Migration and Liveability

TUDLab is interested in urban growth in regional towns and cities and how to promote sustainable development in local planning and urban design. Regional areas necessitate place-based strategies that draw on their local cultures and strengths rather than superimposing policies from other urban areas.

The research explores these issues in relation to migration, and what drives Australian and international migrants to choose regional towns and cities as destinations to live and work. It examines the profile of recent migrants to understand impulses behind their mobility, explores the jobs they undertake/businesses they bring and identifies key amenities affecting migration decisions. It works with wide range of key stakeholders to help deliver strategies for sustainable regional development.

Research team: Rana Dadpour, Nick Osbaldiston, Lisa Law

Related information:

Interview with Rana Dadpour 9 October 2024: Rental housing crisis deterring moves to regions.

Interview with Rana Dadpour 27 August 2021: Hope and expectation: why Aussies are going regional.

Media Release 4 Feb 2021: Planning for COVID-driven regional growth

Dadpour, R., Law, L., & Osbaldiston, N. (2024). Expected Versus Experienced Liveability for Amenity Migrants in Cairns, Australia: The Grass is not Always Greener in the Tropics. Urban Policy and Research, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/08111146.2024.2372288

Dadpour, R., Law, L., & Osbaldiston, N. (2024). Paradise lost? Rental housing insecurity and the lived experiences of amenity migrants in Cairns, Australia. Australian Planner, 60(1), 58–71. https://doi.org/10.1080/07293682.2024.2405673

Buckle, C., Werner, G., Marshall, N., Searle, G., Osbaldiston, N., Sarkar, S., ... & Gurran, N. (2024). Place-based drivers and effective management of population growth and change in regional Australia. AHURI Final Report, (425).

Buckle, C., & Osbaldiston, N. (2022). Editorial introduction: counter-urbanisation in contemporary Australia: a review of current issues and events. Australian Geographer, 53(4), 347-362.

Dadpour, R., & Law, L. (2022). Understanding the ‘region’ in COVID-19-induced regional migration: mapping Cairns across classification systems. Australian Geographer, 53(4), 425–443. https://doi.org/10.1080/00049182.2022.2059128

Osbaldiston, Nick (2022) The View of Lifestyle Migration: a Brief Exploration of the Ethics of Seeking a Better Way of Life. In: Robertson, Shanthi, and Roberts, Rosie, (eds.) Rethinking Privilege and Social Mobility in Middle-Class Migration. Routledge, London, pp. 130-149

Osbaldiston, Nick (2022) ‘The Summers Were Getting Hotter’: exploring motivations for migration to Tasmania away from mainland Australia. Australian Geographer. (In Press)

Osbaldiston, Nick, Picken, Felicity, and Denny, Lisa (2021) Dynamics of Seachangers in rural and regional townships. In: Harkness, Alistair, and White, Rob, (eds.) Crossroads of Rural Crime: Representations and Realities of Transgression in the Australian Countryside. Emerald Publishing, Bingley, U.K., pp. 149-166.

Osbaldiston, Nick, Picken, Felicity, and Denny, Lisa (2020) Exploring emotional reflexivity in British lifestyle migration to Australia. Population, Space and Place, 26. e2328.

Osbaldiston, Nick, Denny, Lisa, and Picken, Felicity (2020) Seachange in Tasmania: exploring interstate migration into the 'Apple Isle'. Australasian Journal of Regional Studies, 26 (1). pp. 55-76.

Guaralda, M, Hearn, G, Foth, M, Yigitcanlar, T, Mayere, S and L Law (2020) Towards Australian regional turnaround: Insights into sustainably accommodating post-pandemic urban growth in regional towns and cities, Sustainability 12.