THE 200 MILE CITY

P Barwick
President
AILA Tasmania
7 June 2004

The total population of Tasmania is about 1/2 million, and AFL games are only staged here a few times each season.

Because Tassie is roughly triangular in shape with settlements focussed along the Bass Straight coast in the north and around Hobart in the south, the football financiers choose to stage their games at York Park in Launceston.

In this way they can attract spectators from around the State, none of who need drive further than about 200 kilometres (not miles, but who’s counting?).

Indeed if 200 is the limit, one might say that (like Hong Kong?) Tasmania is ideally proportioned for intensive development.

But present development is by no means intensive, and except for the urban agglomeration at Hobart, Launceston and Burnie/Devonport, the countryside is still punctuated by more or less discreet townships. Most of these have grown in response to the needs of farmers or travellers, but at their core the 10 mile towns established in the early 1800’s for refreshing the horses between Hobart and Launceston, and Launceston and Westbury are still evident. Most of these still exist as discernable settlements to this day.

Hobart, Launceston and to a lesser degree Burnie are towns of the old settlement pattern. In these centres people gathered together to share resources and support each other. When travel was undertaken it required considerable organization and exertion. Even in the smaller, service towns, people gathered to share company and comforts.

Since the coming of easier transportation and our more self-contained lives, many people are now attracted more by the notion of escaping and separating from their neighbours, than by the notion of congregating.

So we see a pattern of larger lots (2 hectare or larger farmlets) accreting around the more defined townships.

Although this pattern is less evident in the relatively barren Tasmanian Midlands, along the richer Bass Strait coast there is considerable infilling between the old staging towns. The pattern of settlement between Launceston and Wynyard, or even as far as Smithton could be seen developing in a more contemporary manner, as a 200 kilometre ribbon.

The now recognised Burnie/Devonport urbanity is itself about 50km long, and the region known locally as “The Coast” could easily be understood to include everything settled between Latrobe and Wynyard, or Smithton.

So if even Tasmania has a version of the 200-mile city, can we identify its characteristics? These are some that appear to be evident:

• A series of historical centres, more densely-settled, but now with an infill of less dense development.
• Extensive travel between the centres, with a round trip drive to work, for shopping or other daily activities, of 50 or 100km, or more.
• Less walking, more cars, and virtually no public transport.
• Alternative focus on any or all of the centres for leisure, education and resource activities.

Is this the same as the more usually recognised urban sprawl of the Gold Coast? Or are things actually different in Tasmania?

Whether it is different or the same, it does raise some questions, such as, “What does this mean for the provision of physical services?” “How will our towns and cities change into the future?” “Who, if anybody will drive the changes, or have the vision to predict them?” “How should we respond?” “How can we respond?” “With whom should we partner?”

Many questions arise from this simple consideration of the question posed by the next AILA conference. See you in Brisbane, both to enjoy a better standard of AFL football, and to pursue the debate.