Gentrification and resident action in inner Sydney: 1961-1980

Abstract

Urban areas are constantly undergoing change in response to broader developments in society and the economy, but the relationship of property ownership to political action and the interest of homeowners in amenity and property value remains strong. Sydney experienced many of the major postwar changes in social and physical makeup seen throughout Australia, and by the mid to late sixties demand had increased for inner city dwellings by middle-class purchasers. Because of the dilapidated condition of the nineteenth century dwellings, many purchasers renovated the dwellings, with more renovations by middle-class than working- class owners and more money spent on the renovations. Owners could not "renovate" their immediate environment however, for improving local amenity was the responsibility of municipal councils. In the past, the working-class residents had relied on their Labor councils and Labor State governments to protect their interests as residents. The new middle-class owners were interested in different aspects of amenity, and some which directly went against Labor policy and local tradition. As a minority the new residents could only rely on political pressure to persuade municipal council. They could use the traditional tools of all homeowners, such as letters and petitions, or the more protest-oriented ones used more often elsewhere, and residents chose to use both. One particular tool of middle-class residents was resident action groups, which formed in the six areas from 1965 to 1970. Resident groups were particularly useful for building group membership, gathering political skills for integrative action and sufficient participation in large scale protests, such as expressways or industrial development, but were less successful when dealing with more singular problems of traffic and parking. During the time that more middle-class residents moved into the inner areas, residential amenity and urban living became more desirable and resident groups more accepted as political actors. By 1980 there were enough middle-class residents in certain areas to form an electoral majority. While gentrification originally increased the incentive for middle-class residents to act on property matters, it also increased their electoral strength such that they eventually moved from the political margins to the centre of the political arena.