Future Cairns liveability: What Cairns will need in the city by 2050

As Cairns grows, the requirements people might have from the city will also change. This is what life could look like by 2050.

Performing arts, sports clubs and healthcare will all be key in retaining population as the Far North looks to the future and expands.

Demographics group co-founder Simon Kuestenmacher is calling on officials to ask, why would people want to live in Cairns?

“The idea is that Cairns is continuing to grow and with any kind of growth comes more requirements people might have from the city,” he said.

With an anticipated increase of 100,000 by 2050, Mr Kuestenmacher said a few aspects will need to be considered.

Simon Kuestenmacher, director of research at analysis firm The Demographics Group. Photo: Supplied

“The bigger you get, the more diverse the population gets, the broader the range of entertainment people want,” he said.

“Cairns Performing Art Centre is great. At the moment it feels like an oversized venue, it’s important that it can hold a bit of growth.

“It means you could attract musicians, comedians, or whatever is important to have an active community for people to grow these events.

“To tell people not only you can holiday and lie on the beach but you can very much enjoy the culture.”

Mr Kuestenmacher said sports was seriously important in the future.

“You always want to make sure sporting facilities are well funded," he said.

“If there is social unrest it’s good to have good sporting facilities that is cheap to get the energy out into the right way.”

Mr Kuestenmacher said while these sports facilities might not be key to bringing people to the region it would be a point of retaining them.

The Far North attracts people from all age groups from young families to those retiring and Mr Kuestenmacher said the housing crisis was a huge issue in relation to liveability and what people want.

Edge Hill couple Gary Owens and Cristy Gelviro love an active lifestyle, walking together across Freshwater Creek in Goomboora Park, Brinsmead. Picture: Brendan Radke

“You need to provide housing that is affordable for low to middle income earners and that is harder than it sounds,” he said.

“If you have low to middle come earners from international, backpackers, people in their 20s. These workers need smaller apartments.”

“On the other hand, we will grow, these families will require three to four bedroom dwelling, where do you put those.”

Cairns Hospital will also be important when it comes to growth.

“The hospital needs the capacity to continue to grow, Cairns will be ageing, Cairns will remain a location for retirees to move to,” he said.

The older Cairns grows, it will increasingly get older, the more you need relevant healthcare workers.

“If we are talking about the ageing population, they can get away with smaller homes, these people have time available in their day.”

Originally published as Future Cairns liveability: What Cairns will need in the city by 2050