Whyalla and the transition to a decarbonised future

Whyalla, an old steel town in the Upper Spencer Gulf in South Australia, has had a chequered history. Steel production has been precarious for a decade and more. Now, the promise of 'Green Steel' and a local major Hydrogen Hub holds out the hope of regional security. In this article, I trace the history of Whyalla, the region, and its steel works and outline the promise of a new future based on renewable industries. I start by outlining the importance of stressing both time and place in analysing the process and pattern of regional development. Insodoing, I question the validity of much 'place-based' analysis and point to Deep Place analysis as a possible alternative. I examine the limits and possibilities of the current transition and suggest that the future may not yet be entirely secure.