WE live in a “wide, brown land”, and yet 80 per cent of the value of our goods and services is produced in just 0.2 per cent of it – and most of that is in our city CBDs.

The report reveals that the CBDs of Sydney and Melbourne – just 7.1 square kilometres in total – produce almost 10 per cent of all economic activity in Australia, and triple the contribution of the entire agriculture sector.

It’s clear that concentration of activity delivers economic dividends; businesses are more productive when they have access to large numbers of customers, suppliers, competitors, partners and employees.

At the same time, employees are more likely to cultivate and capitalise on their skills when they have better employment opportunities.

It is these skills that are increasingly important in our knowledge-intensive economy in which value is driven not by what we make, but by what we know.

We must be unwavering in making our CBD an attractive and productive place to do business. Encouraging the redevelopment and adaptive reuse of ageing buildings and empty sites will breathe new life into Civic and help us make the most of the knowledge economy.

We must increase the residential density of Civic, and the redevelopment of the ABC flats should be just the start.

We must also invest in good public transport that connects people with job opportunities, and businesses with customers, suppliers and partners. The Capital Metro project – with stage one linking the city to Gungahlin and Dickson Town Centre – has the potential to do that, while also creating jobs, attracting investment and revitalising our city centre.