The Local Growth Management Strategy: a 20-year guide to responsible, sustainable growth

It’s harder to create new green spaces, such as large new parks, in established urban areas. This is because land is limited and we need to balance housing, jobs, transport and community needs in the same space.

That’s why the Local Growth Management Strategy (LGMS) speaks to a balanced and practical approach:

1. Focus growth within the existing urban area - By accommodating more homes in already urban areas, we reduce pressure to expand into bushland and natural areas. This helps protect the Gold Coast’s beaches, waterways and hinterland over the long term.
2. Make better use of the space we have – In built-up areas, we focus on upgrading existing parks and other types of open spaces where growth is happening.
3. Create a connected green network – We link parks, waterways and bushland through green corridors, trails and tree-lined streets. This allows smaller spaces to work together as a larger, more useful network.
   
   

Additionally, through the Our Natural City Strategy, we prioritise protecting habitat, waterways and ecological corridors, while improving access in a low-impact way.

The City has prepared an Open Space Strategic Plan 2026–2046. This Plan focuses on quality, access, and connectivity to our existing open spaces, using every opportunity to make a denser city greener, cooler and more liveable as we grow.

The City is also preparing an Urban Forest Strategic Plan to increase the city’s tree canopy, combat urban heat and enhance biodiversity.

Protecting sunlight and amenity on our beaches starts with how we plan growth across the whole city.

The LGMS identifies additional housing opportunities in well-located areas across the city. This supports a broader mix of housing and reduces reliance on the coastal corridor to accommodate future growth, easing pressure for increased height and density along the beachfront.

At the development level, City Plan sets the requirements that every development must respond to. For high rise buildings, this includes controls relating to:

• building height
• setbacks
• tower separation
• site coverage
• overall building design
• overshadowing impacts
  
  

Development proposals must assess and demonstrate their shadow impacts. These controls help mitigate overshadowing of public spaces, including beaches and parks. However, while our high density areas with the tallest building heights are located along our coastal tourism strip, there will always be a level of overshadowing evident along some of our beaches.

Work is also underway on a new Planning Scheme, which will review and refine these controls as the city continues to grow and change.

We’re planning for a city where the road network works better as the population grows.

Over the next 20 years, the Gold Coast will be home to more than one million people. If everyone relies on cars for every trip, congestion will keep getting worse. We can’t build our way out of that with roads alone.

To accommodate this, the approach outlined in the LGMS, which will be advanced through the current review of the City’s Transport Strategy, is:

1. Keep improving key roads
    We’ll continue to upgrade major routes, fix bottlenecks and plan new connections where they’re needed. This keeps the network working for essential trips.
2. Reduce pressure on roads
    We focus new homes near jobs, shops and public transport. When people can walk, ride or catch transport for short trips, it frees up road space for those who need to drive.
3. Give people real transport choice
    Better public transport and safer walking and riding options mean fewer cars competing for the same road space, especially in busy areas of our city.
4. Plan roads and growth together
   We don’t plan roads in isolation. Infrastructure is staged with growth so upgrades happen where and when they’re needed.
   
   

In simple terms: roads remain critical, but they’re part of a wider system. By spreading demand across different transport options, we can keep the road network moving and more reliable into the future.

People experiencing homelessness often stay in busy areas because:

• They can access to public transport
• services and support are in close proximity (health, outreach, food)
• public spaces are open and safe
• public spaces have amenities including water, showers, toilets and shelters
• opportunities for casual work or donations.
  
  

Tourist areas bring all of this together in one place. That’s why you tend to see more people there.

Surfers Paradise is one of the busiest parts of our city. It needs to work for residents, visitors, businesses, pedestrians, public transport and cars. Over time, streets through Surfers Paradise have been rebalanced to also:

• accommodate light rail and buses
• improve safety for people walking and riding
• support local businesses and access to public spaces
• manage very high visitor volumes.

 
Cars can still access Surfers Paradise however, other forms of transport (i.e. light rail, bus, cycling) have also been accommodated to offer additional transport choice that are sustainable and can move a greater number of people. This helps reduce congestion in the busiest areas and makes the centre safer and easier to move around once you’re there.

This approach also reflects how the city is growing. We’re planning for more people and more visitors, so we need a transport system that offers real choice - not just cars, but walking, riding and public transport too.