Multifunction Polis
| Multifunction Polis | |
|---|---|
| Population (Projected) | |
| • Total | 100,000-250,000 |
Coordinates: 34°48′50″S 138°36′43″E / 34.814°S 138.612°E
The Multifunction Polis (MFP) was a controversial scheme for a planned community in Australia proposed in 1987 and abandoned in 1998. From the Greek word "polis", meaning "city", it was imagined as a place where work and leisure, lifetime education and intercultural exchange, research and manufacturing would be uniquely integrated.
The MFP was intended to have an initial population of 100,000, though some modelling was done on the assumption of a population up to 250,000. Futuristic infrastructure and modern communications were expected to help attract high-tech industries. Asian investors were targeted as an important source of funds, with an emphasis on Japanese investors.
Several possible locations were put forward and in 1990 a site at Gillman, north of Adelaide, was selected. The proposal generated noisy opposition in Australia, with some critics claiming it would open the way for a Japanese settlement on Australian soil. The MFP, at least as originally envisaged, never eventuated.
The Multifunction Polis was first proposed at the ninth Australia-Japan Ministerial Committee meeting in Canberra in January 1987 by the Japanese Minister for International Trade and Industry (MITI) Hajime Tamura.
A concept paper produced by MITI a month later said the Multifunction Polis would "become a forum for international exchange in the region and a model for new industries and new lifestyles looking ahead to the twenty-first century." More than 100 Australian and Japanese companies signed up to the MFP Joint Feasibility Study.
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