Abstract Mega-events like the Olympic Games remain widely recognized as key opportunities for cities to accelerate large-scale urban development projects through the construction of extensive Olympic Villages complexes. However, in the current global financial climate, these debt-financed urban renewal strategies are fraught with risk for both public and private partners. In the first part of...

This paper will consider some of the wider contextual and policy questions arising out of four major public inquiries that took place in Australia over 2011–2012: the Convergence Review, the National Classification Scheme Review, the Independent Media Inquiry (Finkelstein Review) and the National Cultural Policy. This paper considers whether we are now witnessing a ‘convergent...

The aim of this paper is to describe the country brand for Australia released by the Australian Federal Government in May 2010, ‘Brand Australia’. At the time of writing this paper, only the logo was available, and further details of the strategy (activities, targets, partners) were to be announced at a later date. This paper...