This paper draws upon ongoing research that has investigated the redevelopment of the Port Adelaide waterfront in South Australia. Developing previous research (see Rofe & Szili 2009), the authors contend that place names such as Port Adelaide may be so infused with negativity that attempts to renegotiate its meaning through physical redevelopment and traditional place...

This paper provides a brief background to what drove renewal projects in the cities of Melbourne and Adelaide and their current status, the changing priorities of government, the shifting commercial environment and current challenges faced by those seeking to plan these new urban spaces.

Urban waterfront regeneration is one of the largest changes to the structure of Australian and many world cities over the last two decades. Yet there is no comparative research which evaluates their governing with particular attention to the relationship and responsibility of state and local government agencies.

Despite boom times, the people of Perth have been noted for their apparent unwillingness to accept large projects designed to invigorate the city of Perth. In this paper historical evidence is used to examine two of the waterfront schemes and their results.

Through a discursive analysis of interview and document material, this paper explores the extent to which ‘community’ is both imagined and re-imagined as an outcome of these distinct new urban forms. This is considered using the Port Adelaide waterfront as a case study.