Resident action groups in Sydney: people power or rat‐bags?

This paper presents an analysis of a neglected area of study by geographers; that of resident action groups. During the 1980s there has been a significant increase in the number of resident action groups throughout Sydney. Resident activism has influenced local planning processes, the location of noxious facilities and subsequent urban form. This has initiated important reactions by government at both the local and State levels. Urban collective activisms have been hypothesised as single‐issue, self‐serving nimby groups. However, RAGs are also empowering forces, in which women and men are introduced to the political structures and become engaged in protest and resistance that can challenge the social and spatial order. RAGs can, either singularly or cumulatively, force a re‐aligning of existing power relations, and they can necessitate changed modes of governance (or govern‐mentality).     

Are Australia’s suburbs swamped by Asians and Muslims? Countering political claims with data

Recent decades have seen substantial growth across many developed-world countries of right-wing populist political parties whose policies oppose immigration and multiculturalism as threats to the majority way of life there. These are exemplified in Australia by Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party, which was successful at elections there at the turn of the twenty-first century and again in 2016. Part of this party’s rhetoric focuses on the geography of immigrant groups in Australia’s cities, with claims that their members live in ghettos. Is that factually correct? Using data from the 2011 Australian census this paper analyses the distribution of Asians and Muslims (the two groups picked out by One Nation and its leader) at four spatial scales within the country’s 11 largest urban areas. It finds no evidence at all of intensive residential segregation of Muslims, and although there are concentrations of Asians—notably in Sydney and Melbourne—most residents claiming Asian ancestry live in neighbourhoods and suburbs where they form a minority (in many cases a small minority) only of the local population.     

Stall markets in metropolitan Sydney

Stall markets on open air, suburban sites are an important new form of retailing in Sydney. The existing literature on petty commodity forms of production argues that stall markets are conserved in underdeveloped economies for a variety of reasons but the relevance of these ideas to the markets in many cities in advanced economies has not been considered. This paper identifies the basic types of stall markets in Sydney, establishes that these markets are not ephemeral and shows that they have characteristics and parameters which are similar to those of conventional shopping centres. Thus the way is open to compare stall markets with conventional retailing, to assess the role of stall markets in post‐industrial societies and to investigate the reasons for their recent appearance in Sydney.     

Prosperity and the Suburban Dream: Quality of life and affordability in western Sydney

Over the past 10 years Sydney has experienced a remarkable wave of economic prosperity and growth, partly due to its developing role as a regionally significant global city. Through this period, maintaining the quality of life in the city has been regarded as particularly important. Yet traditional accounts of the global city have stressed quality-of-life features of the inner city. In this paper I examine the implications of the prosperity of global Sydney for the quality of life of western Sydney, paying particular attention to environmental amenity and the affordability of housing. The paper argues, first, that growth in the Sydney region has depended upon continued growth in western Sydney. It highlights key instances in which residents have resisted developments associated with this growth and regarded as major threats to the environmental amenity of the region. Second, the paper argues that the prosperity of Sydney, combined with changes to government policy, have impacted upon the supply of affordable rental housing in western Sydney. This is particularly significant in the case of public housing. Managing growth in the city will require attention to managing quality-of-life issues in the metropolis as a whole.     

Equity Issues in the 'New Prosperity' of the 1990s: The case of Sydney

Equity issues associated with Sydney's engagement with prosperity, especially over the last decade, are examined. Sydney is positioned within the historic contexts of major national economic change and of globalisation, noting especially the rise in importance of the financial, property and business services sectors. These sectors are concentred in inner Sydney and have helped position Sydney as Australia's leading global city, thereby generating jobs and growth in incomes. At the same time, however, there have been major shifts in patterns of income distribution across the Sydney metropolitan area and between Sydney and other parts of Australia. In particular, we note the 'revitalisation' of Sydney's inner-urban areas and their association with new forms of Central Business District (CBD) workforce growth and a significant realignment of journey-to-work patterns. Using Australian Taxation Office income data, the dynamics and some of the equity outcomes of 1990s prosperity within the Sydney metropolitan area are examined, paying particular attention to the impact of change in and around the Sydney CBD and the City of Sydney local government area. We find that there has been a complex shift in the nature of inequality across the Sydney metropolitan area, including a widening in incomes in some instances and a major geographic shift in Sydney's income-divide axis. The paper concludes by arguing that ongoing economic prosperity in Sydney will depend on the extent to which social cleavage can be avoided by a more equitable sharing of the benefits of prosperity.     

A rockfall avalanche in a sandstone landscape,Nattai North,NSW

Rockfall avalanches are commonly associated with the alpine regions of Europe, South America and north‐western Canada, but modern examples have only been reported very recently in Australia (Pells et al. 1987). The Nattai North rockfall avalanche is located on the Burragorang Walls escarpment in the sandstone landscape of the Sydney Basin. The volume of rock involved in the failure had sufficient magnitude to enable the resulting mass of debris to flow in the manner of a semiviscous fluid. The conventional models of rockslope evolution, involving undercutting followed by blockfalls, do not apply at this site. Indeed these models do not apply to most of the large‐scale rock collapses in the Sydney Basin. All such rockfalls have occurred in the vicinity of underground coal mines. Coal mining has affected the stability of nearby escarpments by altering stress distributions within the rock mass. The subsequent failures are typically larger and of a different form than those occurring naturally.     

IDENTITY AND SPACE: THE CASE OF TURKISH AMERICANS*

ABSTRACT. Until recently, Muslim Americans have often been overlooked in studies on immigration, ethnicity, and race. Their loyalty to America and their integration into the larger culture have frequently been questioned by the media, and academia's interest has mostly been limited to establishing links between Muslims, fundamentalism, and terrorism. Muslim American experiences‐their social, political, and cultural institutions and spaces in the United States‐have drawn little attention from geographers. But stereotypes play an important role in intergroup relations and public‐policy making. Thus, it is important to understand Muslim ethnic‐group experiences of immigration and their place‐making activities in the United States. Based on research in the greater New York metropolitan area, this study explores one facet of the Muslim experience in the United States by investigating Turkish American identity‐construction spaces and their role in the preservation and reformation of Turkish American identity; that is, how these spaces emphasize and shape particular identities and discourage others.     

Immigrant city,global city? Advantage and disadvantage among communities from Asia in Sydney

This paper examines the patterns of residential concentration and dispersion and the socio‐economic profiles of major immigrant groups from Asia in Sydney at the 1991 Census, taken soon after the largest immigrant boom in Sydney's urban history, which occurred between 1986 and 1988. It makes use of detailed birthplace, language and religion cross‐tabulations by area and socio‐economic indicators, as well as four‐digit occupational data from the Census. It then tests to what extent immigration flows from different parts of Asia have been linked to Sydney's emergence as a global city, and whether the disadvantage or advantage associated with the settlement of some communities is tied to restructuring, globalisation, language difficulties, residential concentration, or other factors.     

Creating and sustaining Islamic financial centers: Bahrain in the wake of financial and political crises

Although primarily concentrated in countries with Muslim majorities, Islamic finance has become a global industry representing both a decentering of the global financial architecture and the emergence of an urban network that resides beyond the confines of traditional world city literature. While geographers have identified the “Mecca’s” of the Islamic finance industry – one of which is Bahrain – there remains a need to identify the factors necessary to create and sustain centers of Islamic finance. This paper examines these factors through a firm-level survey of foreign and local Islamic financial institutions in Bahrain, in conjunction with key informant interviews with representatives of these firms. We find that while Bahrain’s entrenched institutional advantages have preserved its role as a center in the Islamic financial landscape, ongoing political instability and the increasing attractiveness of new and emerging centers are threatening this role. As the country navigates the current social and political unrest, questions are raised as to what it takes to be an Islamic financial center.     

THE GEOGRAPHICAL DIMENSIONS OF AL‐QA'IDA RHETORIC

ABSTRACT. This article examines the geographical ideology of al‐Qa'ida. The central questions are to what extent al‐Qa'ida terrorism is motivated by a desire to control geographical space, and how the organization defines that space as place in its communiqués. The study also asks whether al‐Qa'ida's geographical rhetoric reveals the nature or locations of future attacks. Principal sources are statements and interviews by and with al‐Qa'ida leaders. al‐Qa'ida classifies distinctive geographical realms of legitimization, preparation, and action. Its geographical concerns and ambitions are hierarchical and based principally on perceptions of sacred space. The holy places of Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem are the cornerstones of a greater Islamic holy land that al‐Qa'ida seeks to rid of non‐Islamic‐especially U.S. and “Zionist”‐elements and replace with a new caliphate. Terrorism directed principally against American civilians in the United States is one of the main tactics by which al‐Qa'ida says it hopes to achieve its goals in geographical space.     

Spatial Relationship between Dwelling Crowding and Selected Causes of Morbidity in Sydney,Australia, 1994–97

The environment in which we live greatly influences our health. One particular factor that has been related to morbidity and mortality is dwelling crowding. A range of mechanisms have been proposed as links between dwelling crowding and disease, including increased exposures to allergens, respiratory irritants and infectious agents in crowded dwellings. While studies of dwelling crowding have been conducted in many locations around the world, this factor has received little attention in Australian health studies. We examine relationships between dwelling crowding and health in Sydney, using three case studies at the local government area (LGA) level within the Sydney Statistical Division. Dwelling and demographic data from the 1996 Australian census are used, along with four socio-economic indexes produced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and hospital inpatient data for the period 1 July 1994 to 30 June 1997 as the health indicator. Results suggest that dwelling crowding is a significant factor in certain diseases in Sydney. Asthma hospital separations are not correlated with dwelling crowding, although multiple linear regression analysis produces three models which include crowding and three of the socio-economic indexes as significant variables. Separations for bronchitis and emphysema, and all causes combined, are positively correlated with dwelling crowding. Dwelling crowding is strongly negatively correlated with all but one of the socio-economic indicators.     

The Sustainable and Entrepreneurial Park? Contradictions and Persistent Antagonisms at Sydney's Olympic Park

Urban parks have long been used by policy makers to achieve specific policy goals. In recent years, two sets of policy goals have become commonly associated with park planning. The first set of goals can be characterized as being neoliberal, where parks have been built and reformed to generate certain economic and governmental outcomes. The second set of policy goals is associated with sustainability, where parks have been utilized as tools in such things as the mitigation of climate change and community building. The aim of this paper is to examine how these two sets of policy goals have come to coexist. The paper draws upon the case study of Sydney Olympic Park, a self-proclaimed exemplar of both entrepreneurial urban development and sustainability. The paper traces out the functional and institutional changes at the Park in order to read the relationship between neoliberal and sustainability policy goals. While predictable inconsistencies are found between the two sets of policy goals, the paper argues in conclusion that their contradictions have not generated a necessity to resolve their antagonistic relations. [Key words: Sydney, Olympic Games, neoliberalism, sustainability, parks.]     

Human–Nature Relations in Suburban Gardens

Gardens have been considered predominately in terms of a nature–culture binary, with nature positioned as a passive object of human control. Placing the human at the centre of the garden, these perspectives understand this space in terms of human cultures, needs and understandings. This paper critiques these perspectives, questioning whether gardens are ever simply human constructions. Actor–network theory (ANT) provides a framework for this research, which examines human–nature relations through a focus on the material processes of gardening. Drawing on interviews with suburban gardeners in northern Sydney and the analysis of two popular gardening magazines, the research shows that gardening entails an embodied engagement between active human and non-human actors. Involving processes of collaboration, negotiation, challenge and competition, gardening is a dynamic process. Describing human relations with the plants of the garden, this research argues for gardens to be understood as hybrid achievements.     

The man/land theme in geography: a Sydney University perspective

Geography as practised at Sydney University over the years has been multi‐faceted. One branch of the discipline is the man/land (or people/environment) theme which was nurtured by the founding fathers of the department, Griffith Taylor and Macdonald Holmes. Numerous staff members have taught and researched aspects of this theme. This paper reviews some of the contributions from the time of Griffith Taylor to the present.     

Scenarios for the Future Population of Sydney

The period 1996-2001 has witnessed a refocusing of population growth on Sydney and Melbourne as both cities have developed significant concentrations of so-called 'new economy' jobs and taken on, to greater or lesser extents, the characteristics of global cities. The consequence of these trends, for Sydney most particularly, is population growth. This paper establishes this demographic reality by describing recent demographic trends in Sydney and possible future scenarios for Sydney's population, given differing levels of fertility, internal migration and international migration. A related future trend is also traced--that the number of households in Sydney will grow more rapidly than the population due to changes in household structure. This raises the issue of how and where these households will be accommodated, given the relative land shortage in the Sydney Statistical Division and given that there is no doubt that planners in New South Wales will be attempting to maintain and enhance Sydney's status as a global city. In sum, the paper argues that Sydney planners should be preparing for growth of around one million people in the next 20 years and a further one million in the following 30 years. To maintain that potential future residents of Sydney can be redirected to other parts of New South Wales is a vain hope.     

Population turnaround and the peopling of the countryside? Migration from Sydney to country districts of New South Wales

The notions of ‘population turnaround’ and migration equilibrium are examined in an analysis of outmigration from metropolitan New South Wales to non‐metropolitan districts, with particular reference to the 1976–81 period but with inclusion of data from the 1986 Census of Population and Housing. While the outmigration from Sydney has been substantial, and in some respects resembles the ‘turnaround’ which was underway in other western countries, it has been spatially confined. While the outmigration from Sydney lessened during 1981–86, it still remained significant. Meanwhile, regional labour force migration and movement from other state capital cities was contributing more to the population inflow in southern, western and some northern areas of New South Wales. An analysis of economic correlates of outmigration and more recent sample survey data suggests that while economic factors have been significant in the outmigration, environmental and lifestyle factors have been influential, and that some of the traditional economic models of migration have not been validated. A conceptualisation of outmigration involving economic and environmental push and pull factors, and various forms of trade‐offs is proposed as a partial explanation of the phenomenon.     

The differential geography of housing affordability in Sydney: a disaggregated approach

ABSTRACT

Despite extensive studies being devoted to housing affordability in Australia, few have investigated housing affordability at a disaggregated level. This is in spite of the fact that there are existing socio-economic and demographic disparities across different regions of a city. This study aims to fill this gap by examining housing affordability in Sydney, a city that is characterised by diverse demographic and socio-economic mix, from a sub-city perspective. Two dimensions of affordability are assessed from 1991 to 2016: entry-level and ongoing housing affordability. The study finds that entry-level housing remains extremely unaffordable in all regions of Greater Sydney, although the level of unaffordability varies across regions. Specifically, the deterioration in housing affordability is more obvious in low-income regions such as Western Sydney. In addition, the ongoing housing affordability of those who have entered the market improves considerably within 5–10 years, although there are significant variations between different regions. Importantly, residents in low-income regions such as Western Sydney take a longer period to improve their ongoing affordability. The findings of differential geography of housing affordability have some profound policy implications. Policymakers should consider the disparities across different regions by formulating a more targeted and regionally balanced housing policy.     

Enacting immanent potentialities: Tcheb‐tchib strategies at the centre of the urban fringe in Nouakchott,Mauritania

The urban fringe areas of Nouakchott, the capital city of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, have become virtual epicentres of informal property speculation, as the state‐owned land that people illegally inhabit becomes an increasingly valuable commodity in the wake of urban redevelopment plans and vast infrastructural development projects. By applying ingenious ‘poaching’ strategies based on anticipation, the marginalized, impoverished people inhabiting these areas appropriate and manipulate space in order to survive. In their attempt to counter the state's technologies of governance through what is commonly known as tcheb‐tchib, a form of creative improvisation, they become a driving force in the dynamic and contested reconfigurations of the urban landscape. Based on extended ethnographic fieldwork focusing on the strategies of former nomads who are now sedentarized on the urban fringe, this article conceives large‐scale urban renewal as a dynamic process that generates an emergent space of immanent potentiality that the urban poor attempt to strategically appropriate and enact to make the most of a potentially destructive process.     

A two‐step process for the reflooding of the Mediterranean after the Messinian Salinity Crisis

The Messinian Salinity Crisis is well known to have resulted from a significant drop of the Mediterranean sea level. Considering both onshore and offshore observations, the subsequent reflooding is generally thought to have been very sudden. We present here offshore seismic evidence from the Gulf of Lions and re‐visited onshore data from Italy and Turkey that lead to a new concept of a two‐step reflooding of the Mediterranean Basin after the Messinian Salinity Crisis. The refilling was first moderate and relatively slow accompanied by transgressive ravinement, and later on very rapid, preserving the subaerial Messinian Erosional Surface. The amplitude of these two successive rises of sea level has been estimated at ≤500 m for the first rise and 600–900 m for the second rise. Evaporites from the central Mediterranean basins appear to have been deposited principally at the beginning of the first step of reflooding. After the second step, which preceeded the Zanclean Global Stratotype Section and Point, successive connections with the Paratethyan Dacic Basin, then the Adriatic foredeep, and finally the Euxinian Basin occurred, as a consequence of the continued global rise in sea level. A complex morphology with sills and sub‐basins led to diachronous events such as the so‐called ‘Lago Mare’.This study helps to distinguish events that were synchronous over the entire Mediterranean realm, such as the two‐step reflooding, from those that were more local and diachronous. In addition, the shoreline that marks the transition between these two steps of reflooding in the Provence Basin provides a remarkable palaeogeographical marker for subsidence studies.     

Fitting refugees into the normative narrative of Australian multiculturalism

Australia publicly espouses its multiculturalism as a key component of its national identity. In this paper, I argue that despite the importance of multiculturalism to Australia’s identity, political decisions and discourse has muddied its remit with respect to humanitarian migrant intake programs and outcomes. Australia’s history of selective migrant intake and restrictive refugee policy continues the Othering of past policies into contemporary settings. Refugee policy has become a political football. During the most recent national election campaign (May 2019), the plight of sick and ill refugees, currently housed offshore in detention centers, was used as a political pawn. Lost amid this political rhetoric were the traumatic narratives of forced migrants resettling in Australia’s cities. Without possibility for a loud voice in public discourse, there is little opportunity for more Australians to understand how refugees experience detention centers, struggle to attain residency visas, and make “home” in multicultural Australia. I draw on research with Sri Lankan refugees in Sydney to give voice to these micro-level, place-based experiences of vulnerable arrivals. These stories, I think, can (re)shape and enrich Australia’s multicultural identity because they challenge us to not only accept difference but recognize the circumstances through which Australia’s diversity seeds its narrative.