Urban purity and danger: the turbulence associated with contamination in suburban Australia

Prior, JH; Harfield, S

Urban purity and danger: the turbulence associated with contamination in suburban Australia

Prior, JH

Harfield, S

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Publisher:: Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, University of Melbourne, Australia
Publication Type:: Conference Proceeding
Citation:: Green Fields, Brown Fields, New Fields: Proceedings of the 10th Australasian Urban History, Planning History Conference (CD-ROM)., 2010, pp. 1 - 15
Issue Date:: 2010-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Prior, JH https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6145-5207	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Harfield, S	en_US
dc.contributor.editor	Nichols, D	en_US
dc.contributor.editor	Hurlimann, A	en_US
dc.contributor.editor	Mouat, C	en_US
dc.contributor.editor	Pascoe, S	en_US
dc.date	2010-02-07	en_US
dc.date.issued	2010-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Green Fields, Brown Fields, New Fields: Proceedings of the 10th Australasian Urban History, Planning History Conference (CD-ROM)., 2010, pp. 1 - 15	en_US
dc.identifier.isbn	9780734041562	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/11228
dc.description.abstract	The rapid growth of Australian cities throughout the 19th and 20th centuries saw the emergence of a long-running tension between processes of urbanisation and industrialisation. Urbanisation is characterised by an increase in the number of people who chose to call the city their home. In this case, simultaneous industrialisation provided new residents with much-needed employment whilst locating noxious and polluting industries on their doorstep. This paper presents findings from an Australian research project that investigates how residential communities experience and perceive industrial contamination that modern urban planning has so vehemently sought to protect them from. It presents evidence on how such contamination can disrupt, challenge or completely invert the way in which residents approach their neighbourhood and home. This research addresses a gap in the literature, analysing the topic within the Australian context. This paper presents findings from a random telephone survey conducted with 400 suburban residents in the North Lake Macquarie area of New South Wales (NSW), living in proximity of industry, including a lead and zinc smelter. This research expands on the existing literature of Edelstein and others, to explore the psychosocial turbulence that emerges when the lifescape of suburban neighbourhoods in the Australia are contaminated by the toxicity of industries in this case the smelter has contaminated both the industrial land itself and the surrounding suburbs. Lifescape can be broadly defined to describe the individual habits and collective behaviour and assumptions that make up everyday life in local areas. Psychosocial turbulence extends from potential effects on peoples patterns of living, activities and relationships, through to their sense of health, security and safety, and their feeling of personal control.	en_US
dc.publisher	Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, University of Melbourne, Australia	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Green Fields, Brown Fields, New Fields: Proceedings of the 10th Australasian Urban History, Planning History Conference (CD-ROM).	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Green Fields, Brown Fields, New Fields: Australasian Urban History, Planning History Conference	en_US
dc.title	Urban purity and danger: the turbulence associated with contamination in suburban Australia	en_US
dc.type	Conference Proceeding
utslib.location	Melbourne, Australia	en_US
utslib.location.activity	Melbourne, Australia	en_US
utslib.for	160403 Social and Cultural Geography	en_US
utslib.for	120507 Urban Analysis and Development	en_US
dc.location.activity	Melbourne, Australia	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/DVC (Research)/Institute For Sustainable Futures
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/e-Press
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building/School of Architecture
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - ISF - Institute for Sustainable Futures
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.consider-herdc	true	en_US
pubs.place-of-publication	Melbourne, Australia	en_US
pubs.start-date	2010-02-07	en_US

Abstract:

The rapid growth of Australian cities throughout the 19th and 20th centuries saw the emergence of a long-running tension between processes of urbanisation and industrialisation. Urbanisation is characterised by an increase in the number of people who chose to call the city their home. In this case, simultaneous industrialisation provided new residents with much-needed employment whilst locating noxious and polluting industries on their doorstep. This paper presents findings from an Australian research project that investigates how residential communities experience and perceive industrial contamination that modern urban planning has so vehemently sought to protect them from. It presents evidence on how such contamination can disrupt, challenge or completely invert the way in which residents approach their neighbourhood and home. This research addresses a gap in the literature, analysing the topic within the Australian context. This paper presents findings from a random telephone survey conducted with 400 suburban residents in the North Lake Macquarie area of New South Wales (NSW), living in proximity of industry, including a lead and zinc smelter. This research expands on the existing literature of Edelstein and others, to explore the psychosocial turbulence that emerges when the lifescape of suburban neighbourhoods in the Australia are contaminated by the toxicity of industries in this case the smelter has contaminated both the industrial land itself and the surrounding suburbs. Lifescape can be broadly defined to describe the individual habits and collective behaviour and assumptions that make up everyday life in local areas. Psychosocial turbulence extends from potential effects on peoples patterns of living, activities and relationships, through to their sense of health, security and safety, and their feeling of personal control.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/11228