ECONOMIC RESTRUCTURING AND STATE INTERVENTION IN HOLDENIST SUBURBIA -UNDERSTANDING URBAN POVERTY IN AUSTRALIA

From the mid-1940s to the mid-1960s a particular conjuncture of capita l-state relations formed in Australia, leading to the development of a distinctive urban form - 'Holdenist suburbia': built by government; o f a large scale and uniform appearance; constructed of poor quality, c heap materials; home to relatively high percentages of public renters; comprised of predominantly working-class families; adjacent to manufa cturing employment; and stigmatized. An examination of one such Holden ist suburban estate in 1966 and 1991 illustrates how certain aspects o f economic restructuring and state intervention have forged such space s as sites of urban poverty. With the broad aim of connecting Australi an urban studies to ongoing international debates about the nature of contemporary urban poverty, it is noted that distinctive characteristi cs of Australian urban and welfare state development render the applic ation of concepts derived from different cultural settings problematic . This paper makes two points. First, a 'finer-combed' interpretation of Australian postwar suburban development is required to delineate th e role of the state in shaping a particular urban form during this per iod - the Holdenist suburban form. Second, this delineation is particu larly important to understanding contemporary urban poverty in Austral ia, for the social provisions of state policy have, in contradictory f ashion, both prevented the full development of outcast ghettos (Marcus e, 1996) and, in conjunction with the processes of economic restructur ing, forged sites of urban poverty.