Outer metropolitan areas and infrastructure deficits: Policy dynamics on the edge of Melbourne, Australia

Abstract

Rapid urban population growth promotes the outward expansion of cities and strengthens demand for outer metropolitan infrastructure. In a practical sense, creating sustainable greenfield communities is problematic given the expensive, multidimensional nature of infrastructure. Inwardly-looking metropolitan imaginaries can result. Although urban political economy perspectives acknowledge variability in local public-private sector relations, thereby raising the prospect of developer obligations, the latter are not without limited. To further strengthen understanding of sub-national government capacities and outer metropolitan infrastructure policy, additional institutionalist interpretations are necessary. Alongside or in between the limits of developer contributions and ad hoc public funding streams, this paper confirms the importance of extended policy perspectives by identifying and evaluating three state level policy responses on the outskirts of Melbourne, Australia: spatially designated funding, public private partnerships (PPPs) and community infrastructure brokers.