Apparently the Australian state of Queensland has come up with a very different idea to tackle its population problem. The answer here, build new cities. That’s right, cities, meaning more than one. In fact, Queensland would like to build three new cities altogether.

These planned cities will be built in the southwest area of Queensland in three greenfield areas. The goal is for these areas to become homes to 250,000 people. The areas are being named Greater Flagstone, Yarrabilba, and Ripley Valley. These cities are not far off either. In fact, construction on these cities could start as soon as next year.

Anna Bligh, the Queensland Prime Minister, said that these model cities would enable committees to develop and grow at a fast rate, thus, it sounds like a great deal for everyone. However, that may not be the case.

Experts point out that environment agencies are going to be horrified to learn of these plans to build on greenfield sites. These cities will impact new major developments, which will increase Australia’s total carbon footprint. The plans go against the advice of the Southeast Queensland Regional Plan, which recommended the most new homes to be built in existing suburbs rather than creating new ones.

These plans represent the Australian Government’s Growth management summit, which seeks to implement a good infrastructure to deal with Australia’s increasing population. In fact, in Queensland alone, the growth is projected to reach 4.4 million as soon as 2031. The population growth has largely been placed on emigrants arriving in Australia. All emigrants are being blamed, whether they are refugees or skilled emigrants wanting to work in Australia.