Weaving virtual service networks into regional cities: “nurture the body here, and offer the mind anywhere” – anecdotes from the Coffs Harbour community forums to minimise carbon usage and maximise regional innovation

Almost all cities around the world are looking for ways to ease the pressure upon them where caused by a migratory drift from rural and regional areas into to the economic and service hubs that they offer. At the same time, rural and regional areas are losing the idyllic appeal of a “country” or “ruralcoastal” lifestyle due to issues related mostly to access to services and employment security. During 2011, the community of Coffs Harbour engaged in a series of public forums to discuss ideas for how to attract more professional people into the area (especially people with capacity to build further employment), support small to medium enterprises and enhance the region as a ‘smart city’ conscious of sustainability. The rhetoric and promise of building very high speed internet services was well promoted in all the forums given that Coffs Harbour is now one of two regional location in Australia that has received accelerated roll out funding to enhance access to fast broad band services. However, the potential of broadband technology is a topic that has not yet found a way to strategically weave its value into the fabric and general awareness of the local economy and community. This paper presents annotations that may be described as ‘pre-conceptual/pretheory’ on the issue of expressed perceptions noted by the author during the community forum events held at Coffs Harbour. It draws specific attention to the issue of the city’s future and the promise of superfast broadband services.