Land use and decision making: an examination of resident participation in local government

Abstract

The way in which land is organized within a society is symbolic of the social relationships within that society. This study examines decision-making w·ith regards to land-use in an inner-city suburb of Adelaide. Utilizing the approach which is becoming known as the 'political economy of space', the study has focussed on (l) the role of local government in determining land-use, (2) the importance of social class in affecting the distribution of amenities amongst the population, and (3) the consequences of the emergence of residents' groups in land-use decision-making. In order to address these concerns, the social structure of the suburb examined was identified by the use of socio-economic variables. The patterning of social classes which emerged indicated that social class is an important consideration affecting residential location. The economic constraints which determine residential location also function within the urban land-market as a whole, and serve to place an emphasis on the exchange value of land rather than the use-value. Local Council and residents, operating within these economic constraints, make decisions over the way land is used - to the extent that they can. An examination of the local Council and the residents’ groups reveals a strong upper-middle class orientation - both in terms of composition and concerns. I suggest, in this study, that it is due to the upper-middle class character of the Council and the residents’ groups, that decisions made in regards to land-use serve to benefit the upper-middle class, at the expense of the lower classes.