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Gambling with justice in the Australian city Hotker, Mette 2019, Gambling with justice in the Australian city, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University. Document type: Thesis Collection: Theses Attached Files Name Description MIMEType Size Hotker.pdf Thesis application/pdf 4.44MB Title Gambling with justice in the Australian city Author(s) Hotker, Mette Year 2019 Abstract The aim of this thesis is to further social justice for local communities through EGM planning in Victoria. The consequences of neoliberal policy and the commodification of cities have become increasingly visible as socio-spatial fragmentation across the urban form. In Australia this trend can be directly observed in the proliferation of electronic gaming machines (EGMs), vernacularly known in Australia as Pokies. ‘Playing the Pokies’ involves a simple game of chance, but its impact on communities is far from simple. A lack of adequate social policy and planning has led to an Australian urban landscape prolific with EGMs and resulting gambling harm. The main benefits derived from EGM markets mostly flow past local communities to state governments and industry, whilst the biggest burden of harm is carried by local communities, and disproportionally experienced by the most disadvantaged. Thus, while frequently overlooked in planning, EGMs contribute significantly to the growing trend of inequality and exclusion in Australian cities. Through a mixed methods research design this thesis provides a critique of the EGM planning system in Victoria, Australia using the lens of the Just City (Fainstein, 2010). The thesis found that local influence on EGM decision making is one practical way of furthering justice; but local influence is challenged and constrained by complex institutional processes. Within this context, these institutional processes do not serve a social justice agenda, but rather protect a fragile rationale for EGMs. To this end, Fainstein’s Just City and Nussbaum’s ‘tragic question’ offer a pragmatic planning praxis to the oxymoron of EGMs in a Just City. Degree Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Institution RMIT University School, Department or Centre Global, Urban and Social Studies Subjects Community Planning Keyword(s) Planning Just City Gambling Community Objections Social Policy Utilitarianism Versions Version Filter Type Thu, 27 Feb 2020, 10:53:23 EST Thu, 27 Feb 2020, 12:59:23 EST Filtered Full Access Statistics: 7 Abstract Views, 1 File Downloads  -  Detailed Statistics Created: Thu, 27 Feb 2020, 10:53:21 EST by Adam Rivett