Our cities are always evolving. They expand and change internally, the old makes way for the new, populations grow and change. This blog looks at an area in Brunswick, an inner suburb of Melbourne, to determine how land use has changed over the last 100 years. This has been done using the Sands and McDougall directories, as well as personal observation.
Methodology
The Sands and McDougall directories were published from 1860 to 1974. They provide a comprehensive listing of Melbourne businesses and residences, including a listing by address. This provides information on the use of a parcel of land - represented by an address point - over time. I used the directories made available online from the State Library of Victoria, specifically the 1925 edition (to represent 1924), and the final version published in 1974.
Data for 2024 (50 years after the last directory) was obtained using personal observation and online sources to determine land use. Supplementary data was obtained from the Brunswick Library, specifically the materials available in the Les Barnes history room.
A study area was determined which centred on Sydney Road, the key commercial spine and transport corridor through Brunswick. Land use categories were created to cover a range of land uses. In 2024 there were additional categories to cater for the increasing number of high density apartments with ground floor retail or commercial activities. The definition of residential density matches that employed by .id - the population experts (who in turn derive it from ABS Census definitions).
A limitation of this research is the lack of good data detailing property boundaries in 1924 and 1974. Online cadastral boundaries are a recent addition to the suite of tools available for this type of analysis. Property boundaries for 2024 were used as a base, and those for 1924 and 1974 were derived from this using available resources. For 1924 in particular, estimations of boundaries were made using MMBW maps published in the early 20th century. Changes to street numbers added to the challenge. Historical photographs and Google Streetview also proved useful to determine land use and property boundaries.
However there are some parcels of land, particularly in 1924, for which it was impossible to determine the correct land use category. These have been classified as "unknown". Fortunately they amount to no more than 5% of land use in both 1924 and 1974, and therefore are unlikely to change the spatial patterns signficantly.
Brunswick demographics
Brunswick is an older suburb located in Melbourne's inner north. Residential and commercial development dates back to the mid 19th century, particularly along Sydney Road. Manufacturing and quarrying became key local industries, providing local employment opportunities. Manufacturing was still important source of local employment until the 1980s.
In 1921, the population of the Brunswick LGA was 44,484. By 1971, this had increased to 51,560. The LGA ceased to exist in the 1990s, but a similar area can be derived from the 2021 Census to provide recent data. This indicates a population of 53,866. However, this masks a period of population decline that occurred in the later part of the twentieth century. Brunswick's population was only 39,160 at the time of the 1996 Census, declining rapidly throughout the 1970s and 1980s before increasing again in more recent years.
Between 1921 and 1971, the number of dwellings increased from 9,490 to 15,675. Most of this growth occurred before the 1960s. By 2021, there were 28,896 dwellings. Much of this dwelling growth has occurred this century as previous industrial land has made way for apartments.
The extent to which manufacturing was an important source of employment is shown by the high proportion of people employed in this industry sector - 56% in 1921, and 42% in 1971. By 2021, the proportion of the population employed in manufacturing was just 4%. Of course, not all Brunswick residents who worked in manufacturing also worked in the LGA, but it's still a clear indication of the decline of this sector amongst resident workers.
Mapping land use change
The map below shows land use by property in the Brunswick study area in 1924, 1974, and 2024 (click for a larger version). There was minimal change between 1924 and 1974, other than large increases in the amount of industrial and commercial land. This is in line with Brunswick's role as an industrial hub over most of the twentieth century. However, the main land use in both time periods was low density residential, indicated by the lighter red shade. These are typically single dwellings located on one lot.
Between 1974 and 2024 there were major shifts in land use change. This is primarily due to the conversion of former industrial land to residential - specifically high density residential (3 storeys or more). This has mainly occurred in the area between the railway line and Sydney Road, where redundant industrial land has been redeveloped over many years. Many of the high rise apartments here have ground floor commercial uses, particularly offices, cafes and other small businesses - in other words, they're mixed use buildings. The dark purple shade indicates where these buildings are located. In other parts of the study area, high density apartments are less like to have ground floor commercial uses (darker red shade).
The table below shows the proportion of land dedicated to various uses over the three time periods. As mentioned above, the main land use in 1924 and 1974 was low density residential. However, the redevelopment of former industrial lands into high residential housing saw the proportion of low density residential decline to just 16% in 2024. At the same time, the proportion of high density dwellings (including mixed use) increased. In total, high density apartments comprise 14% of land use in the study area.
The main land use in 2024 was commercial, accounting for 24% of the total. This proportion increased across all time periods, indicative of Sydney Road's role as a shopping and commercial precinct. However industrial land declined, from a peak of 20% in 1974, to just 8% in 2024. Not all of this industrial land is actively used, and is likely to be redeveloped in future years.
Other key land use changes of note include:
- offstreet parking accounted for 7% of land use in 2024, primarily located in larger lots behind the Sydney Road shopping precinct. Unsurprisingly, there was none recorded in 1924, and only a small amount in 1974. Parking remains a contentious issue for traders and residents, despite the large amounts of land devoted to this use.
- there was no high density housing (three storeys or more) in 1924, but by 1974 it was beginning to emerge. There are a small number of three and four storey apartment buildings constructed in the 1970s.
- the proportion of medium density housing has remained relatively constant over the three time periods. This is because there are a number of semi-detached houses in the study area, but in 2024 there have been more townhouse developments replacing older single dwellings.
- there is minimal open space in the study area - just 2% in 2024. Merri-bek Council have been active in creating open space, particularly as the number of high density dwellings continues to increase. The most recent addition is Yubup Park which opened in 2024 on the site of the former Fletcher Jones factory in Frith Street.
- there are a significant number of mixed use dwellings along Sydney Road, typically presented as shop-top housing. Some of these are older dwellings that date back to a time when shopkeepers lived above their workplaces, whereas others are more recent additions to the housing stock.
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