Overview

South East Queensland (SEQ) is Australia's fastest growing region. By 2031, its population is expected to grow from 2.8 million to 4.4 million people. The region covers 22,890 square kilometres, stretching 240 kilometres from Noosa in the north to the Queensland-New South Wales border in the south, and 160 kilometres west to Toowoomba.

The SEQ region includes land covered by 11 city and regional local governments. Its regional landscape is a rich mix of bushland and beaches, ranges and paddocks, rivers and lakes.

SEQ’s population is heavily urbanised and is generally concentrated along the coast between Noosa and Cooloongatta.

Future South East Queensland

The region’s growth will generate demand for 754,000 new dwellings, as well as supporting infrastructure and services. It will impose significant social, economic and environmental pressures on the region.

The SEQ Regional Plan seeks to proactively manage this growth by identifying a preferred settlement pattern for the region and encouraging more compact development. An increased proportion of the region’s population will be accommodated in the Western Corridor, reducing pressure on the heavily populated coast.

Of the new dwellings that will be required in SEQ by 2031, nearly half will be built in established urban areas through infill and redevelopment, and the rest in suitable undeveloped (broadhectare) sites.

The plan protects 85% of the region from urban development by restricting this development outside the Urban Footprint and identifying areas within the Urban Footprint for future urban growth.