Survival and revival of rural and regional towns

Although less than 40% of the population of Australia live in cities with more than one million people, the critical mass of metropolitan centres ensures that the concerns of major cities is central to governance and policy development. However, while there is a continual emphasis on strategies to deal with particular issues that are the consequence of the size and scale of these settlements: housing affordability; transport; sustainable environments; and infrastructure, beyond these metropolitan centres, different issues are at stake. Smaller cities and towns lack the critical mass of population to provide a diverse enough range of services and facilities to retain or attract residents, but they provide other opportunities that can act as catalysts for future development.

Tasmania is emblematic of a broader situation in regions across Australia; it has very low population and a very large area. With only four cities with more than 10,000 people, and many wider regions barely reaching this figure, there is a need to develop mechanisms to foster regional cooperation and community building, focussing on the development of infrastructure and industry to promote environmental and economic stability.

The Regional Urban Studies Laboratory (RUSL) within the School of Architecture & Design at the University of Tasmania explores differing ways of understanding regional resilience, examining projects that focus on regional complementarities and cooperation, rather than regional competitiveness. Recent collaborative research projects carried out between RUSL and local municipal councils in Meander Valley and Glamorgan Spring offer alternative ways of understanding the future of these regions, which provide models for regional thinking across Australia. These projects demonstrate the importance of regional strategic thinking that crosses municipal boundaries, evaluating the existing and historical conditions of settlements to speculate on new futures that address the revival and survival of small towns and regions.