Business News
Julian Bolleter believes Perth population is at a tipping point that will hasten moves away from a city-centric approach to residential development.
The University of Western Australia associate professor and Australian Urban Design Research Centre director has co-authored a book exploring the implications of population growth nationwide.
Planning for a Continent of Cities examines ways to accommodate the 53 million people expected to live in Australia by 2100.
According to the book, this would require building the equivalent of 13 more Perth-sized cities during the next 75 years.
Perth’s population, which is currently about 2.4 million, is anticipated to grow to 4 million by 2066 and 5.3 million by 2100.
In their research for the book, by Dr Bolleter and his co-author, University of NSW professor Robert Freestone, surveyed planning experts and the public about the best ways to meet the nation’s housing needs.
The satellite cities model, where a series of smaller cities branch out from one larger city, was the model most favoured by the 284 planners and 1,008 community members surveyed.
Ideally, Dr Bolleter said, these cities would be connected via high-speed rail networks.