NATION BRANDING: A MULTIFACETED PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK

Simon Anholt's (2002, 2006a, 2006b) editorial discussions make valuable contributions to the deeper and unfolding multidisciplinary understandings of the notion of place branding. Reviewing the journal highlights the foundational disciplinary influence of marketing and tourism on the evolving field of place branding. Many of the case study discussions focus on place branding and the transformative challenges of re-branding 'old world' developed nation — country, region and city — contexts. This paper aims to support nation branding as an important 'competitive identity' (Anholt, 2006b) review and assessment tool through discussion on the particular challenges of a 'new world' geo-regional place-branding case study. The national context is Australia, with the Pilbara region of Western Australia (WA) being the particular geo-regional focus.

The Anholt-GMI Nation Branding Index (NBI) is a valuable comparative and cross-sectoral perception and assessment tool, because it offers a multi-sectoral framework for 'outsider' perceptions of a country across the six areas of people, culture and heritage, governance, investment and immigration, exports and tourism. The NBI also presents a useful 'insider' dialogic framework for a place-based community to engage with local perceptions of its natural and human resources to determine multifaceted development strategies to enhance capacity to create competitive advantage as mediated across the six societal areas. Overall, nation branding provides a valuable 'insider–outsider' framework to evaluate national (or regional) competence in a more integrated and holistic way. In an interconnected and interdependent global economy, this type of strategic approach to development is vital.

CULTURE: THE KEY INTERPRETATION ISSUE FOR PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

Culture plays a critical role in framing diverse insider/outsider stakeholder interpretations of place-based natural and human resources, and interrelated development assumptions concerning particular strategic responses to perceived local advantage or constraint. Analysis reveals how specific cultural values frame the various insider/outsider perceptions of a particular place-based identity. In addition, analysis reveals how particular local cultural assumptions embed and evolve to dominate the institutional logic framing-specific interpretive approaches to each of the six areas of national competence in a specific context. An 'interpretive approach' (Healey, 2006) to analysis identifies how the institutional embedding of particular cultural assumptions plays a critical role in framing 'status-quo' or 'transformation' assessments of individual and group perceptions of brand strengths and weaknesses.

In other words, cultural analysis reveals how prevailing or 'taken-for-granted' insider assumptions may limit deeper or innovative insights into assessments of local natural and human capital. Analysis can identify how prevailing cultural assumptions inhibit 'outside-the-box' and potentially transformative interpretations of just how to build local competitive advantage through particular place-branding strategies. Outsider perspectives, as included in the NBI assessments, can offer countervailing interpretations to create reflective and enlightening opportunities to reframe insider interpretations of natural and human capital in a specific context. These diverse and multifaceted interpretive and assessment perspectives highlight how culture often plays a critical role in moving the current brand image of a country towards its desired brand image (Anholt, 2006a).

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: THE TRANSFORMATIVE GLOBAL RE-BRANDING IMPERATIVE

Importantly, three crucial global imperatives now frame an urgent risk-adverse re-branding agenda for sustainable development on planet Earth. This re-branding agenda has considerable interpretive implications for diverse and contrasting insider–outsider perceptions of the competitive identity of nations, regions and local communities. The agenda highlights the need to build and sustain competitive identity, as determined by local natural and human capital. In an interconnected and interdependent global context, this transformative re-branding challenge has considerable performance and assessment implications for the field of place branding. A holistic notion of place branding has a key role in this transformative re-branding agenda. The issue of culture inevitably has a key and interrelated insider–outsider local/global perceptual role in framing how particular nations and communities respond. The three crucial global imperatives relate to the risks associated with status quo approaches to development.

The first imperative concerns the economic agenda to eliminate poverty and relates to calls for transformation to more effectively address inter- and intra-national community disparities (UNDP, 2001). This economic agenda necessitates the incorporation of a more ethical framework into sustainable place-branding interpretations. An ethical framework asserts that all citizens should have participatory opportunities to engage self-deterministically in local enterprises that, in turn, articulate to a healthy sense of place community identity (Appadurai, 2004; Sen, 2004). This imperative emphasises the pivotal need for any economic agenda to meaningfully address how the issue of socio-cultural values frames a local sustainable development strategy.

The second imperative concerns growing global perceptions of the risks associated with the health of environment systems. The environmental imperative has gained international momentum in response to the widely viewed media representations of traumatic weather events, such as Hurricane Katrina, and the popularised perspectives engaging with the issue of climate change science (eg the Oscar winning Paramount film An Inconvenient Truth, 2006; The Stern Review 2006). Global media have played a key role in raising international consciousness and debate on the urgent need to adopt a new sustainable development model to address comprehensive environmental risks. This environmental consciousness now gives impetus for a new eco-centric industrial development model. A sustainable development approach must effectively reconcile the values of the human system with those of the natural system (Hawken et al., 1999; Capra, 2002; Porrit, 2005).

The third imperative derives from an increasingly 'risk-aware society' (Beck, 1992, 1998). Perceptions of risk are now at the core of all global and local development strategies and choices. More particularly, attention has focused on the contrasted divisive and unifying, enriching and costly impacts of cultural pluralism, as related to the issue of development. Across the world, all too numerous examples of personal and societal trauma are linked with community conflicts that derive from intra- and international religious and ethnic socio-political and economic community diversity. Contrasted to this high cost and competitive 'weakness' interpretation as related to high 'clash of civilisations' (Huntington, 1993) risks, UNWTO figures note that international travel arrivals passed 842 million in 2006 (UNWTO, 2007). This interrelated international tourism and business global flow figure reflects contrasted high-asset 'strength' perceptions of socio-cultural and geo-regional diversity. These contrasted high-asset/cost and risk assessments point to the variability of local/global assessments of competitive identity strengths and weaknesses.

These three interconnected 'big picture' economic, environmental and socio-cultural risk imperatives now drive diverse interpretations and responses to the sustainable development agenda across the six societal areas of nation banding. Together, they set an overarching global 'homocentric' to 'eco-centric' socio-cultural re-branding agenda. The diverse debate, sense of urgency and elevated perceptions of risk driving this transformation imperative now highlight how the complex issue of 'values' lies at the heart of all societal and development choices.

The interrelationship between the status quo 'taken-for-granted' values of individuals and groups, and critical questions about our unsustainable way of life values and practices begin to increase awareness of our cultural boundedness, our own biases and those of others (Healey, 2006). Consequently, Healey argues, we recognise difference and differentiation in our systems of meaning, our ways of acting and our life worlds, and see around us not homogeneous values and ways of life, but cultural diversity. 'One consequence has been that an awareness of the cultural embeddedness of social life, economic organisations and forms of governance has returned to western consciousness' (p. 37). She notes that in this context, 'culture' is understood not merely as ideology, or political philosophy, nor as a particular dimension of social life, and still less as 'attributes' of a social group. 'Its meaning is more anthropological, implying the systems of meaning and frames of reference through which people in social situations shape their institutional practices. This conception of culture takes up beyond notions of values as "individual subjective preferences". Instead, values are seen to derive from models of thought' (p. 37).

This heterogeneous cultural 'model of thought' view, Healey argues, contrasts with homogeneous conceptual models for place-based communities. This more complex notion of culture provides a foundation on which to engage with how culture frames place-branding perceptions across the six areas of the Nation Branding hexagon. Conceived in this way, this journal's call for engagement with the issue of culture in place-branding work is timely.

The deeper implications of global interconnectedness and risk (ie social, economic and environmental) call for multidisciplinary insights for transformative and holistic cultural notions of place branding. Current global realities mean that tri-sectoral corporate, government and community reputation and responsibility management is not only challenging, but crucial (Warhurst, 2001). A comprehensive interpretive approach can enable place-based communities to engage collaboratively with the multidimensional facets of this transformational challenge. Such an approach is needed to assess systematically natural and human strengths and weaknesses (Senge, 2006) to effectively determine specific branding strategies that support a particular community development strategy. 'Globalisation means that countries compete with each other for attention, respect and trust of investors, tourist, consumers, donors, immigrants, the media and the governments of other nations — so a powerful and positive nation brand provides crucial competitive advantage' (Anholt, 2006c: 263).

The all-of-society 'transformation' required to recast a sustainable development strategy involves a wave of social, technical and economic innovation that will touch every person, community, company, institution and nation on Earth (Atkisson, 2006). A more elevated and reflective understanding of the embedded and systemic ways in which values and identity unconsciously and diversely shape particular attitudes and practice is required to mobilise this transformation process. 'Structuration theory' (Giddens, 1984) conceptualises how institutions build systemised beliefs and assumptions, established practices, skills and capabilities, networks of relations and awareness and sensibilities, what Senge (1990, 2006) calls 'the elements of the deep learning cycle'. How each nation, region and local community assesses, imagines and determines its future branding strategy depends on powerful and institutionalised insider–outsider perceptions of their natural and human resources. These often-competing perceptions articulate to specific and institutional decisions on the design of community and governance infrastructure and capability systems. This complex interpretive process means that a geo-region has a pluralistic repository of institutional resources that will variously (proactively and re-actively) frame its future local transformational place-branding ideas and imaginings. These interrelated and complex interpretive processes underpin the authors' assertion that addressing how the issue of culture frames the interpretive processes is crucial in conceptualising a transformative sustainable development re-branding agenda. This transformative agenda places the issue of culture and the broader notion of place branding at the heart of strategic decision making for communities and nations.

THE PARADOXICAL PERFORMANCE OF NATION BRANDING AUSTRALIA

It is noteworthy that in the Q3 2006 NBI overall rankings, Australia came in at ten after collating consumer opinions of the cultural, political commercial and human assets, investment potential and tourist appeal of the 35 countries included (Anholt Nation Brand Index, 2007). In front of Australia, in ranked order, were UK (first), Germany, Italy, Canada, Switzerland, France, Sweden, Japan and the USA. In contrast to this performance, a worldwide survey of 25,903 consumers revealed that Australia was the tourist destination they would most like to visit if money was no object. At the same time, Australia performed a 'disgraceful' 31st position (out of 35) for perceptions of its cultural heritage (Anholt Nation Brand Index, 2007). These mixed and paradoxical national branding performance outcomes suggest that it is timely for Australia to adopt a more holistic and integrated branding strategy to more successfully capture and build national 'competitive identity' performance.

Freire (2006) cites WA as a notable example of a geo-region that has adopted a 'deliberative' place-branding philosophy. In 1996, the WA government identified the need to develop a strong and consistent brand identity that would encapsulate the State's unique attributes, values and personality. 'It was planned this brand would then drive all Western Australian marketing and communication strategies in key areas such as: tourism advertising campaigns, investment attraction, signage, regional and locality branding, and exporters of Western Australian products and services including wine, wildflowers, olives, nature-based experiences' (About brand WA [on-line]).

Four key words describe the overall state brand positioning of WA: 'fresh and natural', 'carefree' and 'alive' (Western Australian brand positioning [online]). However successful this strategy has been from a marketing and tourism perspective, is this place-branding strategy adequate for the highly competitive, complex and dynamic natural and human resource realities of our times? Arguably, the strategy now reflects limited and narrow product-based understandings. The following section argues why a reflective and more holistic geo-regional approach is currently required for WA.

PLACE BRANDING WA

The following discussion case study explores why a more reflective and holistic geo-regional approach is now required for the Pilbara region, located in the north west of WA. The case supports the assertion that the current overall 'fresh and natural, carefree and alive' State branding strategy is of limited value. Indeed, the strategy is misrepresentative, when applied to the Pilbara region's unique natural and human resource capital, its current and future development and ways of life aspirations, and outsider perceptions of the region's reputation. Rhetorical concepts, such as 'fresh and natural, carefree and alive', designed to promote a stable and cohesive product branding as linked to a place, may be appropriate to brand local wine and food exports and experiential tourism products. They are, however, of limited value, even meaningless, when compared with a more sophisticated NBI approach (Anholt, 2006c) to evaluate and create local 'competitive identity' in a more dynamic, integrated, interdependent and risk-aware global market context. The case study argues that critical focus on the prevailing culture, as articulated to the local issue of housing, reveals how current branding negatively impacts on the region's long-term place-branding performance and transformative aspirations.

HOUSING AS A KEY PLACE BRANDING ISSUE

Focus on the issue of housing presents a key material site to explore how cultural assumptions, as embodied in existing institutional and community approaches to town and settlement housing, contribute to an outdated, inappropriate and unsustainable place-branding strategy for the pluralistic communities of the Pilbara region. The authors assume that 'housing' means 'shelter/accommodation' in any form — a fundamental right and requirement for any person. A range of measures can be applied to community housing outcomes, such as affordability, quality, crowding, home ownership rates and the socio-economic characteristics of neighbourhoods, the availability and quality of local services, the proximity of housing to employment, which together contribute to a qualitative notion of a 'shelter-based indicator' (Simmons, 2000).

To these qualitative shelter-based notions, additional assessments evaluate the economic, environmental and social impact of the design and operational impacts of particular housing solutions. Framing the issue of housing in a particular geo-location and community in this multidimensional way enables specific and interrelated assessments of how important economic, social and environmental variables associated with housing contribute to wider 'quality of life indicators' (Henderson et al., 2000). These perspectives highlight how housing not only contributes to an aesthetic concern for the built environment 'sense of place' identity but also interconnects with additional economic, socio-cultural and environmental sustainability indicators, such as health, education, the natural and built environment and social connectedness. These multifaceted indicators have important bearings on the quality-of-life performance of the healthy, liveable and sustainable communities. Interpreted in this way, housing has key implications for sustainability assessments of place-branding strategies. Review of historical and existing approaches to housing in the Pilbara region identifies the prevailing cultural assumptions embedded in their design, and in local 'ways of life' settlement and community planning, in general.

The following discussion identifies why the continuing status quo application of a historical development model, as based on prevailing British, 'frontier' and 'company town' cultural assumptions, inhibits more competitive determinations of the strength and weaknesses of the Pilbara's natural and human capital. Indeed, the key development decisions about the Pilbara are made great distances away in the state capital of Perth, or in the Federal capital of Canberra. This metropolitan-centric government and corporate decision-making fails to promote more innovative and locally responsive interpretations for competitive geo-regional identity. Indeed, arguably, this approach inhibits the local community's expressed desire for a more sustainable approach to regional development (Newman et al., 2005) and wider competitive advantages for both corporations and the community.

Noting the interdependent role of culture to the built environment, Paten et al. (2006: 346) cite British Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill (1960), 'We shape our dwellings, and then afterwards our dwellings shape our lives'. In light of the need for a more sustainable development approach, Paten et al. (2006: 355) contend that 'it is clear that a critical shift is required to move forward: a behaviour change brought about by a critical mass of people willing to adopt and evolve sustainability principles and practices in the built environment'. They cite Michael Porter (1996: 347), who posits that 'we are now in a transitional phase of industrial history in which companies are still inexperienced in handling environmental issues creatively... The early movers, the companies that will see the opportunities first and embrace innovation-based solutions, will reap major competitive advantage'. To achieve systemic and innovative change in the approach to the built environment, it is apparent that reflection on how culture frames institutional practice is required for significant transformation. Discussion on these place-branding issues in the Pilbara derives from insights drawn from the authors' research and strategic advice given to industry on corporate reputation and social responsibility, and the social impact assessment of large Pilbara-based resource development projects.

The following section highlights how focus on culture and housing identifies a poor alignment between the Pilbara community's strategic goals for sustainable development and aims to improve national competitive identity performance, and the current status quo development approach. In the context of the current Western Australian resources boom, the influence of taken-for-granted cultural assumptions and institutionalised approaches on housing solutions is of great concern. The authors contend that these status quo assumptions and approaches now frame an outdated place-branding strategy, which now manifests in a housing crisis. This crisis has dramatic implications for both corporations and the community. It has costly performance implications for the competitiveness of the powerful resource industry companies investing in the Pilbara and sustaining growth in the Australian economy. It also has deep, detrimental and long-term socio-economic implications for wide-ranging quality-of-life concerns of the people who live and work there.

THE PILBARA: A BRIEF LOOK AT THE PLACE, AND ITS HISTORY

A brief review of the Pilbara region reveals the impact of history on status quo perceptions of the region's people, culture and heritage, governance, investment and immigration, exports and tourism. The Pilbara is located in a tropical zone and is an ancient landscape around 2.8 billion years old covering an area of 507,896 km² (ie, more than the size of Spain and twice that of Britain, including Northern Ireland; see Figures 1 and 2). It extends from the Indian Ocean to the Northern Territory border and is bounded to the north by the Kimberley region and the Murchison to the south.

Figure 1.

Pilbara Western Australia
Source: Western Australian government maps.

Full figure and legend (111K)

Figure 2.

Key Pilbara towns in Western Australia
Source: Geoscience.

Full figure and legend (51K)

Three distinct geographic areas comprise the region: a vast coastal plain lapped by pristine marine environments, which include tidal flats and mangroves grassland savannah; breathtaking inland ranges and gorges; and an arid desert region extending to the dry heart of Australia. Characteristically, high temperatures and low and variable rainfall with high evaporation are experienced across the semi-arid region with greater temperature ranges in the inland areas. Between October and April, the daily temperature reaches or exceeds 36 degrees Celsius, with winter temperatures averaging 25 degrees, and peak summer temperatures reaching the high 40s.

Today, the region's export revenue, including rich iron ore deposits and offshore LNG, powers the Australian economy. The history of European settlement elucidates on the impact that development inflicted on the local Indigenous communities. The unfolding nature and impact of this history indicates the transposed British-based ethnocentric legacy of 'hierarchical and paternalistic' cultural assumptions about other civilisations, and 'progressive' Darwinian-based interpretations of development processes. The legacy of the now institutionalised frontier and company town-oriented development history now has a deep impact on local, state and national imaginings of the region's natural and human resources, and ethnocentric interpretations of its competitive identity across the six areas of people, culture and heritage, governance, investment and immigration, exports and tourism.

Evidence in archaeological examples found on the Burrup Peninsular indicates a continuous cultural landscape providing a detailed record of both sacred and secular life reaching from the present back into the distant past, perhaps to the first settlement of Australia some 50,000 years ago (Bird & Hallam, 2006). More than 30 distinct socio-linguistic Indigenous groups occupied the region, and while European explorers sailed down the coastline as early as 1618, it was not until the 1860s that European settlement began with the establishment of sheep stations. With the help of free Aboriginal labour, a pastoral industry dominated the region's economy for the next 100 years (Pilbara Development Corporation, 'History' [on-line]). Alongside the pastoral industry, early late 19th century attempts at diversification included the pearling industry at Cossack, with historical and archaeological accounts documenting the involvement of immigrant Malay, Chinese, Japanese and Afghan communities alongside the European settlers and Aboriginal workers. A gold rush further triggered opportunistic development. This early development had a considerable negative impact on the Aboriginal society. 'Enforced labour, introduced diseases and conflict displaced Aboriginal people from their country and claimed many lives. Between 1946 and 1947, there was a widespread walk off by Aboriginal pastoral workers ... demanding better pay and conditions and access to their traditional land. This movement led to the establishment of Aboriginal communities on a number of stations' (Pilbara Development Corporation 'History').

In 1968, the introduction of a pastoral worker industrial pay award meant that, as the pastoralists could not afford to pay, there was a massive movement of Aboriginal people from the inland stations to the coastal towns. A mining boom from the 1960s onwards caused a boom in the coastal towns, in particular, Port Hedland, Dampier and Karratha, based on the development of an iron ore industry driven by high-level demand especially from Japan. 'Almost overnight, the Pilbara's population increased tenfold' (Pilbara Development Corporation 'History'). In addition, oil and natural gas discoveries and their subsequent development during the 1970s and 1980s resulted in expansion of the region's economy with related population fluctuations. During the last five years, global prices for the region's mining resources climbed steadily to an unprecedented high. 'There are about US$43bn worth of resource projects either committed or currently under consideration for development in WA' (Department of Industry and Resources, 2006, January). While the mining sector now powers the high growth in the Australian economy, projects require only limited operational employees and fluctuating numbers of construction workers. However, now driven by the extraordinary and predicted sustained growth of China and predictably other nations, such as India, there is an extraordinarily high demand for qualified resource sector workers. In addition, the region now supports a small local manufacturing and service industry, as well as tourism, and pastoral and fishing industries. The current boom has put considerable pressure on infrastructure, such as housing and community services, making the region one of the nation's costliest regions for living. The Pilbara Development Commission undertakes ongoing 'Price Surveillance Surveys', which confirm this. The cost of housing is further elevated due, ironically, to a shortage of land deemed suitable for housing and the high cost of construction in a remote community.

THE PEOPLE AND THE TOWNS OF THE PILBARA: 'FRONTIER AND COMPANY TOWN' PLACES

Some 40,000 people, or 2 per cent, of the WA population live in the Pilbara. There is a high proportion (38 per cent) of residents in the 25–45 age group, with an average age of 31 years, as compared to the State average of 34 years. The population is skewed towards males (Pilbara Iron, 2006). This gender imbalance articulates to the region's characteristic 'frontier' development history. Four distinct socio-economic tiers make up Pilbara town and settlement communities:

1. The Indigenous community
2. People affiliated with the mining resource sector
3. Government employees
4. The small-to-medium enterprise (SME) community.

The indigenous communities

Taylor and Scambray (2005) noted that estimates predict that the Indigenous people would account for 16.6 per cent of the Pilbara region population in 2006, a figure that is significantly higher than WA as a whole where the Indigenous population is only 2.95 per cent. Taylor and Scambary also note that existing Australian government census data (2001) identify 67 per cent of the Pilbara Indigenous peoples as residents of the region's ten main towns, with Port Hedland, Karratha, Roebourne and Wickham the most populated in ranked order. The most populous of these towns is Dampier/Karratha and Port Hedland with town populations of about 14,000 and 13,000 residents, respectively. The remainder of the population live in smaller and remote mining and pastoral-based settlements, or Aboriginal communities.

While the Indigenous people are now mostly town-based, generally, they live in separate communities from non-Aboriginal peoples and are marginalised from the larger town centres by the high cost of housing and daily cost of living expenses. Unemployment levels are 17 per cent in comparison to 4.7 per cent in the non-Aboriginal population (Scott, 2004). With the addition of the number of Indigenous people engaged in government-funded community development projects, the figure grows to 46 per cent (Scott, 2004). Only a very small proportion is employed in the highly lucrative resource industries. Their increasing separation from the resource towns exacerbates their ability to access education and transport services, and hence, employment opportunities in the mines.

Yet, 'traditional Indigenous peoples have a different view of reality, based on animism, with their spirit world alive and potentially benign or dangerous, depending on one's relationship with powerful entities'.... 'Because an Indigenous person is part of nature, his or her identity extends through all that exists' (Hay, 2005: 318). Hence, the local Aboriginals are variously connected in an ancient and deeply spiritual way to particular locations in the Pilbara with strong cross-generational community bonds to 'care for country'. Too often, however, their history, translocation and marginalisation mean they live separately from their country. Nevertheless, the strength of this Aboriginal cultural legacy suggests it to be a key socio-cultural resource to empower Indigenous community development and enterprise opportunities based around reinvigorated local place-based community spirituality and caring for country knowledge.

The cultural specificities of the local Indigenous people, and the deeply felt trauma of the socio-historic disruption of their previously 'eco-centric' sustainable way of life, as coupled with their marginalisation from evolving settler communities and town sites, means that by international 'quality-of-life' standards by and large the local Aboriginal peoples have highly unsatisfactory housing and accommodation facilities. Their living conditions are regularly over-crowded, in poor condition with substandard water, sewage and electricity supplies, as illustrated in Figure 3. This sub-standard reality indicates how complex and conflicting cultural issues frame the interpretive challenge to address the issue of Aboriginal community housing. It indicates how this cultural complexity articulates to the comprehensive economic, ethical, environmental and risk adverse issues, which have a significant impact on the determination of a more sustainable approach to Aboriginal housing.

Figure 3.

Developing nation housing? Indigenous community housing at Roebourne
Source: The authors (2006).

Full figure and legend (73K)

Mining sector community

The mining community includes the construction and operational workers of multinational resource companies who come for variable short- to longer-term residential periods. Housing availability, cost issues and employee preferences to reside in metropolitan Perth mean that a growing numbers of employees adopt fly-in-fly-out (FIFO) solutions. Generally, the mining sector group has above average levels of qualifications, high salary levels, with options for company housing provisions and support, and hence, aspirational employment preferences. During the 1970s and subsequently, the key resource companies developed their own housing stock to meet their specific project-based employee housing needs. Typically, in response to sudden demand, the quickly built housing included limited thought for a locally responsive climatic design. The majority of housing reflects detached suburban Perth styles, the design of which draws on a cultural legacy of colonial British temperate climatic and post World War II 'Californian bungalow' aesthetics applied to local perceptions of the European Mediterranean climatic geo-region. In fact, Perth is a geo-regional homoclime of places, such as Tijuana in northern Mexico, or North African Mediterranean Tunisia, or Morocco, where buildings reflect a cultural response to hot and arid geo-regional conditions. Hence, the expediency for housing means that the investment companies transpose a now taken-for-granted Perth suburban approach to housing solutions to hot arid and tropical North West living conditions. Predictably, residents expect transposed Perth suburban infrastructure. There is no design consideration for cross-ventilation, shade or elevation, and so houses are very difficult to cool, with typically, air conditioning running 24 h a day all year round. Immense practical, environmental, economic and social problems/costs result from the wholly inappropriate application of this housing model.

A cyclical boom-bust and Perth-centric development mentality has resulted in the three areas of government (Local, State and Federal) investing in limited community infrastructure to support these resource town developments. Consequently, they are typically disconnected and often dysfunctional with limited interaction between local residents, or opportunities for socialising. Figures 4 and 5 indicate the basic coastal town housing, typically detached from their neighbours by high fibro fences with no neighbourhood links, such as a park or even street furniture. Their functional, bland and featureless characteristics and repetitive settlement pattern convey the utilitarian cultural legacy of a 'frontier' and 'company town' sense of place.

Figure 4.

Older company house, Karratha
Source: The authors (2006).

Full figure and legend (72K)

Figure 5.

More recent company house, Karratha
Source: The authors (2006).

Full figure and legend (70K)

In conversations with Pilbara residents, one female informant emphasised the design challenges in making these 'houses feel like home'. 'There is only one place for the TV'. 'You can only make changes with company approval and then there will be a standard approach'. The houses were built when mine shifts were typically 8 h, whereas now 12 mine shifts necessitate a proportion of the population to be asleep during the day. Houses were not designed for this and families struggle to accommodate members who are asleep when the rest of the family are active. 'It's difficult for the family who have to be quiet during the day because Dad is on night shift. There's no separation of living from sleeping quarters.''You get cabin fever stuck inside all day with the air conditioner on' (Key male informant). Another woman explained that, 'you can come home after a few celebratory drinks on Friday night and only realise that you're trying to get in the wrong house when the key won't fit in the door! My house looks like everyone else's'.

In Figure 5, boxes on the veranda convey a short-term orientation, which is common in the project-focused towns. As the towns are not considered socially or aesthetically attractive and are expensive to live in, how people adapt to the conditions of local life within the first six months determines labour force turnover and FIFO choices (Gallegos, 2006). Figure 6 and 7 show older examples of the quality of the higher density company accommodation in Dampier, located 10 km west of Karratha on the coast. This accommodation is basic at best and conveys a narrow and utilitarian company approach to a worker's free time. This construction has not made any concessions for the high summer temperatures, with no shade or ventilation in the built form.

Figure 6.

High-density older accommodation, Dampier
Source: The authors (2006).

Full figure and legend (104K)

Figure 7.

High-density older accommodation, Dampier
Source: The authors (2006).

Full figure and legend (89K)

Figures 6 and 7 illustrate their limited appeal for long-term tenure with no attempt to beautify or soften the built form. Hence, the alternative is FIFO for longer-term workers, or if they are very fortunate, local purchased or rented company accommodation in a highly competitive and inflated real estate market. With the fluctuating demand for construction workers, a FIFO construction workforce come and go on a short-term basis leaving their families elsewhere. While in town on shift work, the accommodation style is temporary, with international companies often managing dedicated and fully serviced single men's construction camps, or caravan parks.

A smaller number of the professional and operational project staff is also employed on a rotating FIFO shift basis, with their families residing elsewhere in metropolitan locations more than 2,000 km away. While on shift work, the high demand for accommodation means they too are housed in variable-quality serviced units, campsites and caravan parks. It is apparent that the cultural legacy of the earlier Perth-based approach to suburban housing design, coupled with the resource companies' utilitarian and cost-effective approach to labour market infrastructure investment, continues to imprint an indelible 'frontier' town interpretation on Pilbara town place branding. This essentially taken-for-granted, transposed and pragmatic status quo cultural approach raises critical reputation and social responsibility questions about shifting societal notions of government and corporate performance in relation to both workforce and wider community quality-of-life concerns, as associated with local community housing and infrastructure development. These resource sector housing concerns have key implications for a more holistic and sustainable local development re-branding agenda.

Government employees

The third community group includes the key workers: doctors, nurses, teachers, police and other government administrators employed by the three tiers of government. The State Department of Housing and Works provides housing for government employees. This is in short supply due to a government policy framework that has increasingly shied away from owning and supplying housing, preferring to supplement rental costs with government subsidies. This policy is undermined in an extremely tight housing market. There is a high level of turnover within this community and the issue of housing standards, crowding, long waiting lists and variable housing availability and quality is an important contributor to this. An additional factor impacting on the capacity building of this sector is loss of government employees to the mining sector because of rising income disparities.

Local small to medium enterprise (SME) community

This sector of the community provides the local provision of goods and services. This community includes some longer-term residents, and even second-generation residents, many of whom value the exceptional local marine and outdoor recreational opportunities (see Figures 8 and 9). Some of this group, who came for the previous boom, have made the choice to remain despite considerable pressures. In general, the issue of housing affordability and availability places constraints on the supply side of the labour market requirements of the SME group with subsequent operational and business capacity implications and long hours and demanding working conditions. The current escalation in the local cost of living has concentrated the supply of labour issues raising local business viability concerns. Salary levels for SME employees are considerably less than the resource sector and SME owners complain of high turnover and training costs associated with staff loss to the resource sector.

Figure 8.

Prioritising marine boating lifestyle
Source: The authors (2006).

Full figure and legend (79K)

Figure 9.

Boating recreational lifestyle in the newer Karratha suburbs
Source: The authors (2006).

Full figure and legend (70K)

Nevertheless, this group of residents often express a deeper sense of connectedness to the region and make considerable sacrifices to stay. For example, many have had their children move away to be educated or struggle to afford to live in the local community. Older family members often cannot afford to stay past their working life. Hence, the community is relatively young with a dearth of resident grandparents. The lack of local services means that families have had to bear the time and money costs of flights to Perth for specialist services, such as medical and dental services. The SME community resents the outflow of capital related to the resource companies' FIFO practice. This cohort of the community reports a general residential pattern, of two years, five years or 10–20 years. The first cohort reflects one group of residents who come to the Pilbara for only a short time, approximately one to two years (just long enough to pay off a debt or to have 'done country service'). Others, who, like the Pilbara life, stay for up to five years until their children need to go to secondary school and they deem a metropolitan education to be superior to that provided in remote locations. Another group stays for up to ten years and leaves when the children reach the tertiary level. These patterns contrast to the longer commitment of those with second-generation commitment, and the deep and ancient place-based commitment of the Indigenous community. Despite constraints, this community includes some with long-term commitment to the Pilbara. They speak of dreams to retire to the small coastal recreation hamlets, such as Port Samson or the coastal heritage site of Cossack.

A TRANSPOSED UTILITARIAN AND TEMPORAL CLIMATE CULTURAL APPROACH TO HOUSING

In 1972, landscape architect and cultural critic George Seddon wrote of the inappropriate cultural impact of the Australian immigrant and settler population. 'Even the Western Australians whose families have been there for three or four generations are ill-prepared in some basic ways, because our primarily British background is still apparent in our attitudes towards the way we use the environment; and in nothing so much as our attitude to water. Centuries of water-riches makes it hard to grasp our water poverty.' (Seddon (1972: xiv)).

His words, reiterated again in his publication Landprints: Reflection of place and landscape (Seddon, 1997), continue to be relevant today, but in that time the status quo and deeply embedded heritage shaped the institutionalised decision-making of the next generation, increasingly comfortable with global materialist culture. The result is inappropriately 'transposed' cultural values and 'placeless' place branding, as represented in the ubiquitously uniform coastal region suburban sprawl. Arguably, this approach adds little to local geo-regional competitive identity. The approach fails to respond to the unique natural features of the Australian landscape and its climatic variability and pluralistic human capital. The Karratha house in Figure 10 is a contemporary example of the housing born of this status quo cultural interpretation.

Figure 10.

Dream home where? Suburban 'placelessness'
Source: The authors (2006).

Full figure and legend (72K)

Figure 11 conveys the on-the-ground 'placeless' impact of transposed 'paper plan-to-place' and sprawling suburban bungalow design interpretations. The ongoing development of this bland suburban design indicates how they are conceived as naturalised housing solutions within existing and institutionalised mindsets. Housing solutions assumed to add competitive strength are in fact a weakness. It is in these suburbs that people complain of cabin fever from an over-dependence on air conditioners. The least movement around the community is car dependent and a circular road system creates a bewildering maze-like experience for the unsuspecting. In addition, large drainage systems, conceived as the only solution to high and sudden rainfall during the wet season, divisively mark out barriers to movement in the settlement. Inevitably, in this location, high economic and social costs are associated with this settlement approach. The outcome is social isolation. Predictably, in settlements where residents come for variable periods and the population is relatively youthful, with young families and highly limited intergenerational family support, the socio-cultural costs are very high.

Figure 11.

Transposed universal suburban middle-class planning
Source: Jim Singleton (2004).

Full figure and legend (140K)

Too often, the community, industry and government assume that these 'frontier' and 'company town' quality of life issues go hand in hand with the nature of resource sector employment and 'hey it's so much better than the past and that is why salaries are high', or 'that's why we support FIFO employee choices'. In light of previously discussed global market interdependencies, however, climate change imperatives and the risks associated with unsustainable approaches to development, is this local corporate place-branding approach acceptable? Posing this question is pertinent in a State that invested in a forward thinking and all of government sustainability strategic policy (see Hope for the Future: The Western Australian State Sustainability Strategy (Newman and Rowe, 2003) and Pilbara Development Commission Sustainability Action Plan (Crane, 2005)). The following ideas in Figures 12 and 13 give further support to the argument for a culturally reframed sustainability geo-regional place-branding approach for the Pilbara as related to the issue of housing.

Figure 12.

Reframing interpretations of local landscape and climate
Source: Jim Singleton (2004).

Full figure and legend (88K)

Figure 13.

Alternative hot climatic civilization settlement design
Source: Jim Singleton (2004).

Full figure and legend (135K)

Figure 12 illustrates that the Pilbara shares climate conditions with significant populations in North America, southern and North Africa, the Middle East and the Indian sub-continent. Each of these hot, arid or tropical regions has older civilisations whose cultures and built environment have evolved in response to survival and civilisation responses to the local natural system realities. Particular cultural responses coupled with local natural resources and human capacities contribute to a distinctive local sense of place specificities. This locally responsive design heritage now underpins international tourism arrival figures. Figure 13 notes that there are valid 'scientific' reasons for narrow alleyways, shaded and oasis-like civic spaces, and other building material and design features, which contribute to comfortable and liveable microclimate spaces. Such human-scale built environments are also renowned for their vibrant and spontaneous social interaction. These environmentally responsive solutions are in stark contrast to the 'open and grassy clearing in the dark forest' of the British cultural heritage design responses that characteristically inform the suburban Perth bungalow housing solutions. In light of the transformative imperative to more effectively reconcile natural and human systems, it is time for this status quo cultural approach to change to one that more effectively addresses a sustainable development re-branding agenda.

Valuable opportunities lie in exploring a reframed and locally meaningful culture approach reconceived to act as a sustainable development framework for eco-centric and locally responsive housing and settlement solutions in the Pilbara. This paper posits that many regional competitive advantages would emerge through the adoption of a more responsive, innovative and integrated geo-region approach to Pilbara sustainable development place branding. Figure 14 represents just one image of the local natural capital, a key source of inspiration for innovative re-branding approaches to housing and settlement design. Where appropriate, the deeply felt Indigenous community heritage, as linked to particular Pilbara locations, provide other enriching cultural resources to inspire a more enriched local sense of place. Both the natural and human resources of the Pilbara are valuable sources for innovative cultural interpretations for re-branding approaches to the housing and settlement design of the geo-region. The Pilbara environment is richly endowed in diverse environmental and heritage cultural sources for place re-branding innovation.

Figure 14.

Local landscapes — a primary source of design inspiration and principles for building a strong local sense of place
Source: Jim Singleton (2004).

Full figure and legend (99K)

As noted previously, industry, government and the communities now face crisis levels of housing availability and affordability in the Pilbara, as indeed does the wider Western Australian community. The Pilbara-based resource, SME and government sectors all face a highly competitive labour market reality. The contemporary resource sector boom affects high levels of demand for all types of short- and long-term accommodation, which in turn constrains the expansion of the tourism sector, previously identified as crucial for sustainable regional employment and capacity building (see Newman et al., 2005). The accommodation availability, affordability and design constraint has flow-on implications for the enterprise development aspirations of the Indigenous community. The inertia derived from capacity constraints, and competition and low trust (Dayaram et al., 2006) between the three tiers of government convey the all too common governance experience, as noted by Crosby and Bryson (2005), that at critical times it appears that 'no one is in charge'.

In meeting resource sector labour market needs, the various multinational corporations (MNCs) look to the global labour market for workers. Predictably, this competitive labour market reality will expand the multicultural nature of the Pilbara communities. Previous comparative Australian Bureau of Statistics census figures indicate the correlation between the pluralistic nature of the Pilbara population in relation to fluctuating higher labour demand periods (ie, 24 per cent overseas born in 1991, 21 per cent in 1996, to 17.5 per cent in 2001) (Office of Multicultural Interests, 2004). Without a reframed geo-regional approach to housing and settlement design and infrastructure investment, predictably few of the new resource boom employees will want, or be able to stay, and so expedient and unsustainable FIFO solutions will prevail. Hence, the limited availability, high cost, and poor quality of housing and limited community infrastructure, as reflected in an existing status quo approach to investment in housing and settlement, is considered a competitive identity weakness for the region. This argument supports Healey's (2006) notion of culture as taken-for-granted systems of meaning that become embedded in our institutionalised systems of practice. The discussion highlights why the transposed and status quo cultural approach fails to build on the unique and highly competitive existing natural and human capital of the Pilbara.

SUMMARY: GEO-REGIONAL TRANSFORMATIONAL RE-BRANDING FOR COMPETITIVE IDENTITY

In a competitive global labour market context, however, inflowing multicultural employees may have completely different cultural place-based expectations and perceptions to the institutionalised 'British, frontier and company town' assumptions currently framing local geo-regional place branding. In an internationally competitive labour market, the Pilbara region can offer key immigrant workers aspirational 'fresh start' opportunities. 'Earlier adopter' (Porter, 1996) and multinational 'learning organisations' (Senge, 1990, 2006) that apply a more socially and environmentally responsive and innovative approach to the local housing strategy will build competitive 'international employer of choice' labour market advantages.

In addition, more appropriately climatically designed housing can create a competitive advantage, by reducing corporate and community operational costs, and contributing to a locally responsive sense of place aesthetic. A reframed interpretive corporate and government housing and planning strategy can better support the regional development of an expanded manufacturing and service sector. This strategy will contribute additional local competitive advantage and more effectively support the sustainable development aspirations of the wider community. Furthermore, future global scenarios predict significant movement of refugees and immigrants as climate change impacts are experienced across the environmentally susceptible geo-regions of the world. This ethical refugee and immigration issue is also of strategic relevance to the future place-branding imaginings and development strategies for the low population reality of the Pilbara, as located in a developed nation context.

Together, these ideas point to the need for a transformative re-branding approach to housing and settlement in the Pilbara to more effectively and comprehensively build a competitive geo-regional identity. Through focus on the critical issue of housing as a key place-branding strategy in a particular geo-region, this paper argued for the elevation of multi-sector stakeholder awareness of how particular and entrenched cultural assumptions contribute to diverse and contrasted insider–outsider assessments and interpretations of a place's strengths or weakness. In the case of the Pilbara, the discussion indicates how the status quo and institutionalised 'British, frontier and company town' cultural assumptions driving the prevailing regional development approach reverberate across the six societal areas of nation branding. The discussion reveals why the existing Western Australian 'fresh and natural', 'carefree' and 'alive' overall branding strategy is of limited value and indeed, misrepresentative for the Pilbara region and performance of the Australian economy.

The case discussion demonstrates how culture often plays a critical role in mobilising or inhibiting the shift of the current brand image of a country towards its desired brand image (Anholt, 2006a). The Pilbara case illustrates the way in which the issue of culture, as mediated through the issue of housing, reverberates through particular institutionalised (Giddens, 1984) approaches to the six societal areas of nation branding. The discussion identifies how the local issue of housing articulates to key corporate and community economic, environmental and socio-cultural risk management concerns. Importantly, the local geo-region material presented illustrates the imperative for a more holistic and integrated approach to place branding, as promoted by Simon Anholt's concept of competitive identity. The Pilbara case illustrates why a more holistic and integrated approach is needed to more effectively facilitate the requisite societal innovation and change required of all communities to address the significant and transformative sustainable development challenges of our times. The national, state and local ability to critically reflect on the interpretive role of culture in determining a particular transformative path will be crucial for geo-region like the Pilbara to more effectively build competitive identity and create a more sustainable approach to development. More importantly, while the natural and human capital of the Pilbara are unique, in an interconnected and interdependent global reality, the sustainable development challenges of the Pilbara, as related to the issue of housing, offer potential insights into the key role of culture in moving the current brand image of a particular place towards its desired and transformative brand image.

Post script: Since completing this paper, on 9th March, 'Cyclone George', with a category 4 (out of 5) rating and the first of the 2007 season, crossed the Pilbara coast near Port Hedland. The resultant tragic three deaths and 28 injuries revealed the high personal and community costs of significantly unsatisfactory working and accommodation conditions experienced by construction workers supporting the regional resources boom. One railway construction camp, where construction and support workers were housed in temporary and transportable 'dongas' (sea container style) accommodation, was completely devastated, elevating union and community calls for a full audit on housing, temporary or otherwise. Official claims, such as the Director of Compliance with the Mines Department stating that 'dongas' are built to the building code's stipulation, but will not withstand a severe cyclone such as this one that hit WA, elevate critical concerns about the placeless parameters on which building codes are based.

References

1. About brand WA', Available [on-line] http://www.westernaustralia.co
   m/en/Industry/Marketing+Opport
   unities/Brand+WA/About+Brand+W
   A.htm (link currently inactive).
2. Anholt Nation Brand Index (2007) 'Has Australian become typecast?', News. Retrieved 01/02/07 from http://www.nationbrandindex.com/nbi_q306-australia-press-release.phtml.
3. Anholt, S. (2002) 'Foreword', Journal of Brand Management, Vol. 9, No. 4–5, pp. 229–240. | Article |
4. Anholt, S. (2006a) 'Editorial: Why brand?', Place Branding, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 97–107. | Article |
5. Anholt, S. (2006b) 'Editorial', Place Branding, Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 179–182. | Article |
6. Anholt, S. (2006c) 'The Anholt Nation Brands Index', Place Branding, Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 263–270. | Article |
7. An Inconvenient truth (2006) Documentary film, Davis Guggenheim (director) Paramount Classics film with Al Gore.
8. Appadurai, A. (2004) 'The capacity to aspire: Culture and the terms of recognition', in Rao, V. and Walton, M. (eds) 'Culture and Public Action', Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA, pp. 59–84.
9. Atkisson, A. (2006) 'Foreword', in Hargroves, K. and Smith, M. (eds) 'The Natural Advantage of Nations: Business Opportunities, Innovation and Governance in the 21st Century', Earthscan, London, UK, pp. xvii–xviii.
10. Beck, U. (1992) 'Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity', Sage, London, UK.
11. Beck, U. (1998) 'Risk society and the media: A catastrophic view?' The European Journal of Communications, Vol. 13, pp. 5–32. | Article |
12. Bird, C. and Hallam, S. (2006) 'A review of archaeology and rock art in the Dampier Archipelago', A report prepared for the National Trust of Australia (WA), September.
13. Capra, F. (2002) 'The Hidden Connections: Integrating the Biological, Cognitive and Social Dimensions into a Life Science of Sustainability', Doubleday, New York, NY.
14. Crane, R. (2005) 'Pilbara development commission sustainability action plan 2005', http://www.sustainability.dpc.
    wa.gov.au/_view/publications/d
    ocuments/PilbaraDevelopmentCom
    missionSAP.pdf.
15. Crosby, B. and Bryson, J. (2005) 'Leadership for the Common Good: Tackling Public Problems in a Shared-Power World', 2nd edn, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA.
16. Dayaram, K., Pick, D. and Butler, B. (2006) 'Regional development: The workings of market forces or state actors?', Contemporary Challenges in Public Sector Management: Recruitment, Partnerships and Sustainability, The First Services Management Symposium, School of Management, Curtin University of Technology, 13–14 November.
17. DOIR (2006) 'Western Australia: A premium investment location', Department of Industry and Resources, January. Available http://www.doir.wa.gov.au/douments/investment/KeyReasonsToInvestInWaJan06.pdf.
18. Freire, J. R. (2006) 'Other tourists: A critical factor for a geo-brand-building process', Place Branding, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 68–83. | Article |
19. Gallegos, D. (2006) 'Aeroplanes Always Come Back' fly-in-fly-out employment: Managing the parent transitions', Centre for Social and Community Research, Murdoch University, http://www.cscr.murdoch.edu.au/aeroplanes_always_come_back_report.pdf.
20. Giddens, A. (1984) 'The Constitution of Society', Polity Press, Cambridge, UK.
21. Hawken, P., Lovins, A. and Lovins, L. H. (1999) 'Natural Capitalism: The Next Industrial Revolution', Earthscan, London, UK.
22. Hay, B. (2005) 'Becoming ecosynchronous, Part 1. The root causes of our unsustainable way of life', Sustainable Development, Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 311–325. | Article |
23. Healey, P. (1997, 2006) 'Collaborative Planning: Shaping Places in Fragmented Societies', 1st and 2nd edns, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, UK.
24. Henderson, H., Lickerman, J. and Flynn, P. (2000) 'Calvert-Henderson Quality of Life Indicators', Calvert Group, Ltd., Bethesda, MD.
25. Huntington, S. P. (1993) 'The clash of civilizations?' Foreign Affairs, Vol. 72, No. 5, pp. 186–195.
26. Newman, P., Armstrong, R. and McGrath, N. (2005) 'Pilbara Regional Sustainability Strategy: A Discussion Document', Institute for Sustainability and Technology Policy, Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia.
27. Newman, P. and Rowe, M. (2003) 'Hope for the Future: The Western Australian State Sustainability Strategy', Sustainability Policy Unit, Department of Premier and Cabinet, September. Available http://www.sustainability.dpc.wa.gov.au/docs/Final%20Strategy/pdf (link currently inactive).
28. Office of Multicultural Interests (2004) 'Demographic profile', Government of Western Australia, April. Retrieved 12/03/07 from http://www.omi.wa.gov.au/Publications/Info_Sheets/Cultural%20Diversity_Web.pdf.
29. Paten, C., Birkland, J. and Pears, A. (2006) 'Greening the built environment', in Hargroves, K. and Smith, M. (eds) 'The Natural Advantage of Nations: Business Opportunities, Innovation and Governance in the 21st Century', Earthscan, London, UK, pp. 346–370.
30. Pilbara Development Commission (PDC). 'History', Available from: http://www.pdc.wa.gov.au/default.aspx?c=59.
31. Pilbara Iron (2006) 'Understanding the Pilbara region and its economy', Available http://www.citizenscape.wa.gov.au/documents/PilbaraIronResearchSummary.pdf.
32. Porrit, J. (2005) 'Capitalism as if the World Matters', Earthscan, London, UK.
33. Porter, M. (1996) 'What is strategy', Harvard Business Review, November–December.
34. Scott, A. (2004) 'Preparing the workforce for the resource industry', Pilbara TAFE, Retrieved 09/03/07 from http://www.reframingthefuture.net/docs/2004/goal3/3EVP_Alan_
    Scott_Pilbara.ppt#257.3.Unemployment. in the Pilbara (link currently inactive).
35. Seddon, G. (1972) 'Sense of Place', University of Western Australian Press, Nedlands, WA.
36. Seddon, G. (1997) 'Landprints: Reflections on Place and Landscape', Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, MA.
37. Sen, A. (2004) 'How does culture matter?', in Rao, V. and Walton, M. (eds) 'Culture and Public Action', Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA, pp. 37–58.
38. Senge, P. (1990, 2006) 'The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organisation', Currency/Doubleday, New York, NY.
39. Simmons, P. (2000) 'Shelter indicator', in Henderson, H., Lickerman, J. and Flynn, P. (eds) 'Calvert-Henderson Quality of Life Indicators', Calvert Group, Ltd., Bethesda, MD, pp. 345–384.
40. Stern, N. (2006) 'The Stern Review: The Economics of Climate Change', Cabinet Office HM treasure, London, UK. Available http://www.hmtreasury.gov.uk/i
    ndependent_reviews/stern_revie
    w_economics_climate_change/ste
    rn_review_report.cfm.
41. Taylor, J. and Scambary, B. (2005) 'Indigenous people and the Pilbara mining boom: A baseline for regional participation', Research Monograph No 25, Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, The Australian National University, Canberra.
42. UNDP (2001) 'Millennium goals', available online http://www.undp.org/mdg/.
43. UNWTO. 'Tourism will contribute to solutions for global climate change and poverty challenges', Newsroom News Releases, 8 March. Retrieved from: http://www.unwto.org/newsroom/Releases/2007/march/globa_climate.htm.
44. 'Western Australia brand positioning'. Available at http://www.westernaustralia.co
    m/NR/rdonlyres/A4BA794A-D1D1-4
    6D2-8200-4F521176D2A8/0/TheRea
    lThing.pdf.
45. Warhurst, A. (2001) 'Corporate citizenship and corporate social investment: Drivers of tri-sector partnerships', The Journal of Corporate Citizenship, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 57–73.

Acknowledgements

Special thanks are due to Jim Singleton, Project Director, Sustainability Services, GHD Pty Ltd, Perth Western Australia.