Integrating multiculturalism in public space policy and place governance

This paper is focused on examining how multicultural policies influencing our everyday intercultural encounters in the public realm have emerged, formed, and evolved as part of an overall place governance framework in Australian cities. The motivation of this paper is in response to an increasingly multi-ethnic society where public spaces and places have become important sites of shared intercultural encounters. By adopting Hall's ‘trans-ethnography’ framework as an analytical lens, the paper relies on secondary research to critically appraise thirty-three (33) urban policy and governance discourse in thirty-one (31) local government areas in Metropolitan Melbourne, Victoria. Using thematic analysis, the paper shows that the evolving policies must address the needs of a hyper-diverse, multicultural publics across an ‘ethnographic stretch’ – Intimate, Collective and Symbolic. These would have clear multi-scalar implications for public space and placemaking. It calls for multicultural policies to integrate and not ignore cultural diversity as a key ingredient of place governance but also in the design and planning of the public realm, in particular, contributing towards a more holistic and inclusive governance model and the of shaping more inclusive cities and communities in Australia.