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

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.

KEYWORDS:

• Social sustainability
• government–governance nexus
• Lefebvre theories
• resource town

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Marita Basson

Marita Basson is a senior lecturer in urban planning and design at the University of Southern Queensland. Her research interests cover urban and regional development and social sustainability, online engagement and active learning. She has published scholarly book chapters, reviewed journal articles and refereed conference papers on these subjects.

Henriette van Rensburg is an associate professor (special education) in the Faculty of Business, Education, Law, and Arts at the Toowoomba campus of the University of Southern Queensland, Australia. Her research interests include linguistics and CALL, as well as postgraduate education. She has published research about Afrikaans speakers in Australia, rural and remote education, and the postgraduate and higher degrees journey.

Michael Cuthill is a private consultant. He has previously held a professorial research chair in community development and was director of a community research centre at the University of Queensland. He has published extensively on social sustainability.

Michael Odei Erdiaw-Kwasie is a research fellow at the Institute for Resilient Regions at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia. As a development policy planner, he focuses on development planning issues, government policy studies, project planning and evaluation, resource economies, and digital futures. He has published refereed conference papers, peer-reviewed journal articles and scholarly book chapters on these subjects.