Australia is one of the most urbanised countries in the world with around 90% of its population living in urban or ‘built up’ areas. The Baw Baw Shire website says that in 2020, the shires population was nearly 55,000. The shire figures state that in the year 2019-2020, our population grew by 2.79%, (more than double the average for regional Victoria). The data forecasts suggest that Baw Baw Shire will grow at an average annual rate of 2.19%, giving shire a population of well above 76,000 people by 2036.
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| Warragul and Drouin's urban sprawl is very evident |
Demographic figures for 2018 suggest that the outer areas of Melbourne grew by more than 60,000, way ahead of Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. In the same year, the population growth of the inner areas of Melbourne declined. All of this has impacted considerably on outer and nearby centres, often resulting in urban sprawl.
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| Loss of wildlife habitat and prime agricultural land |
Some of the recognised negative impacts of urban sprawl include:
- Increased pressure on biodiversity
- High dependence on motor vehicles
- Lack of social capital - the glue that holds a community together - associations, publications, meetings, civic engagements, etc
- Loss of sense of place, heritage and culture
- Lack of housing diversity - boring streetscapes
- Formation of uniform socioeconomic communities
Inefficient land use, costly infrastructure, homogeneous demographics, poor access to public services, dormitory suburbs, elevated energy consumption, sedentary lifestyles, air pollution, altered watersheds and soil profiles, etc.
Examples of medium density options
To help combat the undesirable impacts of urban sprawl, some suggested approaches might include:
- Develop stronger zoning and planning strategies
- Creative planning - green developments, mix of affordable housing, Sustainable developments, etc
- Invest in intermodal transport systems, parking strategies, car-pooling, etc
- Sensitive and appropriate open space planning - community consultation
- Develop master plans that balance heritage, conservation and development
- Penalize irresponsible and illegal development
- Consider mixed-density developments, etc.
Urban sprawl is with us in parts of Baw Baw and we need to do our development differently.
Links to some further reading:
- Australia State of the Environment - Urban Development
- Development Victoria – Projects
- Baw Baw Shire Population profiles
- Charting Transport - Which Australian City is Sprawling the Most?
- Melbourne Projected Growth GIF - Credit Gfycat
- Expanding Urban Sprawl - Melbourne is Getting the Mix Wrong