Senator Pocock is behind a letter - countersigned by 35 groups - sent to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr calling for commitment to such a deal as it is the only Australian major city centre without one.

A City Deal, an urban renewal partnership between three levels of government, community and the private sector which was introduced in 2015 by then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, could be a way to get beyond "deep frustration" in Canberra and deliver massive infrastructure projects such as a Civic stadium or a new Canberra Convention Centre.

"Every jurisdiction except the ACT has had one. Some have had multiple. Queensland had three, Tassie a couple, NSW a couple, NT a couple. That's almost $10 billion of Commonwealth funding for infrastructure projects that are really going to set regional centres or cities up for the future," Senator Pocock told The Canberra Times.

"It's time for Canberra and the ACT region to have one of these partnerships that can help set us up. We're a growing city. We're the fastest growing capital city. And it makes sense."

The letter, which is copied to ministers such as Infrastructure Minister Catherine King, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher, Territories Minister Kristy McBain and the Assistant Minister to Treasury Andrew Leigh, has been signed by groups such as the Canberra Business Centre, the ACT Brumbies, the Property Council, Music ACT, Canberra Airport, the Tech Council of Australia, and the Fyshwick Business Association. It is also signed by the Canberra Region Joint Organisation which has 11 member councils across south east NSW.

Mr Turnbull announced the first city deal for Townsville in June 2016. It led to the 25,000-seat North Queensland Stadium which was opened in February 2020 at a cost of $293 million, $100 million of which came from the Federal government.

The Western Sydney City Partnership made the second Sydney airport possible. The Geelong City Deal is revitalising the city and is working to unlock the Great Ocean Road visitor economy.

"There's a lot of merit to them," Senator Pocock said. "And it's a way of getting Commonwealth and state and territory governments to the table and then using that to try and unlock private capital to really ensure that infrastructure is invested in what's actually going to benefit a city or region and the people who live there."

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The ACT representative has long regarded the territory as "dudded" over infrastructure spending - $35 billion went to other states and territories for transport in the five years up to last May, while only $146 million went to the ACT.

Some of the areas targeted by City Deals are politically interesting, perhaps covering marginal seats. The independent senator said bringing the ACT into the program is well overdue.

"It's pretty disappointing there hasn't been more of a push over the last eight years or so to ensure that the ACT does benefit from this scheme," he said.

"We should have been pushing hard."

The groups have combined to state there is now a "once-in-a-generation" opportunity for Canberra to realise its full potential.

"We really need someone to take the bull by the horns and do something for Canberra," Rob Evans from the Fyshwick Business Association told The Canberra Times.

"It would bring Canberra into the 21st century. Let's do some fantastic things here. Let's stop having mediocre planning outcomes. We've had mediocre planning outcomes for a while here."

There is no cost attached to the city deal proposal, but the letter to the federal and ACT leaders notes the current "constrained" budget position and seeks a financial commitment in the 2024-25 federal budget.

The replacement of the ageing National Convention Centre with a world-leading secure conference facility is central to the plan.

"There's a deep frustration with a number of these projects that we know are inevitable, they have to happen," Senator Pocock said.

And housing investment, beyond current plans, could be powered by a City Deal.

"We need investment in housing. Everywhere in Australia there's a housing shortage and there's a housing crisis and that's directly linked to the cost-of-living crisis that we're facing as a country, nowhere more so than Canberra," CFMEU National Secretary Zach Smith said.

"We absolutely need a plan for a stadium. It is ridiculous for us to be the nation's capital and not have a premier convention facility and also our premier sporting ground."

The groups want to work with all levels of government. One of the ideas is the creation of a Canberra innovation precinct which would have flow-on benefits to the rest of the nation.

"The city deal will help to attract investment and also to fund more infrastructure and tools for the world class innovation that we have happening here in Canberra," Scarlett McDermott, the Head of Ecosystem Capability at the Tech Council of Australia.

"I think it would be a mistake to look over the great research that we have happening, but also the great opportunity to bring people towards technical careers and to produce innovations right here in our nation's capital."

Surinder Singh, the Chief Scientist at Nourish Ingredients, an alternative food company, said there is a push to put Canberra on the food map, but help is needed.

"What we're doing is really at the cutting edge to use fermentation to produce food, ingredients, flavours, and we use microorganisms that are found in and around Canberra. So it's a local connection to Canberra soil," he said.

"Canberra could be part of the next generation of the food wave."

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