Governing the City State - Chief Minister and Treasury Directorate ...

Canberra in 2010 – a Snapshot• The average Canberra house size has increased from 149m² to 213m² over 20 years.• Australia has the largest average house size in the developed world and Canberra has thelargest average house size in the nation.• Canberra’s ecological footprint (the area needed to support current lifestyles) is around9.2 hectares per person. It has increased by 8% in five years and nearly 25% in ten years.Canberra’s ecological footprint is 13% above the Australian average and nearly 3.5 timesthe global average.• At the 2006 census, there were 131,271 private dwellings in Canberra. In 20 years it isestimated that an additional 49,000 homes will be needed in Canberra.• 75% of Canberrans currently live in detached dwellings.• In line with the national trend, the median house price has more than doubled in tenyears.• The ACT provides a level of public housing that is twice the national average.• The largest emission source for greenhouse gases in the ACT is electricity use whichcontributed 64.5% of ACT emissions in 2006. This increase in electricity use has largelybeen in the commercial sector with an increase of 16.3% since 2002.• ACT consumption of electricity and gas has grown more quickly than its population.• ACT average residential consumption of electricity is higher than the national average.• Houses and cars account for around 94% of Canberra’s greenhouse gas emissions.• In 1993-94, less than a quarter of waste in Canberra was recovered for recycling, but by2003-04 nearly three quarters was recovered.• Canberra is about ten times less dense than Melbourne and Sydney and is one of thelowest density cities in the world.• More than half of the ACT is protected and managed in conservation reserves.• Less than one quarter of the ACT is suitable for urban development and most of this isalready developed.• Canberra has a higher car dependence than the national average.• Since 1990 the amount of road infrastructure maintained by the ACT Government hasgrown by nearly 30%.Canberra as the Regional CentreCanberra has become the major regional centre in South-Eastern New South Wales (NSW),providing employment, retail, health and other services to a population far in excess of theresident ACT population. Around 20,000 people living in the surrounding region travel towork in the ACT each day. The daily flow in the opposite direction is around 4,000. Everyday the ACT provides health, education, community and justice services to a large number ofNSW residents.These strong links make regional demography a significant driver of future infrastructure andservice demand in the ACT. The South-Eastern region of NSW is projected to grow, and toage, at a faster rate than the ACT. The population of the region is projected to grow by28,000 over the next 10 years (12.8%), and by 55,000 over the next 20 years (25.2%). MuchContext for the Review: 39