The City Report
Place-Based Evidence
Download the latest report
About the report
101 Australian cities and towns
The Australian Bureau of Statistics classifies 101 cities and towns across Australia as ‘Significant Urban Areas’.
The City Report tracks the performance of these 101 cities and towns providing a place-based analysis of the economic and social health of a community.
It also tracks the performance of regional Australia as a whole and compares this to the performance of other city types.
Metrics that matter
The City Report tracks historical performance on two dimensions: economic growth and inclusive growth.
Economic growth metrics indicate the change in the size of a city or town’s fundamental drivers: population change, business growth, jobs and construction. Together, these metrics give an understanding of the performance of the local economy.
Inclusive growth aims to measure how the benefits of economic growth are flowing through to people in the community. This is captured by looking at changes in the unemployment rate and reliance on government payments.
A historical perspective
The performance of each location is measured against its long-term average.
This approach controls for the vast array of factors that influence the different levels of performance between locations.
It also ensures that measurement focuses on things that each city and town has a degree of influence over.
Do you need more detail?
We offer a range of additional reports that delve into greater detail within cities and towns. These custom reports can help policy makers address:
Policy needs – what are the specific policy and investment needs of a location?
Prioritisation – how should these policy and investment needs be prioritised in different locations?
Performance – how does a policy or investment change a location over time? Has it been successful and what can we learn?
Custom reports are available for:
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city and town deep dives, to understand emerging strengths and weaknesses
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regions within cities, like Western Sydney, planning districts and Local Government Areas (LGAs)
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specific locations within cities, like business parks, growth precincts, specific urban investments and transport corridors.
Collaboration
We are always looking for new and unique ways to use our data and collaborate with like-minded organisations. If you would like to explore how we could work together to investigate a specific location or policy area please get in touch.