Disadvantaged places in urban Australia: analysing socio-economic diversity and housing market performance

Spatial concentrations of socially and economically disadvantaged people, particularly in large cities, have been the subject of considerable policy debates in Australia over the past 30 years. A variety of terms have been used in these debates including: urban poverty, locational disadvantage, socio-economic disadvantage, social exclusion and concentrations of welfare dependency. There is ongoing debate on the main causes and consequences of such concentrations, the ways they can be conceptualised and measured, and the best courses of action for governments in addressing the'problems' of such localities.