An outsider on the inside: fear and loathing from Wollongong

Urban Geography

“…But thoughtful analysis of changing spatial patterns is still needed, not simply the production of social atlases. And if urban geography is to prove its continuing usefulness, the comments of Eyles (1984) need to be borne in mind; not all of our empirical work can-or should-be narrowly 'policy relevant', but at least some of the time we should,make sure that we are addressing the questions that policymakers are asking.…”

“…Similar concerns were expressed at greater length during 1983 and 1984 in a bout of soulsearching that coincided with a new format for Australian Geographical Studies encouraging review articles and debate. There and elsewhere a series of writers (Jeans, 1983;Williams, 1983;Eyles, 1984) argued that human geography as a whole in Australia was both overwhelmingly empirical and uncritically derivative of theoretical advances imported from overseas. Eyles (1984,306) argued further that Australian geography, though '.…”

“…A number of writers began to develop a distinctive feminist perspective on Australian cities, particularly concerned with the effects upon women of low-density postwar suburbia (Harman, 1983;Allport 1983). Geographers working not specifically on 'the urban' but on the uneven spatial impacts of the restructuring of Australian manufacturing and business activity (Fagan, 1981;Taylor and Thrift, 1981;Taylor and Hirst, 1983;O'Connor, 1984) provided insights essential to any understanding of how our cities were changing.…”