Australian Metropolitan Development: Local Government Reform and Urban Growth into the 1990s

During the past four decades, many national governments, both centralist and federal, have spent considerable resources on planning for improved types of human settlement. Sometimes, grand schemes of regional planning, ‘New Town’ development, vast subdivisional tracting, and, even, industrial policy have been prepared and implemented in the name of urban and metropolitan development. The developmental role of local councils, as governmental authorities, has been either understated or underutilized; often, both. Australian governments should now reflect upon past policies and, most particularly, reconsider the role of a proactive local government sector in future metropolitan and urban development. In general terms, a multigenerational model regarding Australian urban policy design is considered. The first three, and more conventional, generations consist of: (1) the local government ‘fragmentation’ dispute, whereby local authorities are regarded as being too small, parochial, and ineffective as planning institutions; (2) the ‘New Town’ period, involving centralized planning and funding; and (3) a consolidation era where many different types of corporate, multifocal authority agencies have been created. The fourth generation constitutes the governmentally approved multifunction polis (MFP): A unique Japanese–Australian vision of a 21st century technopolis. It is argued that a further, fifth, model needs to be considered in the context of Australia's continuing outer-(sub)urban development. A linear growth-linkage model is presented; one which enhances the role of local government planning and development near the various state-located capital cities.