Public participation as panacea towards a rapid industrial development in Australia
The dynamics of resource based economic development
- Beyond public perceptions of gene technology: community participation in public policy in Australia
The public do not receive the impact of technology; they are the impact, in that they determine with gene technology developers and sellers what happens to the technology in our society. Few issues have aroused so much public attention and controversy as recent as the developments in biotechnology. What is driving these developments, and how can they be made more accountable to the public?
Over time, several authors have racked their brains and rung their head in order to come up with diagnosis and offer an optimistic prognosis to some of the multifaceted problems faced by the Australian industry just to foster sustainable development. Several authors develop a careful analysis of the ethical and social implications- offering contrasting perspectives and insightful arguments which, above all, will enable readers to form their own judgments on this vital question. The sequels to this are a plethora of programs and policies put in place by Australian government to foster industrial development in Australia. Moreover, while such strategies are not entirely new to Australia, they have, it seems, been inadequately theorized to date and are generally regarded, in rather functionalist terms, as indicative of attempts to cut back on public expenditure.
However, rethinking sub-urban development in Australia, contemporary urban policies have focused on the low densities within Australia’s capitals and tried to achieve sustainability through urban consolidation policies. This article therefore argues that these policies are often based on a distorted understanding of the relationship between housing markets and labour markets in Australia’s large metropolises. The analysis of sub-urban development involves complex links between changes in housing and job location and that urban sustainability policy needs to include actions designed to change the distribution of employment as well as the location and density of housing.
Therefore, such consideration needs the type of processes that involve active consultation and inclusion of “the public” in government and commercial innovation. A number of case studies present all the main innovations: animal cloning, pharmaceutical production from animals, cross-species transplants, and, genetically modified foods. In addition to this, many firms, local governments, and communities all believe that industrial ecology is a concept that is misunderstood and treated with suspicion, and that should be changed.
In conclusion, the government should try to come up with policies, and at the same time, further partner with non-governmental organizations to ensure further participation of its citizens, the most important factor in all of this, in order to foster industrial development, which would take us further down the path of participation toward technological advancement.