In London, an employee spends, on average, 1 hour and 19 minutes per day commuting. Over 35 years, this amounts to more than six additional years of work. Urban sprawl has forced many workers to live at considerable distances from their workplaces in city centres. Gentrification and the rise of short-term rental platforms have further driven this exodus.

The lack of public intervention affects not just the working classes but the entire social fabric. As Richard Florida notes: “It’s hard to sustain a functional urban economy when teachers, nurses, hospital workers, police officers, firefighters, and restaurant and service workers cannot afford to live within reasonable commuting distance.”

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