State of the City Event: Envisioning Hobart’s Future

Published on 26 August 2025

The City of Hobart will tomorrow host a State of the City event at the Town Hall Ballroom, bringing together business, government and community leaders to reflect on Hobart’s evolution over the past decade and explore what lies ahead.

The event, which has attracted a full house of about 160 interested participants, will feature a keynote presentation from Steve Tighe, one of Australia’s leading strategic foresight specialists and author of the award-winning book Rethinking Strategy. He will share his insights on emerging trends and the importance of future-focused thinking in building a more productive and innovative local economy.

Hobart Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds will outline four priority areas for inclusion in the City’s economic development strategy:

• New Target Industries such as Antarctic logistics, renewable energy, creative tourism, and digital startups.
• The creation of an Innovation Precinct, guided by a new Taskforce.
• Addressing demand for office space and hotel accommodation.
• Enhancing services like parking and transport through smart city technologies.

The Innovation Precinct Taskforce is developing a plan to transform the underutilised area around Campbell and Argyle streets into a globally connected hub for future-focused industries and jobs.

The City of Hobart is also keen to continue supporting thoughtful and sustainable development, from revitalising precincts to enabling new housing and business opportunities. Recognising that there is still more to be done, the City is actively working on outlining additional incentives to facilitate residential development.

After today’s event, the City will publish a brief 'State of the City Report' summarising key themes, insights from our keynote speaker, and event feedback. This will be supported by data from our new City-wide dashboard, managed by Profile ID, which will serve as our main source for demographic and socio-economic trends. Over time, these tools will help track progress and show how events like today shape Hobart’s future.

Quotes to be attributed to Hobart Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds:

“Hobart has come a long way, and now is the time to look forward.

“We’re focused on supporting the growth of new industries, fostering innovation, and improving the services that make our city liveable and competitive.

“These focus areas reflect Hobart’s strengths and the opportunities we see for sustainable growth.

“We’re not aiming for mass production—we’re aiming to be a world leader in low-impact, high-value innovation, aligning with Federal Government’s national agenda on increasing Australia’s productivity.

“The key to success is collaboration.

“We’re working side by side with industry, government and the community to shape a future-ready Hobart.

“And we as Council are also proposing to bring forward a planning scheme amendment to enact the Central Hobart Plan, which expands the potential development of sites such as the K&D warehouse and others, to aid residential development.”

Quotes to be attributed to Steve Tighe:

“The City’s leaders are right to keep diversifying Hobart’s economy – aligning its competitive advantages with emerging societal wants and needs.

“Recent domestic and international discontinuities have once again proven that the future cannot be predicted and that unforeseen events are always imminent.

“Given this uncertainty, a diverse and balanced economic growth strategy that aligns with Hobart’s capabilities and external trends is the optimal approach to the future.”