Key messages

•  Retaining and enhancing quality of life for people in Fast-growing Cities is a complex and multifaceted task, with every level of government playing an essential role.

•  Cities make an essential contribution to Australia's wealth and Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with the financial, services and knowledge sectors benefiting from agglomeration and access to international markets.

•  The global status, growing size and diversity of Australia's cities necessitates multi-dimensional governance and planning that integrates place, movement, networks and network interdependency and resilience.

•  The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the longstanding growth trajectory of Australia's largest cities by pausing historical growth rates and shifting activity from the urban core to the suburbs and surrounding regions.

•  The pandemic provides an opportunity to rethink the role of cities by reshaping planning for the future.