Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner’s delegation to LA, Vancouver and San Francisco for 2032 Games prep

Housing, transport, population growth: Brisbane’s Lord Mayor has a long journey to solve the city’s biggest challenges ahead of the 2032 Games.

Adrian Schrinner will lead a delegation to Los Angeles as the Brisbane Lord Mayor seeks answers for the region’s critical challenges ahead of the 2032 Games.

Housing affordability, waste management, transport and rapid population growth will be front of mind for the Southeast Queensland’s Council of Mayors on the North America expedition.

The group will meet with LA Mayor Karen Bass to dissect the Californian city’s plans to build a lasting legacy out of the 2028 Games.

They will also meet with transport officials from Vancouver to analyse how the Canadian city’s infrastructure functions more than a decade after hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics.

“Southeast Queensland is one of the fastest growing regions in the world and that’s only going to increase as we get closer to the Brisbane 2032 Games,” Mr Schrinner said.

“Learning how other host cities are using their Games to deliver long-term advantages for their residents is an important step on the runway to Brisbane 2032.”

Debate continues to rage over how Brisbane will look when it hosts the 2032 Games.

Capitalising on investments through the rare opportunity to host the Olympics is a critical responsibility for Games organisers and the region’s politicians, the Lord Mayor and Council of Mayors chair said.

“To make sure that happens, we need to better understand the things that have and are working well for other regions and, more importantly, the things they would do differently,” Mr Schrinner said.

“We’re also keen to understand their legacy focus, and how they’re dealing with challenges at a local level.

“This includes Los Angeles which is delivering the largest mass transit construction program in the United States to connect the Los Angeles region ahead of their 2028 Games.”

Brisbane City Council Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner. Picture: Jono Searle/Getty Images

During the 11-day February trip, the Council of Mayors will also meet with autonomous flight manufacturer Wisk Aero, which signed a deal to explore self-flying air taxi services in Queensland.

“In July last year, we signed a memorandum of understanding with Wisk Aero which will see us working together to support the introduction of autonomous air taxi service to Southeast Queensland,” he said.

“Not only does this emerging future industry have enormous potential for commuters, there is also enormous economic opportunities.”

Council of Mayors deputy chair, Toowoomba leader Paul Antonio, said the delegation was eager to explore Metro Vancouver’s responses to population growth and housing affordability given the current issues plaguing Queensland.

“This is critical as our region responds to the housing crisis and ahead of the upcoming review of the State Government’s SEQ Regional Plan,” Mr Antonio said.

KEY MEETINGS:

Metro Vancouver: How the transport network services more than 2.8 million people across 21 municipalities.

The body’s services include drinking water, solid waste management, air quality regulation, planning for urban growth, managing a regional parks system, and providing affordable housing.

LA Metro: How the body services more than 10 million residents in the country’s largest county.

San Francisco: Visit Boeing-backed Wisk Aero at the company’s headquarter