Suburbia as we want it. Not how we know it.

With so many hurdles, many would feel entitled to ask whether it can even be done. The answer is that we have already done so. Many inner-city areas, only 30 years ago, were run-down legacy industrial or housing precincts, subject to increasing signs of urban decay. Like many suburban centres today, there were empty buildings, a plethora of ‘For lease’ and ‘For sale’ signs, dwindling capital values and an exodus of jobs and residents. The Federal Government’s “Building Better Cities” program (1991) began a turnaround which has renewed the life of inner cities, many which now boast the highest real estate values and vibrant employment markets.

It has also been done in some suburban centres. Nundah Village in Brisbane was transformed by a $50 million State funded ‘cut and cover’ road bypass tunnel to alleviate local congestion, $3m in suburban street improvements by the Council, and a range of planning changes which encouraged new investment. The result? More than $800 million in new private investment, a fall in commercial vacancies to under 3%, 1,550 more jobs (many of them professionals, including medical) and nearly 3,000 new medium and high-density dwellings. Where people were once ashamed to admit they lived near Nundah Village, it is now seen as a selling point. That is an impressive ROI.

Suburban renewal is just as economically lucrative as inner urban renewal has proven. As we look across the landscapes of our cities into the future, the promise of vibrant, energetic suburban centres offering work and community facilities closer to where people live, and with amenity standards equal to those in the inner city, isn’t just an enticing prospect - it’s a necessary one.