The Smith Institute - a London-based independent think tank, has just published "Investing in better places: international perspectives". This collection of essays offers a global set of perspectives on the place-making agenda, covering Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Britain.
In a chapter titled "Place making, inclusion and governance in the suburban city - a case study of Melbourne, Australia", Dr Marcus Spiller (a director of SGS Economics and Planning) argues that place making at the metropolitan level is crucially dependent on inclusion and the creation of a ‘city of opportunity'. City structure conditions social mobility, notwithstanding the pace of economic growth or the redistributive infrastructure of the state, he observes. Drawing on research by SGS Economics and Planning, he recounts the development of Melbourne as the suburban city, to identify a looming challenge for Australian policymakers and prescribe some policy answers.
read the publication (on the Smith Institute website)
read about the Smith Institute