Population hot spots and cold spots in regional Australia: socio-economic patterns

It is well known that regional differences exist in the distribution of population growth and decline and that these patterns are associated with differing patterns of socio-economic performance. These and related issues have been widely researched by social and regional scientists and are seen in discussions including urban and regional growth and decline sun belt versus rust belt localities and the impacts of long distance migration. Taken at a regional level, population growth and decline has significant policy interest and is tied into contemporary processes of globalisation, economic restructuring, technological innovation and social change. Within Australia, as elsewhere, there has been interest in identifying winners and losers in population terms and it has been standard practice for scholars and consultants to produce league tables of places with high rates of population growth. It is within the context of population hot spots and cold spots that the current paper is set. It uses Australian Bureau of Statistics population data to identify regional winners and losers in population terms and then develops typologies of places based on socio-economic characteristics.