A REPORT detailing the recent changes in the central city area has been released by the City of Perth in collaboration with the WA Planning Commission.
Lord Mayor Peter Nattrass said the Future Perth Central City Indicators report examined changes in land use, employment and floor space in light of global trends in urban centres.
He said that it concluded Perth had largely followed international trends in this respect.
“The economic recession of the early 1990s was felt across the central city – employment declined and there was a marked increase in vacant floor space.
“There is now an increasing workforce catering for growing numbers of business travellers and tourists and a new emphasis has been placed on recreation, entertainment and culture in the city,” Mr Nattrass said.
He said the document, together with the City of Perth’s Economic Development Plan which is currently underway, ensured Perth would face the challenges of growth over the next two decades in a visionary and co-ordinated way.
WA Planning Commission chairman Simon Holthouse said the economic recession of the early 1990s was felt across the central city.
“Employment declined and there was a marked increase in vacant floor space,” Mr Holt-house said.
“The city also experienced a relocation of retail functions and an outward movement of an already small population base to the suburbs, he said.
However, by 1997, this situation had substantially reversed with an increase in the number of businesses and employment and vacant floor space declining, he said.
“The report is an extensive analysis of land use data collected by the Ministry of Planning in their 1990, 1993 and 1997 land use surveys,” Mr Holthouse said.
“There is also a strong emphasis on promoting residential development so that inner city dwellers will be a stone’s throw from work and leisure,” he said.
The study also found the average amount of floor space per office worker had grown from 23 square metres in 1993 to 27 square metres in 1997.
