[URBAN NOTE] "Australia's New Cities Minister Sounds Warning as Sydney Sprawls"

[rfmcdonald]

Bloomberg's Jason Scott notes severe real estate pressures in urban Australia.

The populations of Sydney and Melbourne are set to almost double by 2060, Australia’s new Cities Minister Jamie Briggs said, sounding a warning that ailing infrastructure and surging house prices must be tackled to ensure they remain livable.

“For a country that brags about the fact we’re a big, wide land we live in very small urban spaces,” Briggs, who was appointed last month by new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, said in an interview in Canberra Wednesday. “That trend is only going to continue.”

The nation’s major cities are coming under increasing pressure as public transport and roads fail to keep up with population growth. The inclusion of a cities minister in Cabinet indicates Turnbull’s commitment to urban planning and its importance to unlocking productivity and economic expansion.

Turnbull, a self-made millionaire who ousted Tony Abbott last month in a ballot of governing party lawmakers, is renowned for using public transport in his home city of Sydney and last week was pictured riding a tram in Melbourne.