The Gold Coast remains a city of contrasts: the three main economic sectors of construction, tourism and retail continue to struggle in the face of conservative credit regimes, a strong dollar and an inclination to save rather than spend, but some major projects are now well underway. The new Gold Coast University Hospital is rapidly taking shape on my horizon and early works are underway on the new Gold Coast Rapid Transit, which will start at our campus and extend down the coast to Broadbeach. It should be running by mid 2014 and is expected to have a transformative effect along its corridor and beyond. We are having productive discussions with a number of partners about a long term program of research on various aspects of its impact.
In November we will learn whether or not the city has won the right to host the Commonwealth Games in 2018. If successful this will also provide a major boost to the city's economy and to its international profile and we are very interested in how the current Showgrounds site will be used to accommodate athletes at the Games and then to serve as a key component of the Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct.
In conjunction with Gold Coast Bulletin, Griffith recently hosted a forum to discuss the future of the city and I had the pleasure of facilitating one of the small groups. Despite some rather predictable suggestions to suspend local democracy and to get tough on crime, there was a high degree of consensus about investing in substantial new cultural facilities for the city as a demonstration of its growing maturity..once we have claimed a new Guinness Record for the world's largest bikini parade!
The Turning Point Forum also agreed on the importance to the city of strong and effective local political leadership and candidates in the upcoming State and local elections are emerging. We shall see how strong and effective they are judged to be by the electorate in the coming months. Before Christmas we should also know the outcome a commendably large number of research grant applications from members of the URP on the Coast.
Finally, it was heartening that a team including final year planning student Ruth Potts and Professional Advisory Board member Michael Nash succeeded in comprehensively defeating the controversial motion 'If the Gold Coast is to flourish in the future, we need to get rid of planners' at a recent debate hosted by the UDIA Gold Coast's Urban Edge group.
Paul Burton
Professor of Urban Management & Planning
Deputy Director, URP
September 2011