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Becoming Urban: Exploring the Transformative Capacity for a Suburban-to-Urban Transition in Australia’s Low-Density Cities

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  • Peter Newton

    (Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of Technology, Serpells Road, Hawthorn, MEL 3122, Australia)

  • Denny Meyer

    (Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of Technology, Serpells Road, Hawthorn, MEL 3122, Australia)

  • Stephen Glackin

    (Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University of Technology, Serpells Road, Hawthorn, MEL 3122, Australia)

Abstract

Metropolitan planning and development of Australia’s cities for much of the past 75 years has been strongly influenced by what could be termed the “North American model” of low-density, car-dependent suburban development on greenfield master-planned housing estates. The negative social, economic and environmental consequences associated with perpetuating this low-density greenfield model were becoming evident by the 1990s and “compact city” policies began to feature, albeit in piecemeal fashion, in the long-term metropolitan planning strategies of the major capital cities in Australia. This compact city transition, from “suburban” to “urban” (i.e., from a low-density urban form dominated by detached housing with its own surrounding private space to one where there is a significant presence of medium-density and apartment accommodation), remains a challenging work in progress, as reflected in a rapid succession of metropolitan planning strategies—and reviews—for cities such as Melbourne and Sydney since the beginning of this century. Urban infill targets of 70% for new housing construction in these cities now represents a major break with the past and a challenge to the major stakeholders involved in urban development in Australia: state and local government, the property development industry and residents of the established, ageing “greyfield” suburbs that are a focus for intensified redevelopment. This paper comprises four parts. The introduction identifies the multiple challenges confronting 21st-century urban development in Australia. The second part frames transitions required for a regenerative retrofitting of the established suburbs of its major cities, with particular focus on the greyfields. The third section extends transition management research into an examination of the transformative capacity of each of the four key stakeholder groups that are central to achieving such a regenerative transition. To date, the greatest resistance to more intensive redevelopment has come from urban residents. The final section of the paper focuses on this stakeholder group, and draws on data from a major household survey that examines the attitudes of resident property owners in the middle suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne to neighborhood change and medium-density housing development.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Newton & Denny Meyer & Stephen Glackin, 2017. "Becoming Urban: Exploring the Transformative Capacity for a Suburban-to-Urban Transition in Australia’s Low-Density Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-22, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:10:p:1718-:d:113077
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Peter Newton & Peter Newman, 2015. "Critical Connections: The Role of the Built Environment Sector in Delivering Green Cities and a Green Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(7), pages 1-27, July.
    3. Szekely,Istvan & Newbery,David M. G., 2008. "Hungary: An Economy in Transition," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521057547.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Trivess Moore & Andréanne Doyon, 2018. "The Uncommon Nightingale: Sustainable Housing Innovation in Australia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-18, September.
    3. Maureen Murphy & Hannah Badland & Helen Jordan & Mohammad Javad Koohsari & Billie Giles-Corti, 2018. "Local Food Environments, Suburban Development, and BMI: A Mixed Methods Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-19, July.
    4. Aleksandra Jadach-Sepioło & Maciej Zathey, 2021. "Alternative between Revitalisation of City Centres and the Rising Costs of Extensive Land Use from a Polish Perspective," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-31, May.
    5. Peter W. Newton & Briony C. Rogers, 2020. "Transforming Built Environments: Towards Carbon Neutral and Blue-Green Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-25, June.
    6. Yuanyuan Huang & Scott N. Lieske & Yan Liu, 2023. "Factors influencing vertical urban development at the parcel scale: The case in Brisbane, Australia," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 50(3), pages 694-708, March.
    7. Ann Grodnik-Nagle & Ashima Sukhdev & Jason Vogel & Charles Herrick, 2023. "Beyond Climate Ready? A History of Seattle Public Utilities’ Ongoing Evolution from Environmental and Climate Risk Management to Integrated Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-26, March.
    8. Dühr, Stefanie & Berry, Stephen & Moore, Trivess, 2023. "Sustainable housing at a neighbourhood scale," SocArXiv wdfhs, Center for Open Science.

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