Skip to main content

ABC 7.30: Where do we build next?

Posted 
Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.
Cars banked up in a traffic jam
ABC 7.30: Where do we build next?

SUBJECTS:  Geography

YEARS:  7–8


Like many Australian cities, Melbourne has been growing rapidly.

This clip from 2012 investigates debates about where Melbourne's urban growth should occur.

While inner city areas are slowly being redeveloped, the outer suburbs continue to sprawl and their residents battle some serious issues.


Things to think about

  1. 1.What problems do you think Australia's biggest cities face? How might these urban problems affect people's wellbeing? If you were an urban planner, what would you do to improve the liveability of our cities?
  2. 2.What urban problems are the outer northern suburbs commuters having? List what the clip suggests as the problems' underlying causes. What planning decision did the Victorian Government announce in 2012 in relation to future urban growth? According to David Turnbull, what draws residents to outer suburbs? What 'higher order' services does he say are needed in these areas?
  3. 3.There's debate about the redevelopment of inner-city areas and whether it will help to fix Melbourne's urban problems. Describe the range of views on this topic as expressed in the clip. In outer metropolitan areas, why might there be a gap between when housing is developed and when major infrastructure (eg public transport, roads, schools) is provided? How could this affect the liveability of these areas?
  4. 4.Find out more about Melbourne's urban growth. Produce a map showing the location of the suburbs shown in the clip. Add in the major transport links that connect to the CBD. How does the situation of these suburbs compare to the situation of outlying suburbs in other directions? Do you think Melbourne has a problem with sprawl? Where should future development be focused?



Date of broadcast: 15 Jun 2012


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Posted