sage, I don't see much stopping people discussing immigration around these forums. The problem is most insist on discussing it in terms of what terrible people they think muslims/asians/(add your pet group) are rather than in terms of the environment. Different issue.

R0bert

The Bureau of Transport Economics (1996)has estimated that each additional internal or external migrant to Brisbane will increase congestion costs by $12,000 a year between 1995 and 2015. In contrast, the average annual per capita spending by state and local government in Queensland is only $6,300, and this is matched by a similar figure for revenue (GST, State Taxes and Fees for services).

So what does this mean? It means that each migrant that moves to country Queensland generates sufficient revenue to pay for the services they use. But each migrant that moves to South East Queensland (including those from country Qld)still generates sufficient revenue to pay for the government services they use but they also impose additional costs on themselves and the rest of the community that are twice as high as their share of state revenue.

And as state/local spending is 45% of total government spending, it means that residents of SEQ face additional costs that are almost the same again as the total federal/state/local tax take.

Decentralisation is the only way we can maintain the economic growth that comes with population growth whilst avoiding the costs of congestion. At the moment it is one step forward, three steps backwards.

'Decentralisation is the only way we can maintain the economic growth that comes with population growth whilst avoiding the costs of congestion.'

Eek! I can think of nothing worse than letting suburbia get more and more spread out in an endless nightmarishly depressing sprawl. People living close to each other is good, it's just the cars that are bad.

Big city - public transport. Hey, if everyone's centralised there's a lot less need for cars! It's all this spreading out that causes our over-dependence on them.

And blaming immigrants is just laughable. By the exact same rationale we could tell people to stop having children. And honestly, Australia is NOT overpopulated. The amount of space we have per person, compared to suffering over-opulated countries from which people (rightly) immigrate, is criminal.

You can print this in stone, and don't you ever forget it: NO LAND belongs to anyone. We belong to the land. But, since we've set up society in a way that ignores this basic logic, maybe the least we can do is share the wealth.

Thanks for the interesting comments.

RE: Decentralisation. I think Perseus and Spendocrat are thinking about two different concepts. I think a decentralisation of our population would mean channeling population growth into other population centres e.g. Bundaberg or Toowoomba. I don't think decentralisation would mean allowing Brisbane to sprawl further.

The $1.3 billion from the 4.5km North-South Bypass Tunnel could be used far more effectively in other population centres, and simply by making these places more attractive to live it would reduce the strain on Brisbane's infrastructure.

Consolidation of the population into higher density doesn't necessarily increase public transport and reduce car usage. Consolidation must be focused around public transport, and the quality of public transport must be increased. Making the consolidated areas more walkable and ensuring people can access services in their local area.(Refer Cervero's 'Transit Villages in the 21st Century')

RE Los Angeles. Rancitas - I think LA did actually have a train system which may have then been replaced by diesel buses (due to some lobbying from companies). I think there are a range of factors that led to LA being so car dependent e.g. federal funding for road building. Refer Chapter 3 of 'A very public solution: transport in the dispersed city' by Mees or to 'Cities of Tomorrow' by Hall.

RE: Thieving magpie and Accurate 1 - I agree that buses and motorbikes are certainly part of the solution, but it is important not to get too caught up on talking about certain modes or technologies.

RE: Robert. Excellent point on walking/cycling corridors rather than just paths. The current ped/cycle system certainly is disjointed and this actually makes it more dangerous. You may be interested in Brisbane writer, David Engwicht, his book is 'Towards the eco-ciy'.