Post-political planning and the tale of two cities : community engagement in urban planning and development in Sydney

Planning reforms in NSW Australia have been guided by the post-political neoliberal thought. The reforms focus on economic development and have weakened social and ecological provisions in planning. They have resulted in weakening of community engagement in planning. Independent scholars have used rational, collaborative and post political neoliberal planning theory to explain the reforms. However, theoretical underpinnings of effective community action by the affluent in the East and resignation to fate by the poor in West in Sydney metropolitan have not been explored. This research explores the spatial dimension of the post-political planning thought in Sydney NSW