"'Place-based policy-making' burst on the Australian scene amid a torrent of new rhetoric such as 'social capital', 'community capacity', and 'community engagement'. Many wondered what substance lay beneath the rhetorical froth - if any. This is the first book to offer an overview of place-based policy making in Australia, putting it in an international context." "This collection guides readers through the issues, the research and the literature surrounding place-based policy-making as it pulls together what the editors see as the durable building blocks of this new era of policy making. The book's most pressing recommendation is for new 'post-contract state' forms of associative or networked governance."--Jacket.