Recovery Period?

Times of crisis will always lead to innovation and change. Consider World War Two. Women, generally restricted to working in the confines of their homes, are called on to work in munitions factories as a temporary measure. At the conclusion of the war, segments of society consider "perhaps this 'women working out of the home thing' could work all the time? Not just during war". When you consider the biggest changes to technology and communication, you'll typically find a moment of hardship within our world... 

Perhaps the current Covid19 crisis will see similar innovations? Already industries from fitness to education to financial planning have identified new, remote ways to address their clients needs... People all over Australia and the world are working from home. Surely in the coming months, when our world "resumes as normal", some people won't return to normal. Like the women who'd had a taste of employment during WWI and WWII, some businesses and individuals will consider the rent they're paying for their inner city Sydney office or home, and decide that the same outcomes can be achieved working from Dubbo? Perhaps people will feel empowered to have those conversations that allow them the tree or sea change dream, living in Orange and working with their firm in Sydney. Working remotely for the most part and jetting in and out of the big smoke once a week? 

Perhaps, having had the fear of being short on essentials (food, toilet paper, alcohol), people will look for a return to the more self sufficient lifestyle of bygone era's, and see a return to the dream of a quarter acre block. We've already seen a national rush to buy laying chooks and veggie seedlings. 

Covid19, like any other challenging time in world history, will have its challenges and tragedies. Leaving that aside, perhaps regional cities and their economies will be the winners on the other side. Affordable property, economies built on agriculture, resources, health, education and government industry, and a lifestyle that people the world over would envy... 

The short of this article is, that maybe this will shake up the urbanisation movement that has been so strong, not just in Australia but around the world, over several centuries. Two thirds of Australians currently live in cities. Large, crowded, expensive cities, with small land sizes. For decades people have used the argument that there are "no jobs" in regional areas... There generally are, but perhaps their doesn't have to be? 

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