Low-income people are being marginalized by the federal government’s “monolithic housing estates” and badly planned cities, says Mission Australia.

The federal government is “incapable” of providing affordable housing and coherent city planning, Mission Australia’s CEO, Toby Hall, said.

“We’ve succeeded in building communities where disadvantaged and low-income people are clustered in areas where social and economic participation and growth is stagnant. As a result, in our urban areas affordable housing options are too often located on the fringes of our major cities — away from jobs, transport and other essential services,” he said.

The Rudd government should play a more interventionist role in the urban planning of our major cities to improve access to affordable housing, Mission Australia said.

“We need to see targeted investment in inner city housing on the grounds that it is well located. But at the same time, we need to learn from the past and not create monolithic housing estates; nor, by our investment, hurry-on the gentrification of inner city areas where affordable housing remains and price low income people out,” Hall said.

While urban planning isn’t an area commonly associated with federal governments there are precedents. For example, the Rudd government could consider the ‘Building Better Cities’ initiative of the Keating government as a model of what can be done in this area, Hall said.

“While the program had its limitations it also produced some highly successful affordable housing developments in inner city areas around the country — such as in Pyrmont-Ultimo in Sydney, New Farm in Brisbane, Kensington in Melbourne and East Perth.

“Australia has become a society where too often affordable housing is poorly built and only available in areas away from jobs, childcare and transport — where your heating and cooling costs are so high you can’t invest in your children’s education, sport or health; and where you need a car because there’s no public transport.

“That sort of society is ripe for social unrest and economic decline,” said Hall.

Gemma Battenbough

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