The Gold Coast: Australia's playground? Author Dedekorkut-Howes, Aysin, Bosman, Caryl Published 2015 Journal Title Cities Version Accepted Manuscript (AM) DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2014.09.005 Copyright Statement © 2015, Elsevier. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence, which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, providing that the work is properly cited. Downloaded from http://hdl.handle.net/10072/69543 Griffith Research Online https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au THE GOLD COAST: AUSTRALIA’S PLAYGROUND? Ayşın Dedekorkut-Howesa Email:
[email protected] Phone: +(61-7) 5552 7049 Fax: +(61-7) 5552 8244 Caryl Bosmana Email:
[email protected] aGriffith School of Environment & Urban Research Program, G31, 3.02 Gold Coast Campus, Griffith University, 4222, Queensland, Australia Corresponding Author: Ayşın Dedekorkut-Howes Abstract This city profile provides an in-depth look at Australia’s sixth largest city, the Gold Coast. The purpose of the profile is two-fold: to question the accuracy of some widely held beliefs about the Gold Coast which view it solely as a resort town and to attempt to determine whether the nature of urbanization on the Gold Coast is different. In order to illustrate in what ways the Gold Coast is similar to and different from other major cities in Australia, the profile examines its historical evolution, urban development, structure of development and urban form, population growth and demographic structure, and economic indicators. In doing this it compares the Gold Coast with the state and national averages, Australian capital cities, and the city of the Sunshine Coast which is the second major tourist settlement in the state of Queensland.