Who governs Australia’s metropolitan regions?

ABSTRACT This special issue of Australian Planner lands in the middle of the global Coronavirus pandemic. For a predominantly urban nation, much of the Australian response to the crisis has focused on the metropolitan scale. Larger cities in particular are more susceptible to larger outbreaks (Brail 2020). Over 80% of Australians live in cities, towns or regions, with over 50% of the population in the five largest capital cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. These growing metropolitan regions act as significant international and localised nodes for economic, political, communication, cultural and social exchange. They are the frontline for coordinated leadership and action on COVID19.