Proposals to improve the capital's urban design and density must also take account of the city's unique streetscapes.
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Articles on Urban density
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Lowering urban density to protect against the coronavirus would be a misguided response. Density is not a key driver of infection, and keeps people active and healthy.
Before the pandemic, the country was making great strides towards creating more compact, sustainable and liveable cities.
The internal density and layout of buildings are key factors in COVID-19 transmission risk. This is not an argument against high-density cities, some of which have successfully contained the virus.
Many are speculating about the pandemic changing how we plan and use our cities. What they overlook is how many people live in unplanned settlements where it's more likely to be business as usual.
The rise of global cities, metropolises that dominate their states, is exposing Australia's lack of metropolitan governments. It's time to restart the evolution of our states after a century on hold.
Only the inner suburbs of Melbourne and other capital cities meet the 20-minute neighbourhood test. But we could transform the other suburbs for much less than the cost of current transport projects.
The neighbourhoods of Paris, Barcelona and Amsterdam with densities 3-5 times those of Melbourne and Sydney offer an insight into how we could transform our cities for the better.
While a majority of householders over 55 have thought about downsizing, only one in four have done it. What's stopping them? Most simply can't find a home in the right place that meets their needs.
Residents of the 'leafy suburbs' will continue to fear what they might lose to increasing urban density without an explicit planning approach that enhances green space in affected neighbourhoods.
The demands on land and resources from our fast-growing cities are unsustainable, as are the wastes they produce. Yet still our leaders act as if unlimited growth is possible.
Australians' need for smaller and more diverse dwellings is growing. The planning system is not providing enough of this housing, and self-serving opposition to it should be resisted.
State and local governments can't do much about the rapid population growth in Melbourne, but they can take steps to reduce the costs of growing disparities between the outer suburbs and inner city.
Governments should stop offering false hopes and pandering to NIMBY pressures. As well as increased public and private housing supply, growing cities need well-designed higher-density development.
It's easy to over-estimate crowding and traffic in highly visible downtown cores and underestimate the vast growth happening in the suburban edges of our metropolitan regions.
The vitality that defines central Melbourne today did not emerge overnight. Rather than being born of one grand vision, it's the result of many astute, incremental changes that revitalised the city.
Self-driving, shared, electric vehicles and increasing urban density represent four disruptions that will transform city life. But a transport utopia isn't a guaranteed outcome of their interactions.
A massive residential development in a flood-prone inner-city suburb sounds like a recipe for disaster. But good urban design can deliver higher density and reduce the flood risk.
Residents of established middle suburbs are slowly coming round to the idea, but governments and the property sector lack the capacity to deliver compact cities that are acceptable to the community.
Drains take up precious but inaccessible open space in our cities. Converting these to living streams running through the suburbs could make for healthier places in multiple ways.
Top contributors
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Professor of Architecture and Urban Design, University of Melbourne
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Lecturer in Urban Planning and Urban Design, University of Melbourne
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Adjunct Professor, Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, University of Sydney Business School, University of Sydney
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Senior Research Fellow, Healthy Liveable Cities Group, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University, RMIT University
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Scientia Associate Professor, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW
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Senior Lecturer in Urban and Environmental Planning, Griffith University
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Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Hallmark Research Initiative for Affordable Housing, University of Melbourne
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Adjunct Senior Teaching Fellow in Urban Planning and Design, University of Western Australia
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Emeritus Professor, School of Science, Griffith University
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Associate Professor and Principal Research Fellow, Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, University of Melbourne
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Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor, University of Melbourne
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John Daley is a Friend of The Conversation.
Senior Fellow, Grattan Institute
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Research Professor in Sustainable Urbanism, Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of Technology
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Lecturer in Urbanism, University of Sydney
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Advance Queensland Industry Research Fellow & Tritum E-Mobility Fellow, The University of Queensland
