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Barriers to New Northern Cities

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Book cover The Ghost Cities of Australia

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Geography ((BRIEFSGEOGRAPHY))

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Abstract

This chapter evaluates the potential barriers that could derail the delivery of the new or boosted city proposals for northern Australia, discussed in the previous chapter. These barriers are, to varying degrees, environmental, economic, societal, and governance-related and include carrying capacity issues, the cost of enabling infrastructure, and the question of how to stimulate growth in a new city. Many of these barriers will be familiar to readers who are acquainted with failed attempts at decentralization from the twentieth century. However, in some cases, these barriers have transmuted into different forms, with both changing technology and climate. Regardless, an analysis of these barriers reveals some formidable obstacles to new or boosted city developments in the north, of which proponents should be aware.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Dr. Murray Lane is a researcher from the Queensland University of Technology.

  2. 2.

    A thermometer covered with a wet wash cloth is used to measure wet-bulb temperature.

  3. 3.

    In addition, this issue could have significant implications for the northern pastoral industry and biodiversity more generally.

  4. 4.

    Northern Australia is projected only to be slightly less humid, with a minor decrease in relative humidity along the coast of 0.5–1% (Australian Government 2017a).

  5. 5.

    With the exception of Weddell, which has some access to Darwin’s port, and Karratha, which access to a deep-water port at Port Hedland.

  6. 6.

    All Australian capital cities, with the exception of Canberra, have coalesced around ports (Blainey 2010), which have allowed the importation of materials and shipping of exports to domestic and international markets.

  7. 7.

    Hugh Durrant-Whyte leads a University of Sydney research team on robotics.

  8. 8.

    These protests are also related to the issue of development on indigenous land and environmental issues.

  9. 9.

    However, this estate does not convey ‘ownership’ and government can compulsorily acquire land and as such extinguish native title (Australian Human Rights Commission 2016).

  10. 10.

    The Australian government has recently established a ‘City Deals’ policy in which ‘the three levels of government, the community and private enterprise’ … ‘work to align the planning, investment and governance necessary to accelerate growth and job creation, stimulate urban renewal and drive economic reforms’ (Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet 2017). While a much-needed initiative, this policy is city-specific and not geared to delivering regional development and creating new cities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Australian Urban Design Research Centre, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia

    Dr. Julian Bolleter (Deputy Director)

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  1. Dr. Julian Bolleter
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Correspondence to Julian Bolleter .

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Bolleter, J. (2018). Barriers to New Northern Cities. In: The Ghost Cities of Australia. SpringerBriefs in Geography. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89896-4_5

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