Land use change in Brunswick

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. 

Western Australia has the largest homes in the country

Australia's urban areas are characterised by low density, sprawling suburbs with some of the largest homes in the world. In 2019-20, the average area of new houses was around 236 square metres. Although the Census does not capture data on floor area, a useful indicator of dwelling size is the number of bedrooms. Where are the largest dwellings in Australia? 

The rise of high rise in Canberra

On a recent trip to Canberra I stayed in the suburb of Belconnen. I hadn't been there for many years and I was struck by the number of high rise apartment buildings around the town centre. High rise development is a relatively new phenomenon in Canberra but it is guided by the 2018 ACT Planning Strategy. The Census offers some insights into how high rise development has increased over the years and where these dwellings are located. Read on to find out more.

Building approval trends in NSW

Much has been written in the last 18 months about the increasing population in regional Australia. The driver of this has been attributed to COVID-19 influenced migration (so called "flee changers"). This is despite the fact that the number of people moving out of Sydney and Melbourne has been increasing for some years, ie it predates the pandemic. This blog looks at residential building approvals data, concentrating on NSW, and its relationship to population change in regional areas. 

Building approval trends in cities - behind the headline number

The number of building approvals is generally viewed as an indicator of the state of the economy, and hence is one of the more important data sets released by the ABS.  Approvals are linked to construction activity, jobs and the flow-on effects to the rest of the economy.  Recently I had a conversation with someone who expressed concern at the decline in building approvals, suggesting it was a precursor to an economic recession.  Now I'm not an economist by any stretch of the imagination, but surely it's more than just the number?

Vacant dwellings in NSW - trends and prospects

Most people are familiar with the idea of the Census as a population count, but a lot of additional data on dwellings and households are also collected.  Similar to population variables, housing data is also available for small geographic areas.  This enables users to see the spatial patterns and characteristics across our cities and regions.  This blog looks at vacant dwellings in NSW, with particular reference to spatial patterns and possible future trends.

Melbourne housing trends - when a three bedroom house is no longer enough

Last week I looked at dwelling diversity in Melbourne from the perspective of dwelling type.  This week's focus is the number of bedrooms, and how this differs by dwelling type across Melbourne.  Separate dwellings comprise 66.1% of the stock in Greater Melbourne, but they come in all shapes and sizes, adding to the diversity mix.  A major trend in recent years has been the increasing size of separate houses - as measured by the number of bedrooms.  For many years the humble three bedroom family home was a quintessential part of suburbia, but their numbers are declining for a variety of reasons.  Read on to find out more.

Which area has the most diverse housing stock?

Australian cities are typically low density, sprawling entities.  Separate houses are the most common dwelling type in Australia, comprising 71% of all dwellings in 2016.  In recent years, more dense forms of housing, such as flats, townhouses and villas, have become increasingly common.  This has increased the diversity of housing stock in many parts of our cities, and the dominance of the separate house is eroding.  Over the next couple of weeks I'll be looking at measures of housing diversity in metropolitan Melbourne.

Australia has some of the biggest houses in the world

It's often said that Australia builds some of the largest houses in the world.  In the second half of the twentieth century the growth of suburbs dominated by separate houses on large blocks has contributed to urban sprawl.  In many ways it's ironic that although contemporary planning policies seek to address these issues eg through smaller block sizes on the urban fringe and increased densities in established areas, house sizes remain large.  What data illustrates these trends?

Midland infill - what happens now?

I recently wrote a blog about the role of infill development in the established parts of Australian cities.  The example of Laverton, in Melbourne's western suburbs was used.  It showed that despite the incremental nature of infill development, it plays an important role in adding to the dwelling stock.  However the supply of land available for infill is constrained, both by the individual decisions of home owners and the planning scheme.  What happens when a suburb has been infilled?  This blog will consider the example of Midland, an established suburb in Perth's north east.

Laverton housing trends - the role of infill

In established suburbs of Australian cities, infill development is a often major source of new housing supply.  Infill development is incremental and is typically takes the form of older, inferior stock on larger blocks being demolished and replaced with townhouses, villas and the like.  In some suburbs, particularly those that developed in the immediate post war period and are close to train lines, infill development is transforming the housing supply and increasing population levels.  Laverton, in Melbourne's western suburbs, is such an example.