Population Debate

[Jonno]

Watched the ABC's Q&A show on population growth (missed the Dick Smith documentary though) last night.  Lots of discussion about how we can't afford infrastructure without growth but no real discussion about whether we are building the right infrastructure.  The attitude also seemed to be that intense population growth can not be support as it demands too much infrastructure without any discussion on the efficiency of that infrastructure.  Looks like making the same mistakes in smaller/regional cities is the only solution put forward. Bob Brown tried to raise the issue.

[#Metro]

Lots of discussion about how we can't afford infrastructure without growth but no real discussion about whether we are building the right infrastructure.

There are low-infrastructure, planning solutions as well. Or "low tech" in other words.
The solution to every problem seems to be more concrete.

Feeder bus networks to rail, busway conversion and upgrades, and an upgraded rail service with high frequency trains is much cheaper and can be done faster than building a brand new metro system in Brisbane at a cost of $200-300 million/km. It will also have far greater coverage over all of SEQ, rather than a service that is only useful in the core of inner Brisbane. This is why I would prefer a Cleveland-Newstead-Bulimba rail tunnel than a metro tunnel along the same area.

Los Angeles has a metro system. And yet 91% of people drive a car to work.
Even Brisbane has higher mode share, outperforming LA.

[Mobility]

Did the documentary address this?

http://www.overpopulationisamyth.com/

[verbatim9]

SBS.com.au-----> The Gold Coast and Perth have been reclassified to regional cities

As per a recent media release; The Gold Coast and Perth have been reclassified to regional cities to boost population growth in those areas.

^^Does this also mean that these areas will obtain extra Federal Funds from the Regional Development Fund?

[OzGamer]

Presumably that just means for immigration purposes. I assume Perth makes sense given the recent drop in population growth after the end of the resources boom, but I'm not sure about the Gold Coast. SEQ really does interact as a region with respect to urban planning challenges.

[techblitz]

[youtube width=500][/youtube]

I advise to just skip the video because most of it is your typical ABC 'nothing to see here' propaganda....
Go straight to the 850+ comments to see what the majority out there feel...

#OkBoomer

[verbatim9]

Heraldsun.com.au----> Melbourne's population surpasses the whole of Queensland as experts warn of threat to liveability

VIC NEWS
Melbourne's population surpasses the whole of Queensland as experts warn of threat to liveability
There was a time not long ago when Melbourne was losing more people to Queensland than arrived from the sunshine state. But the tide has turned with the southern capital recently achieving a milestone.

Melbourne's population is now bigger than all of Queensland's, raising concerns that the rapid growth is unsustainable for a city already facing major congestion and liveability issues.
Experts believe that Melbourne hit the milestone last September, while adding 105 more people a day than the sunshine state.
And on current trends, Melbourne will overtake Sydney as the nation's biggest metropolis in 2026.

Demographer Mark McCrindle, from McCrindle Research, predicted that Melbourne would have about 5.21 million people by June 30 this year, compared to Queensland's 5.18 million.
"For a city to have a larger population than the whole state of Queensland is remarkable, particularly a city like Melbourne that was a bit behind in its growth patterns of Sydney," he said.
"It's not only become the fastest growing capital city in the nation by overtaking Queensland, but it's set to overtake Sydney as well in this decade."
"Never before have we had cities adding 125,000 people in a year, which is what Melbourne is now doing – the numbers are quite phenomenal."

Based on migration and natural increase trends, Mr McCrindle estimated that Melbourne's population surpassed Queensland's on September 25, 2019.
Structural landscaping foreman Dylan Barker moved his family to Melbourne from Brisbane 18 months ago in search of better job options.
"The financial instability of the seasonal work in construction in Queensland makes it quite difficult, and the pay rates are much higher in Melbourne, so that was the main reason," he said.
"And the lifestyle is really good for us being a sporting family, that's one of the biggest pros."