Is regional government-governance nexus delivering on social sustainability promises? Empirical evidence from Moranbah in Australia

Marita Basson, Henriette van Rensburg, Michael Cuthill, Michael O. Erdiaw-Kwasie

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Social sustainability, in theory, should result in responsiveness to change, a durable sense of community trust and interdependent institutional structures. However, recent studies indicate that current sustainability efforts of regional local government are not yielding anticipated outcomes. Drawing on two social theories of Henri Lefebvre, this paper offers an empirical analysis of the ability of the government–governance nexus to deliver on social sustainability promises in Moranbah in regional Australia. Study findings revealed that the Moranbah government–governance nexus suffers from adversarial relationships between key actors that result in a distrust of politics and power, the absence of a defined governance system, community alienation, and State Government dominance and intervention. These experiences of the government–governance nexus have rendered social sustainability a distant hope for Moranbah’s residents. This paper suggests a reform in sustainability policies to improve the current situation in the case region, and theoretical propositions for future research.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)826-847
Number of pages22
JournalLocal Government Studies
Volume44
Issue number6
Early online date2 Jul 2018
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2 Nov 2018
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Copyright:
Copyright 2019 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

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