from Wuhan between 2019, 2021, 2023

The COVID-19 pandemic, a significant public health emergency, has underscored the criticality of jobs-housing proximity. Static statistical research, however, struggles to uncover the mechanisms underlying jobs-housing balance, providing limited guidance for urban management. This paper adopts the concept of jobs-housing dynamic balance, analyzing the trends in jobs-housing balance in the metropolitan development area of Wuhan in the early and later period of the pandemic from the perspective of individual jobs-housing migration. Using mobile phone signaling data, we identified a stable population of 161,698 residents in June 2019, June 2021, and June 2023, and calculated jobs-housing synchronization and migration impact indices across seven regions. The study finds the following: (1) there is a pronounced misalignment of jobs-housing in the new cities of Wuhan's suburbs, with clear asynchronous in-migration and out-migration; (2) COVID-19 initially led to a unidirectional exodus of the local population for job purposes, significantly contributing to regional jobs-housing imbalance, followed by a partial rebound in the later stages; and (3) the stability of jobs-housing balance in suburban new cities lacking policy support and comprehensive urban functions is worse, primarily due to insufficient employment resilience and the out-migration of the employed population. This paper puts forward a set of recommendations for the sustainable development of suburban new cities. It offers insights into the theoretical advancement of jobs-housing balance and the dynamic, refined transformation of urban studies, enhancing urban managers' understanding of human-place interactions and new city construction.