Related reports and documentsInquiry into population growth in Australia's smaller cities https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research-in-progress/Inquiry-intopopulation-growth-in-Australias-smaller-cities AHURI AHURI is a national independent research network with an expert not-for-profit research management company, AHURI Limited, at its centre. AHURI's mission is to deliver high quality research that influences policy development and practice change to improve the housing and urban environments of all Australians.Using high quality, independent evidence and through active, managed engagement, AHURI works to inform the policies and practices of governments and the housing and urban development industries, and stimulate debate in the broader Australian community. AHURI undertakes evidence-based policy development on a range of priority policy topics that are of interest to our audience groups, including housing and labour markets, urban growth and renewal, planning and infrastructure development, housing supply and affordability, homelessness, economic productivity, and social cohesion and wellbeing. AHURI Limited also gratefully acknowledges the contributions, both financial and in-kind, of its university research partners who have helped make the completion of this material possible. DisclaimerThe opinions in this report reflect the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of AHURI Limited, its Board, its funding organisations or Inquiry Panel members. No responsibility is accepted by AHURI Limited, its Board or funders for the accuracy or omission of any statement, opinion, advice or information in this publication. AHURI journalAHURI Final Report journal series is a refereed series presenting the results of original research to a diverse readership of policy makers, researchers and practitioners. Peer review statementAn objective assessment of reports published in the AHURI journal series by carefully selected experts in the field ensures that material published is of the highest quality. The AHURI journal series employs a double-blind peer review of the full report, where anonymity is strictly observed between authors and referees.

This research investigates patterns and dynamics of population, migration and economic change in Australian regional urban centres 2011–2016 through the changing economic profile and performance of Australia’s regional urban centres and assesses how demographic and migration patterns are shaping and responding to economic change.The contribution of regional urban centres to Australia’s economic and population growth has been a topic of growing policy interest in the past two decades, as a result of rapid growth in the major cities and concerns for parts of regional Australia that have experienced population decline. Associated with these trends is the distribution of economic activity and employment—particularly as traditional regional strengths such as agriculture, manufacturing and mining have declined as sources of employment in recent decades.This analysis identifies three significant trends: larger and metropolitan-proximate regional urban centres are generally increasing in population more rapidly than other regional urban centres; coastal urban centres have experienced faster population growth rates than inland urban centres; and population losses tend to be concentrated in inland, smaller, remote and often resource-reliant towns.

A prominent aspect of many people's experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic has been a practice known as telecommuting, which typically involves working from home. Telecommuting has been a key response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it has translated into an increasingly and explicitly expressed desire to move out of cities and into nonmetropolitan areas where housing is less dense and infection rates are lower. This interest in counterurbanisation is an understandable response to self-isolation. However, many postpandemic telecommuters are likely to be knowledge workers for whom some presence in the office during the working week may be required, and that may limit their counterurban moves to metropolitan hinterlands and regions. Commuter-based population growth in metropolitan-proximate and peri-urban settlements may then lead to urban sprawl-that is, to disconnected and widespread suburbanisation. This article addresses emergent policy challenges for governments as they respond to the growing propensity for nonmetropolitan and particularly peri-urban relocations that appears to be an outcome of the pandemic. Specific attention is paid to the distribution of employment and need to consider the variegated nature of population and demographic trajectories in nonmetropolitan Australia.

Alexandra WestConstruction Building Union Super AHURI Final Report No. 315 iv AHURI AHURI is a national independent research network with an expert not-for-profit research management company, AHURI Limited, at its centre.AHURI's mission is to deliver high quality research that influences policy development and practice change to improve the housing and urban environments of all Australians.Using high quality, independent evidence and through active, managed engagement, AHURI works to inform the policies and practices of governments and the housing and urban development industries, and stimulate debate in the broader Australian community.AHURI undertakes evidence-based policy development on a range of priority policy topics that are of interest to our audience groups, including housing and labour markets, urban growth and renewal, planning and infrastructure development, housing supply and affordability, homelessness, economic productivity, and social cohesion and wellbeing. AcknowledgementsThis material was produced with funding from the Australian Government and state and territory governments. AHURI Limited gratefully acknowledges the financial and other support it has received from these governments, without which this work would not have been possible.AHURI Limited also gratefully acknowledges the contributions, both financial and in-kind, of its university research partners who have helped make the completion of this material possible.The Research Team would like to acknowledge and thank all the members of the Inquiry Panel, as well as more than 50 international and national interviewees that gave their time and expertise for the Inquiry. Special thanks are due to the CFO team at NSWFHA, the CH investment appraisal team at CEFC, policy team at Housing Europe and the director of ARA (Finland) for sharing their valuable experience and providing detailed information. DisclaimerThe opinions in this report reflect the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of AHURI Limited, its Board, its funding organisations or Inquiry panel members. No responsibility is accepted by AHURI Limited, its Board or funders for the accuracy or omission of any statement, opinion, advice or information in this publication. AHURI journalAHURI Final Report journal series is a refereed series presenting the results of original research to a diverse readership of policy-makers, researchers and practitioners. Peer review statementAn objective assessment of reports published in the AHURI journal series by carefully selected experts in the field ensures that material published is of the highest quality. The AHURI journal series employs a double-blind peer review of the full report, where anonymity is strictly observed between authors and referees.

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Related reports and documentsInquiry into population growth in Australia's smaller cities https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research-in-progress/Inquiry-intopopulation-growth-in-Australias-smaller-cities AHURI AHURI is a national independent research network with an expert not-for-profit research management company, AHURI Limited, at its centre. AHURI's mission is to deliver high quality research that influences policy development and practice change to improve the housing and urban environments of all Australians.Using high quality, independent evidence and through active, managed engagement, AHURI works to inform the policies and practices of governments and the housing and urban development industries, and stimulate debate in the broader Australian community. AHURI undertakes evidence-based policy development on a range of priority policy topics that are of interest to our audience groups, including housing and labour markets, urban growth and renewal, planning and infrastructure development, housing supply and affordability, homelessness, economic productivity, and social cohesion and wellbeing. AHURI Limited also gratefully acknowledges the contributions, both financial and in-kind, of its university research partners who have helped make the completion of this material possible. DisclaimerThe opinions in this report reflect the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of AHURI Limited, its Board, its funding organisations or Inquiry Panel members. No responsibility is accepted by AHURI Limited, its Board or funders for the accuracy or omission of any statement, opinion, advice or information in this publication. AHURI journalAHURI Final Report journal series is a refereed series presenting the results of original research to a diverse readership of policy-makers, researchers and practitioners. Peer review statementAn objective assessment of reports published in the AHURI journal series by carefully selected experts in the field ensures that material published is of the highest quality. The AHURI journal series employs a double-blind peer review of the full report, where anonymity is strictly observed between authors and referees.

This research investigates the lived experience of regional city residents (in five case studies) to understand how the benefits and disadvantages of regional city life are perceived and explore attitudes towards population growth.Over the 21st century Australia’s population has grown at a high rate and has been concentrated in the major cities, while many of the more remote areas of inland Australia have been stagnant or experienced population decline. As a result, there are two policy concerns regarding the distribution of population and growth in Australia: the need to ameliorate metropolitan population pressures by redirecting population growth out of the cities, and the uncertain futures of many parts of regional Australia that are not currently growing.The research finds that for pro-growth policies to be well-received in regional areas, it is essential that they are perceived as beneficial by local residents. The research also indicates that a primary focus for growth policy should be on improving regional labour markets, which would then attract population. This includes the need to consider how long-term career aspirations can be fulfilled in non-metropolitan Australia. More broadly, the findings indicate that policy making needs to be approached from a regional perspective, with the goal of making regional Australia an attractive place to live and work, rather than approached as a solution to metropolitan population pressures.