AUSTRALIAN METROPOLITAN DEVELOPMENT - LOCAL-GOVERNMENT REFORM AND URBAN-GROWTH INTO THE 1990S

During the past four decades, many national governments, both centrali st and federal, have spent considerable resources on planning for impr oved types of human settlement. Sometimes, grand schemes of regional p lanning, 'New Town' development, vast subdivisional tracting, and, eve n, industrial policy have been prepared and implemented in the name of urban and metropolitan development. The developmental role of local c ouncils, as governmental authorities, has been either understated or u nderutilized; often, both. Australian governments should now reflect u pon past policies and, most particularly, reconsider the role of a pro active local government sector in future metropolitan and urban develo pment. In general terms, a multigenerational model regarding Australia n urban policy design is considered. The first three, and more convent ional, generations consist of: (1) the local government 'fragmentation ' dispute, whereby local authorities are regarded as being too small, parochial, and ineffective as planning institutions; (2) the 'New Town ' period, involving centralized planning and funding; and (3) a consol idation era where many different types of corporate, multilocal author ity agencies have been created. The fourth generation constitutes the governmentally approved multifunction polis (MFP): a unique Japanese - Australian vision of a 21st century technopolis. It is argued that a f urther, fifth, model needs to be considered in the context of Australi a's continuing outer-(sub)urban development. A linear growth-linkage m odel is presented; one which enhances the role of local government pla nning and development near the various state-located capital cities.