The development of the Western Sydney Regional Parklands (WSRP) has been a component of the metropolitan area’s masterplan for many decades. With the residential ‘land creep’ now virtually on its doorstep, it is timely for the WSRP to be formally recognized and developed as Western Sydney’s major open space.

This paper explores the record of the Office of Western Sydney, as a thinly resourced and barely empowered institutional mechanism with a nonetheless impressive record, and identifies the strategy of dynamic network creation and utilisation that allowed positive changes to be achieved in developing and diversifying local and regional economies.

The ABF had its suspicions that different approaches to infrastructure could lead to greater economic benefits for three of Australia's most well-established industrial regions. This report is the end result of a two-year action research project involving key infrastructure experts and stakeholders. The project takes a wider angle on infrastructure and identifies a small number...