Open AccessBruny on the Brink: Governance, Gentrification and Tourism on an Australian Island
Author(s) -
Rebecca Jackson
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
island studies journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.2
H-Index - 21
ISSN - 1715-2593
DOI - 10.24043/isj.194
Subject(s) - mainland , tourism , gentrification , corporate governance , small island , geography , small island developing states , mainland china , psychological resilience , economic geography , development economics , economy , political science , economic growth , climate change , economics , archaeology , management , ecology , china , biology , psychology , psychotherapist
This paper examines the influence of islandness on development and governance of Bruny Island (offshore from Tasmania, Australia’s only island state). While traditional economic activities, particularly agriculture, are in decline, tourism is increasingly important to the island economy. While some 600 people live on the island all-year-round; there are some 2,000 ratepayers, including holiday home owners. This location is being rapidly ‘discovered’ by people drawn from interstate and overseas to the island lifestyle, and this is leading to a process of gentrification, with consequences for islanders. Bruny Island’s local governing authority is based on the Tasmanian mainland and hence is another source of externally-driven change. Amidst these pressures, island community visioning can be an important source of resilience.