Community development and the delivery of housing assistance in non-metropolitan Australia (South Australia)
Summary
This project investigates the integration of housing assistance and regional development programs. The case studies identify significant opportunities for the development of such integration although find no evidence of formal coordination.
Project Number: 40028
Research Theme: Demographics_and_Modelling
Project Leader: Beer, Andrew
Funding Year: 2000
Research Centre: Southern
Description
Over the last two to three years there has been an increased awareness in the media and in public policy of the problems confronting rural and regional Australia. In large part, the policies followed by State and Federal Governments to assist the development of the regions have focussed on economic development initiatives, and more recently, the provision of services such as telecommunications, health and education. Outside the capitals, very little attention has been paid to the potential role of housing in lifting the quality of life in communities and in generating new economic opportunities. This is despite the fact that there have been a number of projects in the capital cities - such as Rosewood Village in South Australia and the Holdsworthy Estate in Sydney - where the redevelopment of run-down public housing has been used as a catalyst to trigger social and economic change, as well as improve the quality of the housing. It is noteworthy that the redevelopment of public housing in non-metropolitan regions has not been as explicitly tied to economic regeneration and has not been evaluated and conceptualised with reference to international experience.
This research project aimed to review the international literature on policies to address regional disadvantage, specifically focussing on what role housing can play in helping distressed regions. It examined academic work from other countries and the publications of key supra-national bodies, such as the OECD, the European Union and the World Bank. It then used three case studies in non-metropolitan South Australia to gauge the appropriateness and feasibility of the overseas developed models. The case studies were selected because they have a number of similarities in their housing stock and economies, but also significant differences that present a range of challenges for policy implementation. The assessment of the appropriateness of the policies developed overseas was undertaken via a review of the previously published material and the housing plans for each of the case studies, through interviews with key informants and through focus groups involving service providers, tenant groups, housing officers and local government. There were a number of policy related products from this research, including an extensive review of the international literature on the potential role of housing assistance in regional development and case studies highlighting the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the overseas models. The research also provided guidelines on what type of policies should be adopted under different circumstances.
More Information
Positioning Paper: No. 022: Community development and the delivery of housing assistance in non-metropolitan Australia: a literature review and pilot study
524 KB PDF Document
Final Report: No. 019: Community development and the delivery of housing assistance in non-metropolitan Australia: a literature review and pilot study
337 KB PDF Document
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