University of Tasmania Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Rathjen was joined by Assistant Minister for Cities Angus Taylor on the trip to England to research how City Deals were used as a mechanism for building new tertiary cities.

“The UK began doing City Deals in its regional cities in 2011, and there is a lot to learn from its experience,” MrTaylor said.

“Modern university infrastructure allows for co-location with business and industry and greater community engagement.

“I’m particularly interested in how we can apply lessons learnt in the UK to upcoming changes at the University of Tasmania’s Launceston campus.”

The UK is well advanced in delivering similar policies to the federal government’s City Deals, which include integrating industries such as tertiary education into early stage planning for city growth.

Professor Rathjen and Mr Taylor met with executive board members from the Cambridge City Deal to discuss their City Deal process and experiences.

“One of the things we have learnt is that many of the most advanced economies in the world are putting their biggest single investments into universities. They are investing in universities because that way they can make better cities,” Professor Rathjen said.

“They are showing improvement in prosperity, improvement in culture, improvement in amenity, they are generating jobs and they are generating good jobs that benefit the community broadly.”

He said he was surprised to learn the signifcant investments worked equally as well in big cities with millions of people compared to smaller cities like Cambridge which has a population of about 120,000.

According to the United Kingdom’s 2011 census one in five residents living in Cambridge are full-time students.

“There is ample evidence internationally that knowledge cities are strong cities, and that strong cities lead to stronger regions,” Professor Rathjen said. “The redevelopment of University campuses in Hobart, Launceston and Burnie provides an opportunity to adapt the latest international thinking to local conditions to drive economic growth, human capital and innovation.”

Launceston’s City Deal leverages the government’s $130 million investment towards the $260 million relocation to Inveresk.