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Education Services home page > Geography GEO 13 – Moving In and Moving Up You can download this activity as a rich text file (RTF) at the bottom of the page Subject Area Geography Suggested Level Years 9 - 11 Overview This classroom activity explores the rapid changes occurring in the inner part of Australia’s capital cities. It provides a useful introduction to city programs which are being undertaken by some schools. The changes noted are similar to those taking place globally. Rising fuel prices, concerns about global warming and sustainability, increasing numbers of single people and changing lifestyles contribute to the growing number of people seeking an inner city lifestyle. In Australia, the mid part of the twentieth century saw an outward drift in cities, where new suburbs were developed in response to growing car use. However, the first part of the twenty-first century has been characterised by inner city growth. The high value of urban space in the inner city has given rise to growth in apartment dwelling and as a result an increase in population density. The activity uses Statistical Local Areas (SLAs) to define the central area of Australia’s capital cities. The SLA is closely aligned with the Postal Areas of the central part of the capital cities. QuickStats and Time Series Community profiles from the Census of Population and Housing have been used, as well as related ABS publications. Data is provided for every capital city in Australia. It is envisaged that for most activities, teachers will choose the capital city appropriate for their state. Requirements Spreadsheet software program (optional) Map of the central area of chosen city Geo_12 worksheet (template or interactive population pyramid, see bottom of this page) Instructions Background What is the population? The official population count for Australia is the Estimated Resident Population (ERP), which is published quarterly in Australian Demographic Statistics (cat. no. 3101.0), Births, deaths and migration statistics are used to determine the Estimated Resident Population. The Census of Population and Housing is conducted every five years and provides a detailed snapshot of Australia’s population at that moment in time. It also serves as a benchmark for population estimates. Changes to the Method of Collection Census data may be returned in two ways, namely Place of Usual Residence and Place of Enumeration. Prior to 2006, a person was counted according to their location on Census night (Place of Enumeration). However, from 2006 onwards, data are primarily shown according to where they usually live (Place of Usual Residence). Care should be exercised when making comparisons of Census data over time and the method of data collection should be clarified. Geographic Units In the Census, the smallest geographic area is a Collection District. It consists of approximately 225 households and generally represents the work of one Census collector. Collection Districts are aggregated to form larger geographic areas as part of the Australian Standard Geographic Classification (ASGC), (cat. no. 1216.0). A Statistical Local Area (SLA) is one of these larger geographic units and for this activity is the most appropriate way of representing the inner city area of Australia’s capital cities. 6.1 Where is the inner city? Ask students to complete the following activities for a city of their choice. 1. Provide a map of the central area of the chosen city. Ask students to use the Australian Bureau of Statistics website for Census information www.abs.gov.au/census. Select ‘Census Data Online’ and the product 2006QuickStats. Use the ‘Search’ tab to locate the area of study. For all capital cities (except Brisbane, Canberra and Darwin) type in the name of the capital city and press ‘Search’. Select 'Statistical Local Areas' shown in Table 1. A new map is generated showing the boundaries of this area. To view statistics on the area click ‘View QuickStats’ To find the Statistical Local Area for inner Brisbane, Canberra and Darwin use the ‘Browse’ tab and search for the location ‘Statistical Local Area’. Brisbane is found within the Inner Brisbane Statistical Subdivision, Canberra within the North Canberra Statistical Subdivision and Darwin within the Darwin City Statistical Subdivision. Ask students to shade their own map to show the boundaries of the Statistical Local Area covering the centre of the chosen capital city. 2. Identify the boundaries which form the northern, eastern, southern and western sides of the Statistical Local Area. Does this area conform to your idea of the central part of the capital city? Discuss. 6.2 How many people live in the centre of our capital cities? Activities in Section 6.2 should be completed in conjunction with the background information provided at the beginning of this section. The Census of Population and Housing provides a snapshot of the population at a point in time. The Census is held in August during the school term. TABLE 1: COMPARISON OF CENSUS POPULATION COUNTS FOR INNER CITY SLA, PLACE OF ENUMERATION AND PLACE OF USUAL RESIDENCE, 2006. Comparison of Populations Census Community Profile Series (Time Series) QuickStats SLA codes and names Located on census night ( Place of enumeration) Place of usual residence on Census night 105057201 Sydney (C) - Inner 36083 21991 205054601 Melbourne (C) - Inner 22283 11590 305011143 Brisbane City - Inner 6229 2716 405150070 Adelaide (C) 22770 16659 505057081 Perth (C) - Inner 4892 1079 605052811 Hobart (C) - Inner 1050 456 705051018 Darwin City - Inner 6239 2484 805051449 Canberra City 1822 723 Source: 2006 Census of Population and Housing, Census Community Profile Series(Time Series) and QuickStats Study Table 1 and for a chosen city answer the following questions: 1. Does the number of persons usually resident in the inner city outnumber the persons enumerated? 2. For the chosen city, calculate the difference between the two count methods. Account for the difference in populations recorded. The Estimated Resident Population (ERP), which is based on the Census Place of Usual Residence count adjusted for births, deaths and migration is the official population count. Estimates are made annually for Statistical Local areas and they are published in Regional Population Growth (cat. no. 3218.0), see Table 2. 3. Using the official population count, the ERP (Table 2), rank Australia’s capital cities according to the population of the innermost Statistical Local Areas in 2007. Is the ranking one that was expected? TABLE 2: Estimated Resident Population at 30 June, 2007 for selected SLA, AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL CITIES. SLA Area km2 Population 2007(p) Population density 2007 (persons /km2) Sydney (C)- Inner 4.2 23584 5607.2 Melbourne (C) - Inner 1.9 13487 7029.0 Brisbane City -Inner 0.7 3443 4892.7 Adelaide (C) 15.6 18575 1192.8 Perth (C) - Inner 1.8 1290 708.5 Hobart (C) - Inner 0.6 491 798.4 Darwin City - Inner 2.6 2833 1110.3 ACT Canberra - City 1.5 767 525.1 (p) estimates for 2007 are preliminary Source: Regional Population Growth (cat. no. 3218.0) 4. Are there persons in the inner city who may not have been counted on Census night?(answer provided) 6.3 Have the inner parts of our capital cities changed over time? 1. For a city of your choice and using Table 3, make a graph to show the growth in the number of people resident in the inner city between 1996 and 2006. (answer provided) The average annual growth rate is calculated as a percentage using the formula below, where P0 is the population at the start of the period, Pn is the population at the end of the period and n is the length of the period between Pn and P0 in years. 2. Use the average annual growth rates provided in Table 3 to compare growth of your chosen city with that of other Australian cities in the period 1996- 2006. 3. In groups, ask students to discuss the changes taking place in the city to accommodate a growing population. TABLE 3: POPULATION ESTIMATES BY STATISTICAL LOCAL AREA, 1996 - 2006 Statistical Local Area 1996 2001 2006 1996-2001 2001-2006 no. no. no. Average Annual Growth Rate (%) Average Annual Growth Rate (%) Sydney (C) - Inner 6233 14618 22733 18.6 9.2 Melbourne (C) - Inner 1774 6498 12431 29.6 13.9 City - Inner Brisbane 345 1021 2823 24.2 22.6 Adelaide (C) 12831 13289 17632 0.7 5.8 Perth (C) - Inner 420 777 1227 13.1 9.6 Hobart (C) - Inner 378 439 488 3.0 2.1 Darwin City - Inner 1823 2112 2820 3.0 6.0 ACT Canberra - City 174 484 720 22.7 8.3 Source: Regional Population Growth, Australia (cat. no. 3218.0) 6.4 What is the population density of our inner cities? 1. Use Table 2, Estimated Resident Population at 30 June 2007, to identify the population density of your chosen city. 2. How is population density calculated? 3. How would population density change during a 24 hour period in the inner city areas? 4. Ask students to research how the population density of Australian inner city areas compares with the world’s major cities. Whilst completing this task ask the questions (1) What is the source of the data? (2) How was the data collected? 6.5 What are the characteristics of dwelling units in the inner city? There has been a significant increase in apartment living in the inner cities due to population growth, changes in the composition of households, lifestyle choices and the high value of land. The Census of Population and Housing gathers data about dwelling types. A number of activities are provided below. Choose one or more activities to suit the student group. 1. For the city of your choice, use Table 4 and create a graph to show the change in the number of flats, units or apartments between 1996 – 2006. 2. Calculate the percentage increase in flats, units or apartments for the ten years from 1996 – 2006 for your chosen city.(answer provided) 3. For the city of your choice and with reference to the statistics calculated above and provided in Table 4, briefly describe the changes which have taken place in this type of private dwelling between 1996 and 2006 and provide reasons for the change identified. 4. Locate an image of a high rise apartment block (Google Maps satellite/Streetview may be helpful) and ask students to annotate it to show the advantages and disadvantages of living in this type of accommodation. TABLE 4: SELECTED DWELLING CHARACTERISTICS FOR SELECTED SLA’s OF AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL CITIES, 2001 and 2006 Statistical Local Area No. Occupied Private Dwellings: Flat, unit or apartment 1996 No. Occupied Private Dwellings: Flat, unit or apartment 2001 No. Occupied Private Dwellings: Flat, unit or apartment 2006 Flats, units or apartments as % of Total Occupied Private Dwellings in Region 2006 Sydney (C) - Inner 2141 6242 8667 88.8% Melbourne (C) - Inner 764 3991 6621 98.2% Brisbane City - Inner 101 518 1844 96.5% Adelaide (C) 1922 2392 3252 41.5% Perth (C) - Inner 106 178 538 78.5% Hobart (C) - Inner 22 26 24 20.0% Darwin City - Inner 361 1271 1068 91.0% ACT Canberra - City 59 242 419 92.5% Source: 2006 Census of Population and Housing, Census Community Profiles(Time Series), QuickStats. 5. Debate the topic: “Apartment living is the only sustainable way for Australians to live.” 6. Imagine that a two storey heritage precinct in the inner part of your chosen capital city is to be redeveloped into a 40 storey office and residential tower. 6.1 Create a role play to simulate the arguments which will be advanced by different members of the community to this proposal. Roles may include: A local council representative, a council officer responsible for granting the planning permission, a resident adjacent to the development who will be overlooked by the tower, a young person seeking accommodation in the city, an elderly citizen, a public transport activist, a local retailer, an environmentalist, an architect, a service provider (e.g. water, gas or electricity) and a historian. 6.2 The building is to be designed with ‘green’ credentials. Research methods of construction that are being implemented to make high rise city developments more environmentally sustainable. 7. Imagine the year is 2040 and there is a great deal of urban renewal taking place in the centre of your chosen city. The office and apartment blocks built at the end of the last century and the start of this century are being replaced by much higher towers. Following a visit (either real or virtual) to the inner city area to study the nature and distribution of the high rise towers, identify the towers that you would recommend for heritage status as classic examples of late twentieth century architecture. These towers will become heritage buildings and will therefore be protected against future urban renewal. With the aid of annotated photographs illustrate why the chosen high rise building should be preserved. 6.6 Who lives in the inner city? 1. The Estimated Resident Population (ERP) provides the most accurate count of the population. Use the statistics provided in Table 5a-c and the template or interactive age sex pyramid provided (see .xls file provided at the bottom of this page), to create an age sex pyramid for the capital city of choice. The age sex pyramids are also provided for comparison in the answer section of this activity. 2. Describe the pyramid by choosing the correct words in the spaces below. The age sex pyramid presents males to the right/left and females to the left/right. The base of the pyramid is wider/narrower than the middle section and there were approximately …..………..children aged less than 15 years old. The top of the pyramid is wide/narrow, with approximately …………people over the age of 75 years. The sides of the pyramid representing the ages above 15 years are concave/ convex and the most prominent bulge occurs at ……………years. There are approximately ………….. people in this age category. The sides of the pyramid above 15 years of age slope evenly/unevenly. Males and females occur in similar/very different numbers throughout the age groups although there are more males than females in the following age groups ………… and more females than males in these age groups………………………………….. 3. Explain the shape of the pyramid by answering the following questions; a) Why is the base narrow? b) Why is the top narrow? c) What reasons explain the large bulge in numbers? d) What reasons explain variations between the sexes in the different age groups? 4. Ask students to brainstorm the advantages and the disadvantages of living in the inner city for people of different age groups e.g. very young children, young adults, working population and the elderly. In addition, discuss if they would like to live there? TABLE 5a: ESTIMATED RESIDENT POPULATION BY AGE AND SEX, selected SLA’s JUNE 30, 2007 SYDNEY(C) INNER MELBOURNE(C) INNER BRISBANE INNER Age (years): Males Females Persons Males Females Persons Males Females Persons 0-4 years 316 278 594 103 92 195 31 46 77 5-9 years 140 178 318 32 41 73 16 20 36 10-14 years 193 158 351 33 25 58 19 16 35 15-19 years 550 562 1112 529 560 1089 73 61 134 20-24 years 2380 2779 5159 2112 2315 4427 374 317 691 25-29 years 2796 2561 5357 1439 1278 2717 351 259 610 30-34 years 1382 1286 2668 731 563 1294 210 153 363 35-39 years 847 660 1507 415 320 735 159 97 256 40-44 years 676 536 1212 312 208 520 133 74 207 45-49 years 668 495 1163 264 213 477 89 93 182 50-54 years 604 492 1096 210 197 407 122 99 221 55-59 years 506 415 921 218 219 437 140 90 230 60-64 years 397 322 719 185 112 297 93 79 172 65-69 years 282 210 492 94 74 168 62 41 103 70-74 years 196 176 372 52 62 114 34 22 56 75-79 years 137 101 238 42 36 78 11 11 22 80-84 years 84 88 172 46 34 80 3 13 16 85 years and over 63 87 150 16 23 39 4 7 11 Total 12217 11384 23601 6833 6372 13205 1924 1498 3422 Source: Population by Age and Sex, Regions of Australia, 2007 (cat.no 3235.0) TABLE 5B: ESTIMATED RESIDENT POPULATION BY AGE AND SEX, selected SLA’s JUNE 30, 2007 ADELAIDE (C) PERTH (C) INNER HOBART (C) INNER Age (years): Males Females Persons Males Females Persons Males Females Persons 0-4 years 207 219 426 12 15 27 2 9 11 5-9 years 154 128 282 6 2 8 6 5 11 10-14 years 128 159 287 12 5 17 0 0 0 15-19 years 582 609 1191 21 28 49 21 16 37 20-24 years 1814 1990 3804 116 109 225 67 37 104 25-29 years 1500 1170 2670 123 92 215 43 35 78 30-34 years 996 726 1722 79 69 148 24 17 41 35-39 years 711 541 1252 113 46 159 25 12 37 40-44 years 649 426 1075 88 34 122 15 12 27 45-49 years 493 438 931 76 29 105 24 14 38 50-54 years 527 428 955 47 24 71 20 18 38 55-59 years 563 512 1075 34 30 64 17 6 23 60-64 years 427 407 834 28 32 60 13 1 14 65-69 years 328 257 585 29 11 40 6 5 11 70-74 years 172 208 380 15 5 20 8 6 14 75-79 years 157 187 344 9 7 16 5 3 8 80-84 years 147 184 331 10 6 16 1 1 2 85 years and over 109 227 336 0 0 0 4 3 7 Total 9664 8816 18480 818 544 1362 301 200 501 Source: Population by Age and Sex, Regions of Australia, 2007 (cat.no 3235.0) TABLE 5C: ESTIMATED RESIDENT POPULATION BY AGE AND SEX, SELECTED SLA’s JUNE 30, 2007 DARWIN CITY INNER ACT CANBERRA CITY Age (years): Males Females Persons Males Females Persons 0-4 years 48 33 81 5 9 14 5-9 years 27 13 40 1 1 2 10-14 years 30 33 63 3 9 12 15-19 years 40 81 121 9 8 17 20-24 years 239 171 410 87 89 176 25-29 years 253 200 453 89 55 144 30-34 years 185 126 311 61 40 101 35-39 years 160 102 262 47 28 75 40-44 years 127 67 194 32 16 48 45-49 years 150 58 208 32 17 49 50-54 years 124 76 200 33 10 43 55-59 years 137 57 194 16 16 32 60-64 years 114 51 165 25 7 32 65-69 years 65 34 99 5 9 14 70-74 years 40 13 53 3 5 8 75-79 years 26 21 47 9 5 14 80-84 years 13 24 37 6 4 10 85 years and over 5 21 26 4 0 4 Total 1783 1181 2964 467 328 795 Source: Population by Age and Sex, Regions of Australia, 2007 (cat.no 3235.0) Glossary Average annual growth rate: The average annual growth rate is calculated as a percentage using the formula below, where P0 is the population at the start of the period, Pn is the population at the end of the period and n is the length of the period between Pn and P0 in years. Collection District(CD): Is the second smallest area defined in the Australian Standard Geographic Classification. The CD is the smallest unit for collection and processing in the Census of Population and Housing. Estimated Resident Population (ERP): Is the count of all people regardless of citizenship and nationality, who usually live in Australia, with the exception of foreign diplomats and their families. It is the official measure of the Australian population. Place of Enumeration: Is the place at which a person is counted i.e. where he/she spent Census Night, which may not be where he/she lives. Place of Usual Residence: This is the place where a person usually lives. Statistical Local Area (SLA): Forms part of the Australian Standard Geographic Classification and is an area composed of one or more Collection Districts. SLAs are Local Government Areas or parts thereof. References (Note: Links to ABS publications are to the most recent release. Previous releases can be accessed by selecting the 'Past & Future Releases' tab.) Australian Standard Geographic Classification (ASGC), (cat. no. 1216.0). Census of Population and Housing, 2006, http://www.abs.gov.au/census Population by Age and Sex, Regions of Australia, 2007 (cat.no. 3235.0) Regional Population Growth (cat. no. 3218.0) Download the Activity Student Activity Geo_13_Moving_In_Up.rtf To provide any feedback regarding this activity, please contact ABS Education Services on 1800 623 273 or email education@abs.gov.au. Back to Geography activities This page last updated 31 May 2013

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