Article: Brisbane's population shows no signs of slowing

[ozbob]

From the Courier Mail click here!

Brisbane's population shows no signs of slowing

Brisbane's population shows no signs of slowing
Article from: The Courier-Mail

April 24, 2009 12:00am

BRISBANE continues to grow at a rapid pace, topping all Australian capitals for new residents in the 12 months to June last year.

The city's population increased by 17,400 to 1.03 million, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, but in percentage terms it was edged out by Perth's 10.8 (?? ed. think this should read 2.8%) per cent jump.

Brisbane's 1.7 per cent growth was followed by influxes to the Gold Coast (up 13,200) and the Moreton Bay region (up 11,800).

The ABS yesterday reported the biggest population increases across the country were on the fringes of capital cities, in particular outside Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. Capital cities accounted for more than two-thirds of population growth, while southeast Queensland was the most popular coastline.

Blog comment:

This is an interesting article.  It further reinforces why we must direct road funding into sustainable mass transit solutions.  More resourcing of rail, light and heavy is needed.

[ozbob]

Seems Perth actually grew by 2.8% ....
From the Melbourne Age  click here!

Pressure grows as Melbourne rockets to 4 million

Pressure grows as Melbourne rockets to 4 million

    * Tim Colebatch
    * April 24, 2009

MELBOURNE'S population is growing on a scale not seen in Australia before, swelling by almost 150,000 people in two years ? mostly on the city fringe.

Bureau of Statistics figures show the city is on track to have 4 million people by the end of this year, after its population growth increased to an annual rate of 2 per cent.

The bureau estimates that Melbourne's population grew by 74,713 in the year to last June and, on revised figures, by 74,791 the year before that.

This means the population is growing by more than 200 people a day, or almost 1500 a week.

Melbourne's population growth last year far outpaced all other major Australian cities. Sydney's population grew by 55,047 or 1.3 per cent, Brisbane by 43,404 (2.3 per cent) and Perth by 43,381 (2.8 per cent).

The label of Australia's fastest-growing city might once have been one for which Melbourne yearned but these days it could be more of a burden for Premier John Brumby and his Government, adding to overcrowded trains, congested roads, housing prices, housing shortages and delays in hospital treatment.

In the past, the State Government used to seize on figures showing strong population growth as evidence that Victoria was leading the nation. Yesterday Mr Brumby was silent on the data showing even faster growth.

Sydney remains Australia's biggest city, with just under 4.4 million people at mid-2008. Melbourne had just under 3.9 million, Brisbane 1.95 million, Perth 1.6 million and Adelaide 1.2 million.

At that rate, Brisbane's population would reach 2 million by October, Melbourne would pass 4 million in December, and Sydney would top 4.5 million about a year from now.

But in a reversal of recent trends, the bureau estimates that 61 per cent of last year's growth was on Melbourne's fringes, despite the State Government's policy that Melbourne should grow upwards rather than outwards.

The outer suburbs ? defined here as suburbs more than 20 kilometres from the city ? added almost 46,000 people, mostly around Werribee, Melton, Plenty Valley and the suburbs beyond Berwick.

Despite the pressures of a booming population ? much of it driven by overseas students and new migrants wanting to settle close in ? growth in the inner and middle suburbs declined significantly, as rising costs and council opposition blocked many residential redevelopments.

The population living within 20 kilometres of the city grew by roughly 28,700 last year, down from almost 33,000 the year before. Growth rates in the CBD, Docklands, Southbank and St Kilda have slowed sharply in the past two or three years.

Outside Melbourne, there was strong growth in the four cities on the other end of the regional fast rail tracks. Geelong's population grew by almost 3000, Ballarat by 1800, Bendigo by 1500 and the Latrobe Valley by just over 1000.

In a national perspective, it was the year of the west. Perth added almost as many people as Brisbane, growing by 43,381 people or 2.8 per cent. And south-western Western Australia grew more quickly than either the Sunshine Coast or the Gold Coast, its population rising by almost 9000 or 3.9 per cent.

Cairns had the fastest growth rate of the big regional cities, 4.1 per cent, but has since gone into a deep recession with the loss of Asian tourists.

Australia's population grew by almost 360,000 people over the year to 21.4 million people at 20 June.

Of those, 5.3 million were in Victoria, up 92,500 in the year.