Re-establishing strategic leadership in growth
The Gold Coast has always been a city shaped by change. Over decades, it has evolved from a coastal holiday destination into one of Australia’s fastest growing and most dynamic cities. But until now, much of that growth has occurred without a clear, city wide framework to guide where and how change should happen.
The City of Gold Coast’s Local Growth Management Strategy (LGMS) marks an important turning point.
After an 18 month program of technical work, collaboration and community engagement, the LGMS provides the foundations for a more deliberate, coordinated and confident approach to managing growth across the city over the next 20 years. It represents a major milestone for the City – and an important shift towards strategic, long-term land use planning.
PSA Consulting was privileged to partner with the City of Gold Coast on the preparation of the LGMS, bringing strategic growth planning expertise to support the development of a clear, long term framework for managing the city’s future growth.
Why the LGMS matters
The Gold Coast is expected to grow to more than one million residents by 2046. Accommodating that growth will require around 185,000 new homes and 174,000 new jobs, alongside major investment in transport, infrastructure, open space and community facilities.
Without a long term strategic framework, growth of this scale risks being fragmented, and reactive decision making than by a shared city wide vision.
The LGMS changes that trajectory.
It sets out a clear strategic narrative for how growth can be distributed across the city, how infrastructure and services can be coordinated, and how liveability, environmental values and economic opportunity can be protected as the Gold Coast continues to evolve.
The LGMS provides the big picture direction derived from community engagement and an evidence and rules-based analysis that will guide more detailed planning through the new Planning Scheme and future infrastructure investment. In doing so, it gives both the community and industry a clearer line of sight to the City’s long term thinking.
A return to strategic, long-term land use planning
As the Gold Coast grows in scale and complexity, the planning context has shifted.
Historically, the City has not had a single, long‑term growth management strategy that brings together growth projections, infrastructure planning and strategic land use direction at a city‑wide level. Instead, growth has largely been guided through statutory planning instruments and policy responses operating within shorter planning horizons.
At the same time, the current Planning Scheme – prepared in 2016 – is approaching the later stages of its lifecycle. While it has provided an important framework for decision‑making, the scale and pace of change now facing the city highlight the need for a longer‑term, integrated growth planning lens to inform the next phase of statutory planning.
With the population expected to exceed one million, growth is no longer simply about identifying capacity. It requires a clear strategic view of how housing, jobs, infrastructure, transport, environmental values and liveability are planned together over time and across the city as a whole.
The LGMS responds to this challenge. It articulates a city‑wide framework that brings together evidence, policy alignment and long‑term thinking to guide future planning and investment decisions. Through its nine strategic directions, covering areas such as well‑planned growth, infrastructure coordination, transport choice, economic strengths, environmental networks and inclusive planning, the LGMS establishes a shared strategic foundation to inform the preparation of the new Planning Scheme.
In this way, the LGMS marks a return to strategically led growth: providing clarity at the city scale, while supporting more detailed and locally responsive planning decisions over time.
A foundation for what comes next
While the LGMS is a significant achievement in its own right, its real value lies in what it enables.
The strategy will directly inform the City’s new Planning Scheme, which will translate long term directions into more zoning and statutory provisions. Equally important, the LGMS places a strong emphasis on implementation, supporting clearer decision making, coordinated investment and ongoing refinement as planning moves from strategy to delivery.
With these pieces in place, the City is better positioned to make confident, coordinated and evidence based decisions – decisions that support housing supply, economic growth and infrastructure delivery while maintaining the lifestyle and environmental qualities that make the Gold Coast unique.
Proud to be part of the journey
PSA Consulting congratulates the City of Gold Coast on reaching this important milestone. The LGMS reflects the dedication, leadership and collaborative approach of the City’s project team, and their commitment to engaging openly with the community about the city’s future.
We are proud to have supported the City in developing the LGMS and its supporting papers, and to have worked alongside a team deeply committed to shaping a more liveable, resilient and prosperous Gold Coast.
As the strategy moves from endorsement into implementation, the LGMS provides a strong platform for aligning future planning decisions with long‑term objectives—supporting a more coordinated, confident and strategic approach to growth into the future.