Partnership, Master Planning and State Provision: a Case Study of ‘Actually Existing Neoliberalism’ on the Central Coast of New South Wales

Over the past decade neoliberalism has come to represent the dominant policy discourse and ideology in the majority of western economies. Following the attention given to this phenomenon at a global (and national) scale, there has been a recent rise in interest in its regional implementation and expression and in how these are mediated through the embedded institutional associations of context dependent localities. Using Brenner and Theodore's (2002a) notion of ‘actually existing neoliberalisms’, this paper explores the hybrid nature of the residential property market. Using one of Greater Sydney's fastest growing regions as an example, this paper shows how residential developments are hybrid constructions, framed by institutional and policy resonances constituted by both state and market actants. Key factors here are the processes of partnership (a process of joining the market and the state), master planning (a process of recognising and pursuing the goals of both the market and the state) and negotiation and provision of state infrastructure (a process of direct state construction of the market).