Creating inclusive communities through balancing social mix: a critical relationship or tenuous link?

This paper explores some fundamental assumptions being linked by State Housing Authorities to ‘social mix’ strategies in contemporary Australian public housing estate regeneration policy. Six case study estates, two each in new South Wales, South Australia and Queensland form the basis for the empirical analysis. The two major ideas emerging from South Australian and Queensland projects are: first that lowering concentrations of public housing and developing more mixed income communities offers a means to reconnect socially excluded public housing tenants to mainstream society; second that a balanced social mix is a prerequisite for the development of ‘inclusive’, ‘sustainable’ and ‘cohesive’ communities. However, in light of the empirical findings that strong cohesive communities already exist on some estates prior to regeneration commencing, there is no evidence that a balanced social mix is a necessary condition for building inclusive communities. Coupled with findings in the projects of inadvertent negative consequences of implementing social mix policies, the paper questions whether policy makers are over-emphasising the extent to which social mix assists regeneration

Social mix and the cities

The idea of balanced social mix, or creating communities with a blend of residents from different housing tenures and income levels, is of common concern for contemporary housing and planning policies in Australia, the UK and the US. In Australia, the state based Shelter organisations have run several workshops about the issue and in the UK the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has recently released a consultation paper on ‘Planning for Mixed Communities’ (ODPM 2005). Internationally, social mix and the related issue of neighbourhood effects have been the subject of much debate, which is reflected in the flurry of articles and special editions of major international journals, including ‘Housing Studies’ (Vol 17, 1 & Vol 18, 6) and ‘Urban Studies’ (Vol 38, 12). This interest is by no means new as the concept of ‘social mix’ has informed Australian, British and US new town planning policy since the post second world war years. In general, this model of town planning anticipates benefits for disadvantaged residents of coexisting with homeowners and working residents, in balanced heterogenous communities. However, the importance placed on social mix has waxed and waned over time and the policy goals, expectations and meanings and values embedded in the concept of social mix have also varied. During the 1970s in Australia, for instance, the concept was tied to addressing poverty and achieving redistributive ideals and equity in the distribution of government resources and as a reaction against the development of mass public housing projects. At that time, social mix was thought to achieve better access to services for disadvantaged residents and also to build more stable communities

Teaching Mindfulness to Year Sevens as Part of Health and Personal development

Published version made available in accordance with the publisher's policy.Recently the adoption of mindfulness or contemplative based approaches has escalated across many sectors, including in education. Proponents argue that mindfulness based teaching programs improve students’ life skills, provide emotional balance, reduce stress and enhance classroom climate. To date though there is little evaluation or knowledge of how young people experience such programs introduced to classroom settings. This paper reports some key insights gained from an independent evaluation of a pilot mindfulness based teaching program implemented (over nine weeks) with a class of thirty, year seven students at a private school in Adelaide. The research methods incorporated a self-completed student questionnaire and Smiley Face evaluation sheets, interviews with teachers and classroom observations. The implications for teachers are about who should teach mindfulness in school settings, the sorts of curricula adopted, and recognition that a general school classroom is not an ideal space for conducting mindfulness-based activities

Neighbourhood regeneration: facilitating community involvement

In this paper, the courses of action taken to facilitate residents’ participation, in developing community action plans, in two Australian public housing estate regeneration projects are examined. The findings are placed within the context of changes, over the past twenty years, to the operation of housing authorities that were antecedents to the newly emerging partnership models of regeneration between the public and private sectors and communities. Three major findings are highlighted. First, the government role, in terms of providing support positions and allowing adequate time for residents to participate is critical to the success of community participation activities. The second finding is that the ever-increasing privatisation of public sector activities and pre-occupation with developing a more efficient, effective and lean public sector, essentially defined in economic terms, is in conflict with meeting government’s social goals of community participation. Third, much of the rhetoric used in neighbourhood regeneration projects of ‘rights and obligations’ and ‘sustainability’ is not well defined and is sometimes implemented in contradictory ways. In applying these terms, the housing authorities and their regeneration partners need to elucidate the principles they are promoting. In light of the findings overall, it is concluded that we should question the capacity of market oriented regeneration policy to lead to resident inclusion

Teaching Mindfulness to Year Sevens as Part of Health and Personal Development

Recently the adoption of mindfulness or contemplative based approaches has escalated across many sectors, including in education. Proponents argue that mindfulness based teaching programs improve students’ life skills, provide emotional balance, reduce stress and enhance classroom climate. To date though there is little evaluation or knowledge of how young people experience such programs introduced to classroom settings. This paper reports some key insights gained from an independent evaluation of a pilot mindfulness based teaching program implemented (over nine weeks) with a class of thirty, year seven students at a private school in Adelaide. The research methods incorporated a self-completed student questionnaire and Smiley Face evaluation sheets, interviews with teachers and classroom observations. The implications for teachers are about who should teach mindfulness in school settings, the sorts of curricula adopted, and recognition that a general school classroom is not an ideal space for conducting mindfulness-based activities

Making space for social inclusion in conceptualising climate change vulnerability

Impacts from climate change pose a raft of challenges for societies, governments and policy makers internationally. The anticipated changes are well documented, including rising sea levels, increased floods and other extreme weather conditions. Much research and policy emphasis has focused on technical and economic aspects. Less debated are questions about different communities’ vulnerabilities, inequitable distributional impacts, social justice issues and how vulnerability links to social inclusion/exclusion. This paper explores a case study which maps social exclusion and vulnerability in Brisbane, Queensland, and found that while communities can be vulnerable through physical aspects of an area, when social dimensions are added to the equation it amplifies or exacerbates the scale of vulnerability. The findings also suggest that in developing research agendas and policy debates around climate change there could be benefits from interlinking the currently separate areas of work on social vulnerability to extreme weather events, to forms and processes of social inclusion/exclusion

Addressing the stigmatisation of social housing

This bulletin is based on AHURI project 40600, The problem of social housing stigmatisation and innovations that can minimise its effects (Investigative Panel). “Copyright 2012 AHURI Limited. Published version of the paper reproduced here with permission from the publisher.” This is the publisher's copryight version of this article, the original can be found at: http://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/research-and-policy-bulletins/151The stigmatisation of social housing neighbourhoods in Australia can be traced to under-investment in social housing, which contributes to poor maintenance, and allocation of housing to the most disadvantaged and marginalised tenants. These policies have unintentionally reinforced a sense of social division and undermined subsequent efforts to improve the welfare of residents. Previous AHURI research has found that there is a need to address poor perceptions of social housing in the wider community, and that changes in such attitudes will not be brought about simply by reinvesting in public housing. In order to address these attitudes, it is necessary to understand how stigmatisation of social housing works. This Investigative Panel research project sought to develop understandings of the stigmatisation of social housing through targeted discussions and utilisation of social theory.This material was produced with funding from Australian Government and the Australian States and Territories. AHURI Limited acknowledges the financial and other support it has received from the Australian, State and Territory Governments, without which this work would not have been possible

The Historical Construction of 'The Public Housing Problem' and Deconstruction Policies

Reprinted from 'the historical construction of 'the public housing problem' and deconcentration policies', in Rae Dufty-Jones and Dallas Rogers ed. Housing in 21st-Century Australia: people, Practices and Policies (Ashgate, 2015), pp. 173-186. Copyright © 2015. Published version uploaded in accordance with the publisher's policy

Can effective housing management policies address anti-social behaviour?

This bulletin is based on AHURI project 40163 Developing effective housing management policies to address problems of anti-social behaviour. “Copyright 1970 AHURI Limited. Published version of the paper reproduced here with permission from the publisher.” This is the publisher's copryight version of this article, the original can be found at: http://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/research-and-policy-bulletins/38Anti-social behaviour is a generic term used to describe activities ranging from littering to serious forms of harassment, which can negatively impact on the neighbourhoods in which they occur. There are competing views on the causes of anti-social behaviour and the best way to tackle these types of activities. On the one hand, some argue that problems of anti-social behaviour are a consequence of pover ty and can therefore only be properly addressed by increasing resources and material benefits. Others argue that the problems of anti-social behaviour cannot be resolved simply at a structural level and that individual responses are required, even if this means targeting particular households. This study set out to understand the first-hand perspectives of tenants, housing managers and law enforcement agencies on problems of anti-social behaviour in public housing estates and to evaluate the usefulness of existing procedures for addressing anti-social behaviour in these areas.This material was produced with funding from the Australian Government and the Australian States and Territories. AHURI Ltd gratefully acknowledges the financial and other support it has received from the Australian, State and Territory Governments, without which this work would not have been possible

Social exclusion and housing

This bulletin is based on AHURI project 40199 Social exclusion and housing. “Copyright 2004 AHURI Limited. Published version of the paper reproduced here with permission from the publisher.” This is the publisher's copryight version of this article, the original can be found at: http://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/research-and-policy-bulletins/37.While the term ‘social exclusion’ is frequently used to describe public housing estates characterised by problematic housing and concentrations of disadvantaged individuals, to date there has been little consideration in Australia of the various meanings ascribed to social exclusion, or, given its European origins, assessment of its applicability within the Australian context.This material was produced with funding from the Australian Government and the Australian States and Territories. AHURI Ltd gratefully acknowledges the financial and other support it has received from the Australian, State and Territory Governments, without which this work would not have been possible