The Australian Government is committed to improving the productivity, sustainability and liveability of our cities. This long-term policy endeavour is vast, complex and should not be underestimated. Urban policy is grounded in a geographic consideration of place and the people that interact with that place. It considers how policy settings and investment decisions of governments, businesses and individuals impact on, or are affected by, places. Urban policy is about understanding and trying to guide the complex systems that make up our cities.

The State of Australian Cities 2010 report presented a snapshot of the many contemporary challenges facing our major cities across the three dimensions of productivity, sustainability and liveability, as an important first stage towards developing a national approach to urban policy. The report defined ‘major cities’ as those with a population greater than 100,000 at the 2006 Census. Recent estimated resident population data from Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS 2010) show that Albury-Wodonga has now exceeded 100,000 population and is therefore included as a major city in this background paper.

This background paper considers the issues raised in the State of Australian Cities 2010 report and accompanies the National Urban Policy discussion paper Our Cities: Building a productive, sustainable and liveable future, which presents the options the Australian Government is considering in preparing a national approach to improve the wellbeing and prosperity of communities within our cities.