Resident action and urban planning in post-political Sydney

The participation of residents in planning and development decision making is an increasingly common objective of government in cities like Sydney. The right to ‘have your say’ has been extended to those who are often most negatively affected by changes in our urban environments. Yet, processes of participatory planning and community engagement struggle to reconcile the varied expectations and desires that communities bring to the consultation table, leaving many residents disillusioned by the very processes designed to include them. To better understand how Sydneysiders are responding to the post-political state in Sydney, with its commitment to the marketisation of infrastructure provision and consensus-seeking community consultations on this strategy, we asked resident groups about how they are creating new networks and arrangements of power to engage with the state on development issues. We found the most successful groups are working well beyond the limitations of the government consensus-seeking community consultation events because they understand the uneven power structure shaping their city. This study of the actions of Sydneysiders adds empirical weight to the critiques of Habermasian-esque consensus politics that seem to dominate contemporary models of community consultation. We use Chantal Mouffe, and particularly her ideas around the politics of agonistic pluralism, to think through the actions of local community action groups and broader alliances in Sydney.