Transport and regional development in South East Queensland

Over the decade 1986 to 1996 the population of the Brisbane-SEQ region increased from 1.56 people to 2.13 million, an increase of 573,000 or 37 per cent. It is forecast to grow to between 2.88 and 3.28 million by 2016. Of that forecast growth, 68 per cent to 72 per cent is likely to occur outside Brisbane City, necessitating continued expansion of urban development in the growth corridors to the north and south, and to a lesser extent to the west. This growth represents a formidable challenge for planning and the provision of transport. Research by Stimson et al. (1999) shows that the inner city suburbs of Brisbane City are continuing to experience a declining share of the region's population, down from 4.3 per cent to 3.4 per cent over the decade 1986 to 1996. The middle suburbs' share was down from 23.5 per cent to 18.4 per cent. Outer suburbs of Brisbane City held their share basically constant at 16 per cent to 17 per cent. The big increases in share of the region's population was on the Gold Coast, up from 14.3 per cent to 17.6 per cent; the Sunshine Coast was up from 7.6 per cent to 10.3 per cent; Logan-Redland up from 11.9 per cent to 13.2 per cent; and Pine Rivers-Redcliffe-Caboolture up 10.6 per cent to 11.7 per cent. The share of Ipswich in the western corridor fell from 6.8 per cent to 5.9 per cent.