Melbourne is becoming a place where "rich and poor" are clearly isolated, new research shows, as the gap in income growth between the inner city and the fast-growing edge of the city widens, and Melbourne is becoming a place where the rich and the poor are clearly isolated.
An influential advocacy group is now calling on winners of next month`s state elections to consider establishing a grand Melbourne commission to better guide the city`s development. Melbourne`s population is expected to grow from its current population of 5 million to an estimated 8 million by 2050.
Melbourne`s (Committee for Melbourne) warned that while Melbourne is a success story, it is becoming "an economically polarized city, a geographically driven place between the rich and the poor".
Economist Brian (Peter Brain), transportation expert Professor Stanley (John Stanley) and Stanley (Janet Stanley), a social resilience researcher at the University of Melbourne, presented new data last week on what they would do for CPPCC in Victoria.
It found that the average income of working-age residents in Cardinia,Casey,Hume,Melton,Whittlesea and Wyndham--, the six boroughs on the edge of Melbourne, was higher than the state average in 1992.
By 2017, wages in those regions had fallen to 21% below the state average.
The six suburbs, as well as the city centre, are the most populous areas of Melbourne.
The decline in average income is partly due to the lack of easy access to well-paid jobs and the lack of access to other suburbs without adequate roads and public transport.
"there is no doubt that when your population growth rate exceeds 2 percent or 2.5 percent a year, you really need to invest a lot in infrastructure," Professor Stanley said.
1.4 million Melbourne people do not have enough public transport, according to an Australian Infrastructure Authority report on Friday.
Professor Stanley, a transportation expert who provides planning and land-use advice to both sides of politics, says growth in marginal areas needs better services, or growth should slow down. That means better infrastructure for Melbourne`s suburbs and better support for the city`s central suburbs to achieve higher population growth.
The council said the state should consider setting up a committee, like the new state, to better guide development, as Melbourne`s population is expected to grow to 8 million by 2050.
The committee, which was consulted by a range of senior planning and construction experts, said in its "one Melbourne" (One Melbourne) essay that the city lacked long-term transport planning.
It called for a 50-year "public transport blueprint" to see how the planned corridor would complement future land use.
