Governance by re-bordering

Abstract

This chapter focuses on collaborative urbanism via political action as urban commons are re-bordered. ‘Governance by re-bordering’ has become a feature of integrated and collaborative metropolitan governance that represents a complex politics of scale and (re)ordering in strategic spatial planning. The chapter discusses the generational trajectories and legacies of amalgamating fragmented municipalities and accelerating the formation of integrated unitary authorities to reach a critical threshold of cohesive efficiency and political power, whether led by national and/or local governments. Establishing the super-sized Auckland Council has raised questions over democratic gaps, radically-changed local government service delivery, selectively enlarging the region, and destabilizing and combative relations with central government. South East Queensland (SEQ) is one of the fastest growing urban regions in the developed world and is organized around Australia’s third largest city, Brisbane. The SEQ region has a polycentric urban structure and is comprised of 10 local government authorities formed into a single planning region.