Multi‐Scale Meta‐Governance Strategies for Addressing Social Inequality in Resource Dependent Regions

Abstract

AbstractSocial inequality in resource‐dependent regions is a growing problem. Increasingly both state and private actors are acting as meta‐governors to address the issue. In this article, we focus on housing inequality as ‘the canary in the coalmine’ for broader social inequality. While affordable housing has been the subject of growing attention in urban scholarship, relatively few studies have considered the governance of affordable housing in rural regions. We report on a case analysis of affordable housing governance in the Gladstone‐Surat Region, a traditional agricultural area of Australia that has experienced a dramatic increase in housing inequality due to significant coal seam gas development in recent years. We show that networked arrangements for affordable housing delivery were the product of strategic policy structuring, resourcing, and hands‐off framing by the state government. Private meta‐governance was exercised only in relation to process management forms of meta‐governance, with private companies facilitating local ‘arenas’ for stakeholder discussion and connecting stakeholders in a synergistic manner. The dynamics of the case‐study examined demonstrate that meta‐governance in rural regions is not just about coordinating and mobilising horizontal (e.g., regional) cooperation, but about coalescing action within multiscale ‘exogenous’ networks and structures. These findings have important implications for future efforts to address social inequality in rural areas.