Cr Tate delivered a paper on behalf of the Council of Capital City Lord Mayors and the Major Cities Working Group, which includes Newcastle, Wollongong, Geelong and Gold Coast councils.

Delegates were in Canberra to lobby the Federal Government for money and support to renew their cities.

"Our cities can accommodate a bigger population," Cr Tate said.

"This can be done without impacting the vast majority of our suburbs.

"It will require greater density in some areas but it must be sustainable."

Cr Tate said cities would have to use new technology to reduce their impact on the environment, and make their neighbourhoods inclusive.

The Towards a City Strategy paper said an inter-governmental major cities program should be set up to help deliver smart, targeted urban renewal initiatives.

Such projects could unlock development potential and activate key urban areas to accommodate more housing, jobs and sustainable, prosperous communities.

Such an initiative, known as the Building Better Cities Program, was established in the 1990s to help launch Newcastle's Honeysuckle precinct.

The paper said infrastructure was crucial to success.

"Without appropriate infrastructure, crowding and congestion threatens to overwhelm and destroy our productivity and global economic competitiveness," the paper said.

Towards a City Strategy also calls for the planning for land use, settlement and climate adaptation to be integrated.

Major Cities Working Group co-chairman and Darwin Lord Mayor Graeme Sawyer said Australia was facing challenges of climate change and a growing and ageing population.