Urban regeneration in Australia

Urban regeneration will occupy an increasingly significant role as a mechanism for sustainable urban development in the 21st century, given that for much of the past century city growth occurred without reference to the considerable array of pressures and constraints that now confront metropolitan planners, e.g. rapid population growth, urbanisation and intensification, resource constraints and climate change, as discussed in more detail in Newton and Doherty (2013). Of all the policy levers available to government in Australia to shape the future of a metropolitan region from an environmental and social perspective, where to encourage residential (re)development is one area where impact can be significant. Even more so if the key dimensions of an urban system such as its core infrastructures (e.g. water, energy, transport) and the location of jobs can be enhanced with more integrated planning---a significant contrast to the suboptimal, opportunistic, piecemeal residential redevelopment that is characteristic of most property industry activity at present within the built-up areas of cities. This chapter outlines the current state of play concerning urban regeneration in Australia's major cities, with particular reference to Melbourne