Multiple Suburban Publics: Rethinking Community Opposition to Consolidation in Sydney

Since the late 1980s urban consolidation has become the dominant strategic planning paradigm across Australian cities; however, sites of densification are increasingly becoming sites of community resistance and conflict. In the context of the Sydney Metropolitan Strategy, this paper explores Ku‐ring‐gai in Sydney's northern suburbs as a site of community resistance centred on opposition to urban consolidation. Moving beyond more traditional constructions of community resistance as a form of NIMBYism, we present here a typology of community resistance groups and explore the complex relationships between these groups, which are used to challenge development. In addition we draw on understanding of urban publics to explore the ways in which these groups attempt to engage and act on behalf of a diverse set of publics operating across scales.     

Progress in Canadian Geomorphology and Hydrology 1996–2000

Since 1996, a broad range of publications has been produced by Canadian geomorphologists and hydrolo‐gists. These publications have been distributed in journals with national and international circulations. Although there remains a major focus on the study of observable processes in fluvial, aeolian, coastal and slope environments there is also a strong, historical component to explanations oflandforms, landform assemblages and sedimentary sequences. Some of these histories have incorporated the effects of high‐magnitude (catastrophic) events, some of which may have no modern analogues. Perspectives on the interactions among microclimatic variables, including changes induced by human actions, continue to evolve. Forest clearance and its effects on evaporation rates, water‐table levels and timing ofsnowmelt, the human use of wetlands and release of methane and carbon dioxide, will continue to demand the attention of scholars interested in explaining future climatic scenarios. Depuis 1996, un large éventail de publications a été produit par les géomorphologues et hydrologues du Canada. Ces travaux ont été diffusés dans des revues nationales et internationales. Bien qu'il y ait encore une attention privilégiée portée à l'étude des processus observables dans des environnements fluviaux, éoliens, côtiers et de pente, il existe aussi une importante composante historique dans l'explication des formes du paysage et de leurs assemblages ainsi que des séquences sédimentaires. Certaines de ces reconstitutions historiques ont incorporé les effets d'événements de haute magnitude (catastrophique), dont certains n'ont peut‐être pas d'analogues modernes. Les points de vue sur les interactions entre les variables microclimatiques, et notamment les changements d'origine anthropique, continuent d'évoluer. Le recul des forêts et ses effets sur les taux d'évaporation, le niveau des nappes phreatiques et le calendrier de la fonte des neiges, l'utilisation humaine des zones humides et l'émission de méthane et de gaz carbonique, continueront d'exiger l'attention des spécialistes qui se penchent sur l'explication des scénarios climatiques futurs.