THE Property Council of Australia last week launched a new national campaign, 'Make My City Work', which aims to draw attention to cities and stimulate action on the issue of growth.

The campaign calls on members and the public to join the campaign for a 'new deal' for Australia's cities that would drive practical change and create more productive, liveable and sustainable cities.

"The aim of the campaign is to engage the community on the future growth of our cities and mobilise support for more political action," said Property Council Chief Executive, Peter Verwer.

The Property Council said results from a survey of over 5,200 city dwellers show overwhelming support for more Federal funding for city infrastructure, and for new Federal incentives to achieve better planning and streamlined development assessment at state and local levels.

"The people don't want their Federal Government to be bystanders in cities policy – they want targeted action," Mr Verwer said.

"The Federal Government has made some encouraging steps on cities over recent years. These poll results show there is overwhelming support to do much more."

The Property Council's New Deal for Australia's Cities would:

• Set out a clear and effective role for COAG and the Federal Government in cities policy;
• Establish new federal incentives and penalties to encourage more effective cities policies at state and local levels, modelled on the successful National Competition Policy of the 1990s;
• Require state, territory and local governments to agree on clear plans, key investments and key actions to deliver housing and jobs for a growing Australia; and
• Commit the Federal Government to recapitalising the Building Australia Fund to invest in the major infrastructure our cities need.

Mr Verwer said the aim of the Make My City Work campaign is to engage the community on the future growth of our cities and to mobilise support for more political action.

"Australians are passionate about their cities and exhibit a canny sense about what is right and wrong about them," Mr Verwer said.

"This campaign is about asking people for their views and giving them a voice our political leaders can hear."

The Property Council's major campaign components are:

• Make My City Work – a national community campaign to get a new deal for Australia's cities;
• Our Nation app – an online tool which models demographic, infrastructure and fiscal scenarios essential to the debate about growth; and
• My City: The People's Verdict – a survey of 5,200 city dwellers on the liveability of their city and how governments perform on urban policy.

More information is available from the Make My City Work website at <http://makemycitywork.com.au/>.