Planning for social inclusion in a multicultural urban South East Queensland

Abstract

South East Queensland is projected to grow by an estimated 1.3 million people over the next 20 years. To date, much of the debate on how best to respond to this unprecedented rate of growth has focused attention on the need to provide better infrastructure, more housing and to sustain and protect ecosystems and habitats. Less attention has been paid to the human dimensions of growth, and how the needs of an increasingly diverse population are to be met - including planning for a more multicultural urban future. Utilising a social inclusion framework this article explores the challenges for planning where nearly half of South East Queensland's growth results from overseas migration. In providing a case study of Moorooka, Brisbane, we argue that the sustainability and liveability of a more urban South East Queensland depends greatly on the creation of a socially inclusive and progressive environment. This will inevitably involve renewing the very practices of planning itself