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Fresh from the cowboy city of Calgary, Professor Paul Plummer might seem eminently suited to working in regional Western Australia.

But contrary to popular belief, UWA's new Professor of Regional Cities says that Cuban-heeled boots and Stetsons are generally only worn during the annual summer tourist attraction, Stampede.

"The rest of the time, we hide indoors from the ice and snow!" he laughed.

And far from the cowboy image, Professor Plummer interrupts his talk about quantitative statistics to extol the beauty of Perth's beaches, sunsets, birds, weather, trees and Kings Park.

The English-born and US-educated geographer is an expert in regional development. His position in the School of Earth and Environment is supported by the WA Regional Cities Alliance: Geraldton, Kalgoorlie, Bunbury, Albany, Broome, Port Hedland and the shire of Roebourne.

The partnership will engage in research on economic, social and infrastructure issues in the member cities. When it was announced at the end of 2011, observers remarked that it was one of the most significant milestones in regional research and policy development in Australian history.

"We will provide geography-based and evidence-based research on which the Alliance can base their policies," Professor Plummer said.

"This is the start of a five-year plan and we begin with looking at the resilience and sustainability of these cities by studying the population and their position in the urban hierarchy; the competition for employment; the social and economic issues; and the amenities that attract people to these cities.

"We are asking who are their markets, what are their services, how their geography has changed over time and what drives local growth."

Professor Plummer wants to find out how each city fits in with the overall development of the state and how it relates to other regional cities and globally.

"I do a lot of quantitative statistical work but you do need to go to these places and meet the people and see how the cities work," he said. Over the past few years, as an Adjunct Professor in the School's Centre for Regional Development, he has already visited Geraldton, Port Hedland, Bunbury and Roebourne.  The others will soon be added to the list.

"WA is a good case study for regional development because it is quite different from many other places.  For example, the conventional idea of a labour market doesn't apply, because of the fly-in-fly-out labour force.

"So we're faced with the questions of what to do when we don't know? And how do we build models?  It's a bit like the demand for buggy whips in the days of horse-drawn carts.  The producers would have thought they had the market sorted, then all of a sudden, along came the internal combustion engine and the whole picture was changed!"

The members of the WA Regional Cities Alliance represent  focal points for the national economy, and their communities will play a vital role in the 21 ^st century. The UWA-WARCA partnership will be able to present evidence-based policy to State and Federal Government.

While benefitting the communities and the State, it will also provide an advantage for students who can do real research on location.

Published in UWA News , April 2013