Snapshot: the Western Region

A predominantly residential region, with over 300,000 people – that’s 24% of the population of Greater Adelaide – living on the 10,000 hectares (59%) of land zoned for residential use.

Industrial land, comprising 23% or 3,900 hectares of zoned industrial land, generated $16.9 million in Gross Regional Product (GRP) in 2013/14 – 17.5% of the Gross State Product; home to 21,450 businesses comprising a mix of small and large firms, with key sectors being construction, manufacturing, wholesale, retail activities and transport.
 

The Western Adelaide Planning Region


The critically important base for much of South Australia’s key infrastructure: Adelaide Airport, the port and wharf facilities, West Beach Waste Water treatment plant and the Torrens Island and Pelican Point power plants; as well as significant industries such as Adelaide Brighton Cement, Shell Bitumen Plant and Adelaide Submarine Corporation.

Approximately 1,400 hectares (or 8% of the Region) comprises open space, (parks, reserves and outdoor sporting areas), less than other metropolitan Adelaide regions. Key environmental assets located in the Region include the beaches along Gulf St Vincent and dunes at Tennyson and Semaphore, as well as the River Torrens, Port River estuary and mangroves at Mutton Cove and the Barker Inlet. These open space and natural areas provide important habitat and biodiversity, contribute to the health and wellbeing of residents and visitors and contribute to the character and amenity of the Region.

There is considerable diversity in incomes and qualification levels across the Region, with pockets of high-income households in some places, and concentrations of income-support recipients in others. The Western Adelaide Region has higher rates of self-assessed fair or poor health, and above-average proportions of people requiring assistance with core activities.

The proportion of the population aged over 65 has been declining in the Western Region, but remains higher than the Greater Adelaide Region. The community is culturally diverse with higher proportions of residents born overseas and speaking a range of languages than the Greater Adelaide Region, with lower levels of proficiency in English. The Region also has a slightly higher proportion of Indigenous residents than the Greater Adelaide Region.

Comprehensive detail regarding the economic, social and environmental characteristics of the Western Adelaide Region can be found in the AdaptWest research papers.

More about the Western Region ...

Changing for Climate Change