Local government advocacy in the ‘suburban age’: an institutionalist interpretation of Melbourne’s evolving sub-metropolitan regional structures

ABSTRACT

The ‘suburban age’ has been conceptualised as the dominant global urban spatial reality for the 21^st Century, yet the politics associated with this heightened expansiveness remain underdeveloped. Of relevance is the potential for suburban discontentment across a myriad of spaces centred upon the under provision of infrastructure and employment. With urban regions often highly fragmented by local government boundaries, bottom-up inter-local government responses assume significance, including sub-regional advocacy given enduring hierarchical government dependencies. In consideration of the evolving strength of sub-regional advocacy, three institutionalist themes are introduced: credibility, coherency and coordination. Empirical insights are presented from chief executive officer (CEO)-based interviews conducted across expansive Melbourne, Australia. In Melbourne, a ‘weak mayor/strong CEO’ local government system predominates beneath a state government with extensive metropolitan responsibilities. Melbourne’s sub-metropolitan regional structures have recently looked to strengthen their external presence through actions illustrative of the identified themes, with local government CEOs playing a key role in directing their evolving character. The global ‘suburban age’ must be associated with heightened sub-regional competition across enlarged urban regions, the management of which will present a growing spatial challenge for political leaders.

KEYWORDS:

• Credibility
• cohesion
• coordination
• inter-government relations
• regional advocacy; suburban age

Acknowledgments

The author is grateful to the interviewees who contributed to this research and to the referees for their helpful comments. Thanks also to Keith Hoggart for reading an early draft of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Steven R. Henderson

Steven R. Henderson is an associate at the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute at the University of Melbourne, Australia. His research interests include urban and regional planning, development and governance. He has published in a range of international journals, including most recently in Cities, Local Government Studies, Space and Polity, Territory Politics Governance and Urban Studies.