Putting Dubbo on the Asia Pacific stage

The 2015 Asia Pacific Cities Summit and Mayor’s Forum is currently underway in Brisbane and the City of Dubbo is represented along with more than 100 cities across the Asia Pacific Region including Singapore, Auckland, San Francisco and Sydney.

Mayor of Dubbo Councillor Mathew Dickerson was one of just 10 speakers from NSW and the only representative from a NSW Council on the main speakers program other than the Mayor’s forum. Councillor Dickerson spoke on the challenges of urbanisation particularly on where small cities fit in a global landscape.

“Collectively the Mayors attending the summit are responsible for governing 122 million citizens right across the Asia Pacific region and beyond,” Councillor Dickerson said.

“Some of these Councils such as Taipei (2.69 million), Auckland (1.4 million) and (Brisbane 1.1 million) dwarf Dubbos population but the challenges for all cities are similar.

“Small cities have an important role to play in the global landscape,” Councillor Dickerson said. “They are often satellite cities of the larger metropolises and how these cities connect with their larger cousins is important in planning and designing a city’s infrastructure.

“We are also seeing more people moving to and living in smaller cities as cost of living increases in larger cities. As a result smaller cities are playing an increasingly important part in the global landscape. These cities require attention of governments to ensure their role is properly recognised,” Councillor Dickerson said.

Other speakers to address the summit included many international civic and business leaders discussing global best practice for sustaining and governing cities.

The Asia Pacific Cities Summit & Mayors’ Forum (APCS) was established by Brisbane City Council in 1996 and is recognised as a platform for promoting and exchanging global best-practice for cities.

For more information visit City of Dubbo