Mixed-use urban areas that combine residential, commercial and community uses come in many forms in cities, from CBDs to urban shopping centres and major social infrastructure. To function at their best, people need to be able to travel around and between them.
" Planning and building place-centric activity centres and their infrastructure must take a strong network approach that ties different transport hubs together effectively. "
It is equally important to connect big cities with smaller satellite cities in their orbit so they can benefit from each other's strengths. In this networked view, Geelong has a mutually beneficial relationship with Melbourne, the Gold Coast with Brisbane, and Newcastle and Wollongong with Sydney.
While Fast-growing Cities offer amenity and economic opportunity, Smaller Cities can provide industry specialisation, affordability, have swifter processes, and provide 'easier demonstration of large-scale, whole city impacts of particular technologies or innovations that can then be scaled up or applied to other places.'53
Planning and building place-centric activity centres and their infrastructure must take a strong network approach that ties different transport hubs together effectively, enabling people and goods to move around easily.
These connections must operate between activity centres, between Fast-growing Cities, and between these cities and adjacent Smaller Cities.
There are also important Fast-growing Cities and satellite city pairings that cross Jurisdictional borders. They include Adelaide-Melbourne, Launceston-Melbourne, Albury-Melbourne, Canberra-Sydney and Tweed-Brisbane. The Australian Government and relevant state and territory governments can play an important role in facilitating cross-border connectivity for these communities.