Australia has accumulated its fair share of names – from ‘the lucky country’, ‘the land of plenty’, and the ‘wide brown land’ as per poet Dorothea Mackellar. In international spheres, Australia was always recognised as a land of abundant space. These impressions were supported by photographs of old Australian houses. Federation-style architecture showcasing handsomely sized landplots across urban regions painted Australian suburbs as the perfect environment for raising a family in the great outdoors.
So is this still the case today? Below, we’ll be outlining all the most recent evolutions of Australian residential planning, diving deeper into how and why Aussie suburbs are changing from what they once were.
From standalone estates to uniquely Australian townhouses
With cities like Melbourne and Sydney on the way to becoming recategorised as megacities within the next few decades, Australian urban planning has undergone a major transformation, with these older estates of yesteryear being replaced by more compact residential developments – think apartment blocks, units, and uniquely Australian townhouses.
As a result, homeownership in Australia looks a little different as well, with more homeowners navigating conversations surrounding common areas like shared driveways and fencelines, and securing building insurance through strata corporations rather than independently managing their own home and contents policies.
The way we’re living on our landplots is also changing with the introduction of the concept of Australian townhouses. Originally a staple of European residential planning, townhouses in Australia are also characterised by their shared walls and tendency to build upwards rather than outwards, providing homeowners with 2-3 floors rather than single floor dwellings.
‘Uniquely Australian townhouses’ are further characterised by their inclusion of natural elements like light availability and outdoor living amenities in their design. Australian families love entertaining outdoors, so we’re seeing townhouses in Australia being constructed with modular, retractable walls that allow families to extend and connect indoor and outdoor living spaces during warm weather months. This allows Aussie families to maintain all the lifestyle benefits they adopted across traditional residential zones whilst still ensuring access to urban living, as Australia’s major cities continue to sprawl outwards.
Adapting city planning for improved pedestrian access
Speaking of urban sprawl, another big challenge for residential zones across Australia is simply maintaining access to local amenities. In traditional residential planning, Australians were totally comfortable being reliant on vehicle ownership in order to get around. Today, however, more residential and estate developments are mindful of access to local amenities like shopping centres, schools, and parklands that are all within walking distance – not driving distance.
This focus on creating more walkable cities is a vital component of combating urban sprawl by establishing satellite cities, or at the very least, making sure that local residents don’t necessarily have to travel outside of their locality in order to find employment or attend a good school.
This approach is naturally also helping Australia combat one of its other major urban challenges: traffic congestion. Australians have historically also been proud vehicle owners, but with climate-ready architecture and urban design veering further away from a vehicle-first approach, it’s nice to see Australian civil projects swapping out prioritising roadways for building well-connecting footpaths, walking trails, and pedestrian-friendly city planning.
Creating bike lanes, railway trails, and transit expansions
In much the same way that we’re seeing more investments in pedestrian access across Australian cities, there’s also a greater emphasis on combating urban sprawl with increased accessibility. Families are more likely to consider living further away from city centres if they can expect reasonable commute times via cycling as well as bus, tram, and train trips.
The great news here is that civil projects that are currently looking at improving the safety of level crossings (i.e. areas where train tracks directly meet roadways and footpaths), are also reimagining what areas surrounding railway lines can look like. In Melbourne, more railway lines are being elevated above roadways, with areas underneath railway lines being used as public spaces like basketball courts, skate parks, and linear running tracks.
What about green spaces? Well, Melbourne and Sydney are home to extensive creek and river networks, some of which wind directly through cities. These waterways play a major role in creating safer urban environments, providing healthy green corridors for local wildlife, as well as safer bike trail alternatives to shared bike lanes on urban roadways.
With these lifestyle amenities paired with linear railway trails under elevated railway lines, we can not only improve transit access in Australian cities, but also make long distance cycling safer and more feasible, which will in turn, help further combat traffic congestion.
Shared green spaces: the solution to diminishing backyards
Greater connectivity and safer bike and pedestrian access are all definite pluses – but they still do come at the expense of the great Australian backyard. And for parents who were part of a generation who grew up in their backyard, it can be heartbreaking to not be able to offer your children that same experience.
After all, outdoor living is a staple of life in Australia. Civil planners have thankfully kept this in mind when mapping out urban spaces for the future across Melbourne, Sydney, and other rapidly developing cities across Australia. As a result, we’re not only seeing greater investments in creek trails and other urban waterway restoration, but also in the establishment of shared green spaces like public parklands and footy fields.
So yes, the great Aussie backyard is likely to be a thing of the past – at least in inner urban areas where population density demands more compact landplots. But community living is poised to take the place of the private Aussie backyard, with more developments like townhouses and apartment complexes even going so far as to create their own private amenities like swimming pools, gyms, and green spaces like lawns and even green rooftops just for residents.
What will Australian suburbs look like in the decades to come?
Whilst it’s unlikely that we’ll see more Federation-style architecture in Australian cities, we can expect to bear witness to the further evolution of the uniquely Australian townhouse, and observe how the lifestyle of Aussie families will change in these greener, more community-oriented urban spaces.
We’re swapping out private backyards for shared greenery, and driving the kids to school to walking them to the front gates. We’re also likely to see more parents working closer to home, which means fewer long commutes and more time to spend with the family. This is how Aussie families can reclaim their lifestyle: through future-ready urban design that is still powered by uniquely Australian values.
