ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the links between urban housing provision and economic development, together with the role of the state, and social relationships in shaping the links. It investigates changes in the residential built environment in two towns - Darwin and Alice Springs - in the Northern Territory of Australia. The chapter briefly reviews several concepts that are central to the empirical analysis. In addition, the Northern Territory has experienced uneven spatial development not only as part of the Australian periphery, but also in terms of its own rural peripheries and urban cores. As the nineteenth century wore on, the squatter pastoralists expanded into more remote areas in the northern half of Australia where conditions were harsh, facilities limited, and communications relatively poor. The Northern Territory became a self-governing state in 1978, and now has responsibilities comparable to all other states.
