Abstract
The primary focus of this chapter is an examination of the social ties and sense of community that prevailed in Millers Point and Sirius historically and at the time of the announcement. In the process, the chapter contributes to the debate as to the continuity or otherwise of community in a global city in late modernity. What is argued, is that longevity of residence, homogeneity, the age profile and the particular history of the area, combined with its urban form, contributed to the development of a strong community that many interviewees portrayed as “unique” and “like a family”. The sense of community was undermined to an extent by the government housing authority placing individuals with serious mental health and or substance abuse problems in the area without any support.
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Notes
- 1.
“Maritime tenants” would be tenants who moved into the area pre 1986 when the housing was still owned and managed by the Maritime Services Board.
- 2.
A “blow-in” is an Australian phrase for a recent arrival.
- 3.
Millers Point has a couple of the oldest pubs in Sydney. The Lord Nelson was granted its licence in 1842 and the Hero of Waterloo in 1845 (Kass 1987).
- 4.
James is referring to the shift in the way people from the Middle East were viewed post the September 2001 terrorist attacks.
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Morris, A. (2019). “A Unique Community”. In: Gentrification and Displacement: The Forced Relocation of Public Housing Tenants in Inner-Sydney. SpringerBriefs in Sociology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1087-4_3
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