Defining Identity in the Face of Rapid Urban Growth: Changing Times in a Regional Australian City

Abstract

The Australian regional city of Ipswich is a place undergoing significant change through rapid urban development and population growth. This article is concerned with testing anecdotal views about the importance of 'community' to Ipswich residents and what that might consist of. It draws on exploratory research into local constructions of Ipswich's identity and how rapid growth may be impacting it. As a first stage in the research process, six local leaders were interviewed about their perceptions of the city in this changing urban environment. Across the sample, Ipswich's identity was defined by its sense of community, heritage and history, social and economic growth, geography of place, and local leadership and vision. Participants described a positive transformation of Ipswich's identity overall. This article illuminates elements in Ipswich's identity viewed by participants as of local importance. Ipswich's sense of community was the element participants talked most about preserving in the face of urban growth. Discussed in this article are the study's findings, limitations and potential research directions.

Making place with mobile media: Young people’s blurred place-making in regional Australia

“…Online spaces represented sites for rural residents to gather, to share experiences, as well as to reconstitute and recognise rurality. Like others researching rural and regional communities (see Jansen et al, 2012), Lundgren and Johansson (2017) found contrasting constructions of decline and renewal, and their shaping influence on place-making.…”

“…For instance, communities are negotiating the impacts of migration (Alston, 2004), economic restructure (Kraack & Kenway, 2002), and information technologies (Ei Chew et al, 2011; Stern, 2008). Discourses questioning the sustainability of nonurban places (Ei Chew et al, 2011; Jansen, Cuthill, & Hafner, 2012) speak to a discourse of anxiety regarding the impacts of change on local place. While such concerns are less pressing in larger, regional towns, uncertainty associated with change is still evident (see Jansen et al, 2012).…”

“…Discourses questioning the sustainability of nonurban places (Ei Chew et al, 2011; Jansen, Cuthill, & Hafner, 2012) speak to a discourse of anxiety regarding the impacts of change on local place. While such concerns are less pressing in larger, regional towns, uncertainty associated with change is still evident (see Jansen et al, 2012).…”

“…Place-making is a term with multiple meanings and is of interest to a range of disciplines as a key explanatory variable structuring people’s everyday lives. In the context of regional places, Jansen et al (2012; Waite, 2018) traced shifts in place identity in a regional Australian town, finding that recent economic growth was reflected in positive conceptions of place.…”

Living a managed community lifestyle: managed community lifestyle from Queensland

“…More recently from a broader community perspective there has been a rising awareness of the negative impacts of unplanned economic and population growth or change. This has resulted in cities like Ipswich, Queensland planning as to how to maintain their unique community spirit (Jansen et al , 2012).…”