Australia's Suburban Success Story

"There is surprisingly little acknowledgement that, overall, the transformation of suburban Sydney in the wake of globalisation has been a success story. Over the last twenty years, the middle to outer suburbs adapted to volatile domestic and international environments, as well as technological change at breakneck speed, with an effective model of economic development. The key point is that this had more to do with the interplay of space and mobility than good planning.

By no means was this inevitable. Sydney could have succumbed to the downside of what urban theorists call the 'world city' phenomenon."

"Environmentalists and planners -- two increasingly interchangeable categories -- are oblivious to the prospect that their creeping regulations and imposts, and misallocated resources, could unravel the suburban economy."