Regional cities need to step up and take on tens of thousands of more residents to stop capital cities becoming unliveable megacities, according to the Regional Australia Institute.
The Institute has told the Federal Government an additional 500,000 people, on top of previous forecasts, should be “living prosperously” in regional Australia by 2032, as it is the only way to ensure a more productive and liveable Australia.
It commissioned economic modelling which shows an increased regional population will drive national output to $2.3 trillion.
Institute chief executive Liz Ritchie says as a nation we will be happier, more sustainable and more productive if we alter the path we are on.
But she says there needs to be a level playing field in terms of the services provided to regions including the provision of housing, education, health, transport and childcare.
“Regionalisation is about delivering on the potential of regional Australia and rebalancing our nation,” Ritchie says.
She warns that with almost two-thirds of Australia’s population now living in the major capital cities, the biggest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, are on a trajectory to more than double to more than 10 million residents each by the middle of this century.
