Cairns is a popular place to live and work, and our population will grow even more in the coming decades. Council’s Towards 2050 Shaping Cairns project has developed a plan for this growth, to make sure everyone can live here and enjoy what we love about Cairns today.

Growth Strategy adopted

A bigger, brighter future is on the horizon for Cairns.

With the city’s population expected to grow by 72,000 people by 2050, the Towards 2050: Growth Strategy lays out an ambitious roadmap to create thriving neighbourhoods, more housing choice, resilient infrastructure, and a stronger economy.

It is a long-range, community-informed initiative that establishes strong foundations and comprehensive strategies for managing future growth and development of Cairns. It serves as a roadmap for the next 25 years, informed by insights from the past and present to guide the city’s evolution and support continued prosperity.

At the same time, it safeguards the tropical lifestyle, cultural heritage and natural environment that define our region.

Over the past few years, we have been working to understand what we want the future of our region to look like — not just for ourselves, but for generations to come. During this time we have listened to the community, tested outcomes and studied influences. All of our work has led to the development of the Towards 2050: Growth Strategy.

The Strategy was adopted by Council at its Ordinary Meeting on 17 September 2025.

To put the Growth Strategy into action, Council will begin work on a new planning scheme to supersede CairnsPlan 2016. This will be the city’s primary tool for guiding the growth and development of our Region and will ensure decisions reflect the community’s long-term vision.