Why does Perth stand alone? Interviews with subject matter experts about the drivers of settlement in Western Australia

ABSTRACT

Australian non-capital cities are overshadowed by their state capitals. High state-level urban primacy is especially true of Western Australia. Various theories in economic geography might explain the west Australian settlement pattern. Few are grounded in the experience of those with power over and/or knowledge of development. To study this experience and compare it with theory we conducted 37 in-depth interviews with decision-makers and subject matter experts to understand their explanations of Western Australia’s settlement pattern. In addition to well-known determinants of settlement, such as environmental constraint and first-mover advantages, a majority of participants attributed Perth’s dominance to centralised political institutions, poor infrastructure provision to non-capital city regions, few bottom-up growth avenues, and an unmet need to devolve power. Most participants believed centralisation in Perth warrants intervention. The most reoccurring ideas are presented and discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Urban primacy
• Western Australia
• regional development
• Perth
• institutional economics
• economic geography

Disclosure statement

George Shoemaker Wilkinson III’s tuition is covered by the Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Fees Offset (Domestic).

Notes

1 (van Staden and Haslam McKenzie 2019)

2 City Deals are federally sponsored partnerships between all tiers of government designed to devolve decision making and coordinate regional development, entailing significant targeted investment (Australian Government 2020)

Additional information

Notes on contributors

George S. Wilkinson III

George S. Wilkinson III is a PhD candidate at the University of Western Australia. His PhD, titled ‘A Scarcity of Large Non-Capital Cities: A national analysis of the drivers of urban primacy in Australia, ’ examines the drivers of urban primacy in Australian States under the supervision of Professor Fiona Haslam McKenzie and Dr Julian Bolleter. George works as a management consultant with expertise in strategy, organisational design, and change management.

Fiona Haslam McKenzie

Prof. Fiona Haslam McKenzie has extensive experience in population and socio-economic change, housing, regional economic development and analysis of remote, regional and urban socio-economic indicators. She has published widely and undertaken work for the corporate and small business sectors both nationally and in Western Australia as well conducting work for all three tiers of government. She is currently researching the socio-economic impact of different workforce arrangements for the mining industry and uneven economic development in Western Australia, focusing on the key issues of competitiveness, resilience, and spatial integration.

Julian Bolleter

Dr. Julian Bolleter is a researcher and teacher at UWA ’s School of Design, tackling issues facing Australian cities in the 21st century. Originally from Perth, he has worked internationally as a landscape architect in Sydney, Dubai, Boston, and London. Dr Bolleter is Co-Director of the Australian Urban Design Research Centre (AUDRC), where he delivers commissioned research for state government planning departments, writing urban design/city-related books, conducting urban design projects, and teaching an urban design course.