Dallas Rogers, University of Western Sydney

Tenant participation in public housing estate redevelopment: The changing roles of the public and private sectors

Social and community objectives have traditionally been considered the remit of the public sector. However, in the current search for private sector solutions to 'fixing' large public housing estates, some projects appear to challenge these taken for granted assumptions of the public and private sectors.

This paper outlines my PhD research investigating the Bonnyrigg Living Communities Project in New South Wales – the state's first social housing public/private partnership with contracted infrastructural and social objectives. Following from my 2006 study, this study seeks to further explore the suggestion that the state housing authority continues to be driven by economic, bureaucratic and political concerns, while, conversely, the private sector is increasingly integrating their consultative practices and social responsibility claims with their marketing and business development strategies.

A key question in these circumstances is accountability. In a project with specific 'community participation' requirements paradoxically the ability of residents, as citizens, to call government to account for the way in which their estate is managed may have been compromised while, interestingly, the private developer is now accountable to government, under contract, for achieving social objectives previously considered remit of the public sector.

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