From the 1920s to 1960s, Greater Geelong was an industrial powerhouse that manufactured cars, textiles and footwear, smelted aluminum and refined oil. Located 75 kilometers from Melbourne, the Victoria state capital, Geelong also benefited from a strong agricultural sector as well as high tariff barriers that shielded it from global competition.
In the Seventies, an oil crisis and rising wave of globalization led national government to drop tariff barriers to stimulate growth. For Geelong, the shock was tremendous. Its manufacturing sector collapsed, beginning an economic decline that went on for decades. But by 2023, the city’s 22,000 businesses were creating more than 9,000 new jobs a year and its gross regional product (GRP), at A$19.6 billion, was the third fastest growing among large regional areas. With employment expanding at double the rate of population, the municipality had become one of the most popular regions in Australia for inward migration, adding to its population of more than 276,000.
How did Greater Geelong create such a transformation?
Many Hands Make Light the Work
In a word, partnership. Driven by crisis, local government leaders made creative use of their relationships with provincial and national government to influence policies, lobby for contracts for local businesses and ensure that funding would be available for development programs. They made common cause with leaders of the region’s technical college and university to develop the programs, apply for grants, and bring new resources to public schools. Knowing that their affordable housing and great lifestyle made proximity to Melbourne a significant opportunity, they encouraged government policies to decentralize departments and programs to improve commuting options, which attracted more of the state capital’s economic energy.
They also focused relentlessly on diversifying their economy.
These partnerships helped a maker of glass-reinforced composites win grants to expand its local plant. Other precision manufacturers won multiple defense contracts to make components for vehicles and aircraft, and even launched a new automotive manufacturing division. The health sector, which serves a broader region of 500,000, won government funding to open new hospitals and specialist treatment centers. Growth in both programs and students at the college and university came to contribute more than A$400 million per year to the GRP. The university even founded a high-tech industry park, which brought together research in biotech, nanotech, wine science and prototyping, which ultimate triggered hundreds of millions in new investment and created hundreds of skilled jobs.
Equipping the Next Generation
Growth on this scale put major demands on workforce development. One of the municipality’s many innovations is the Geelong Tech School. At first glance, it looks like STEM education centers found in most Intelligent Communities, offering programs in robotics, coding, drones, data analysis, IoT, CAD/CAM and VR. What sets it apart is its design as a service to the broader region. Rather than having its own student body, it delivers education through partnerships with 31 schools in Greater Geelong. It offers professional development for teachers and builds relationships with local industry and community organizations. As a result, the programs and staff of this single hub facility can reach 25,000 students in class and online.
Greater Geelong’s other innovation focuses on retaining the skilled youth emerging from school. A Youth Council Advisory Committee recruits young people ages 12-17 to serve one-year terms representing the young people of Geelong to government. They gather monthly at City Hall with guest presenters who are seeking their advice on meeting the needs of youth, and participate in mentoring programs with members of Geelong’s Council, through which they both learn and offer recommendations. Along the way, they gain skills in public speaking, leadership and civic education.
A similar program, Youth on Board, places 12-15 year-olds on the management boards of local organizations, from sports clubs to social welfare. The program recruits, mentors and supports young people to ensure that a youth voice is heard and validated in planning and decision-making. The young people gain skills in interviewing, presenting, governance, data analysis, legal operations, financial management and communications.
Clever and Creative
Greater Geelong signed a MOU in 2021 with Changwon City in South Korea to collaborate on trade, education and cultural exchanges. It had immediate result: an announcement by Hanwha, the South Korean defense contractor, to build a state-of-the-art Armored Vehicle Center of Excellence in Geelong. The Centre will manufacture self-propelled howitzers for the Australian Government, creating more than 1,000 highly-skilled jobs and adding five local companies to its supply chain under an A$1.3 billion contract.
Tech-based economic development is one of three pillars of Geelong’s Clever and Creative Vision, a community strategy developed in consultation with more than 16,000 residents at workshops, community meetings and school visits. It aims to promote innovation and entrepreneurship to continue growing the city’s commercial ecosystem – but equally to foster creativity and culture through the arts and prioritize sustainability as it grows.
Acting on the Vision
The vision is given reality by programs like Live Life Connected, which trains older and low-income residents in dealing with online misinformation, cyber fraud and privacy issues through a large network of community mentors. The regional library network joins in with the Learn to Use program, which provides free education and training in digital skills that have reached more than 7,000 residents over the past seven years.
Citizen science programs also engage community members in collecting, analyzing and interpreting local data to inform solutions. One example is the city’s Urban Forest Dashboard, which helps citizens locate, map and record “tree hollows,” natural gaps in old-growth trees that provide homes for birds, mammals and reptiles in urban areas. The age of the trees in which they form puts them at risk, as old trees are removed for safety reasons, and the Dashboard provides a means to balance public safety and habitat protection.
Protecting habitat is also the goal of reef restoration projects in the bay. The coastline undergoes constant change, receding sharply in some areas and building up in others in unpredictable ways. Concern over severe storms and rising sea levels drove Greater Geelong to explore ways to protect the coastline without building seawalls or other structures. Instead, a partnership of the city, the University of Melbourne and an environmental center has developed artificial reefs that are being rapidly colonized by seaweed, invertebrates and fish species. By reducing the height and energy of waves reaching the shore, they have already stabilized beaches and brought back seagrasses that had suffered significant loss.
In 2025, planning was underway for a new economic development strategy based on the Clever and Creative Vision. It focuses on continuing to grow the economy in advanced manufacturing, defense, healthcare, agribusiness, business services, cleantech, digital technologies and tourism. It aims to create an A$27 billion, sustainable and circular economy by 2041 that is home to 120,000 new residents and 55,000 new jobs. The strategy is being forged in partnership with residents, businesses, education, arts and all the levels of government. This approach, which ICF has named the Community Accelerator Strategy, has proven itself through decades of crisis and renewal. It will guide Greater Geelong to its clever and creative future.
Population: 276,116
Website: www.geelongaustralia.com.au
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