Density and Outer Urban Development in Melbourne

The issue of residential density is again an important issue in strategic land use planning in Australia. For decades, Australian planners generally have accepted the conventional position that increasing the density of urban settlement on the urban fringe will achieve negligible land savings because the amount of land required for non-residential purposes remains constant. This position continues to affect government policy and practice. This article analyses the role of residential density in debates about urban form, and shows the potential for land savings from different scenarios of increased residential density and urban design. The article demonstrates the capacity for increased residential densities in new outer suburbs of cities to significantly contain outward urban growth.