Delivering quality urban consolidation on the urban fringe: A case study of University Hill, Melbourne, Australia

Achieving compact urban development is an urban planning policy approach embedded in a range of urban growth management strategies typically found in Australasian and some North American cities. These approaches aim to counter the adverse impacts of urban sprawl by seeking to consolidate future growth within an urban boundary in existing ‘activity centres’ and along transit corridors. Delivering these outcomes, however, together with achieving quality residential environments and viable communities, has proved to be problematic, especially on suburban peripheries dominated by car-oriented, low-density development. This paper presents a case study of a development known as University Hill in the City of Whittlesea, some 18 kilometres from downtown Melbourne. The authors argue that University Hill is successful in achieving a higher density, mixed-use development, and a walkable, quality neighbourhood, indeed an activity centre of the type envisaged in urban growth management policies referred to. The paper draws on information provided by key stakeholders responsible for University Hill, interviewed by the authors: the developers, the professional consultants and the regulatory authorities at local and regional levels. The authors argue that the successful outcome is related to the shared visions of the stakeholders, their positive working relationships and sufficiently flexible urban planning processes, which gave the developers confidence to be innovative while responding to market conditions. The case study raises issues about the effectiveness of conformance-based urban planning in achieving its intended outcomes. The case study could provide a useful exemplar of a successful activity centre elsewhere. The authors argue that the key to this success lies in the process of implementation adopted, which has the potential to be replicated elsewhere.