Abstract
Research undertaken by the authors in New South Wales (NSW), Australia suggests that master-planned estates (MPEs) that contain some publicly accessible infrastructure – such as roads, parks, walkways, lakes and bush land – outnumber those that are gated. There is a need to further develop discussions that move beyond considerations of the social consequences of provision of private infrastructure in gated MPEs (social polarization in particular) and to recognize the consequences of the provision of publicly accessible but privately financed infrastructure within non-gated master-planned estates. We apply McKenzie’s (2003) work on the ‘fuzzy’ boundaries between the public and private realms to five case study MPEs in NSW that include publicly accessible infrastructure and outline some of the social, economic and legal implications for developers, local councils, estate residents and the general public of these fuzzy boundaries. The paper concludes with some suggestions of how the challenges facing MPEs that include publicly accessible infrastructure may be mitigated, while at the same time maintaining the benefits that accrue to residents of the estate and surrounding areas, developers and local councils through the provision of such infrastructure.