Agenda Arms Policy Makers With Framework for Future Cities

Australian cities are among the most prosperous and liveable in the world, but their continued success will depend on how we manage the many challenges our cities currently face.

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on our cities and urban environments is the most pressing concern, along with how to manage the transition to sustainable, single-planet living, and the provision of access to quality, affordable housing close to employment and services.

To ensure Australia is best positioned to not only respond to these challenges, but to seize new opportunities for our cities, the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) has launched the National Cities Research Agenda.

Recognising that cities are the main contributor to Australia’s economy— generating around 80 per cent of the nation’s GDP—the agenda aims to arm policy makers and industry leaders with high quality and independent evidence to underpin policy development and decision-making.

Cities policy in 12 key themes

To set the scene, we have identified nine key themes that capture what currently defines cities policy in Australia, plus another three emerging themes that are integral to a future cities agenda.

These themes recognise how broad the issues are that impact Australian cities, be it managing very rapid population growth in Melbourne versus population decline in Darwin; ensuring the supply of residential, industrial and commercial land to support construction; improving transport infrastructure to reduce congestion— estimated to be costing our capital cities $16.5 billion a year—or capitalising on smart technology to ensure our cities are digitally connected and delivering innovative planning solutions.

Build an evidence base to build better cities

Evidence drives better decision-making, whether it is major policy initiatives or major development projects.

AHURI has delivered independent, high-quality, peer reviewed evidence for 20 years, and we are now turning our attention to answering some of the big policy questions that can help create better cities and urban environments.

Our cities research program has launched with three inaugural research projects that explore topics of concern to urban policy makers:

• Local Government Co-ordination: Metropolitan Governance in Twenty-first Century Australia;

• Innovative responses to urban transportation: current practice in Australian Cities;

• New housing supply, population growth, and access to social infrastructure.

How will Covid-19 change our cities?

The Covid-19 pandemic has enormously impacted how we are living, working and moving about in Australian cities, but which impacts are temporary, and which are more permanent, remains to be seen.

For example, prior to Covid-19, digital connectivity was widely recognised as an important mechanism for economic growth, linking activities in cities across the world.

Since the beginning of the pandemic there has been a 26 per cent increase in online activity during business hours in Australia, people have rapidly adapted to working, studying and shopping online and many of these changes may become permanent.

Ensuring our digital infrastructure can cope with this upsurge is a pressing national priority.

Across all of our 12 research themes there are priority issues to be examined as a result of Covid-19: public transport and social distancing; the future of the corporate office and our central business districts; suitable apartment design and inner-city versus outer-suburban living.

Explore our cities and urban hub

Supporting Australian cities is a collective effort, and our cities and urban hub aims to provide a catalyst for conversations between government, industry and research communities. We invite you to explore our in-depth analysis of our 12 cities themes.

AHURI is currently seeking organisations that can contribute to this next phase in delivering a comprehensive National Cities Research Program to ensure the decision-making that underpins our urban future is supported by the best evidence delivered by AHURI’s national network of research partners.

Learn how your organisation can get involved and explore our research further at the AHURI cities and urban hub at www.ahuri.edu.au/cities.

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