Recent government policy initiatives relating to urban development include the Building Better Cities Program and the Australian Urban and Regional Development Review. These have sought to integrate urban and regional planning and to improve urban management, particularly relating to social equity, economic efficiency and environmental quality 1 . The boundaries of a city are often difficult to determine and invariably change over time. Choosing the exact area which represents a city affects the estimation of that city's population size and growth. In this review capital city refers to the statistical division surrounding a state or territory capital.
Statistical divisions are large regional geographic units.
They represent relatively homogeneous regions characterised by identifiable social and economic links between the inhabitants and between the economic units within the region, under the unifying influence of one or more major towns or cities. Over the period 1986-94 capital city statistical divisions have changed to correspond to changes in capital city areas. Data in this review are based on the 1994 boundaries. In 1994 the largest capital city in Australia was Sydney with a population of 3.7 million. Melbourne was the next largest with 3.2 million.