Volume 3 – Physical Infrastructure and Connectivity
In 2010, Melbourne is a thriving, cosmopolitan city that will only continue to grow. Our ongoing challenge, therefore, is to ensure that we get better as we get bigger.
In volumes one and two of this Melbourne Beyond 5 Million series, we have explored the importance of governance and effective decision-making in making our city the very best it can be, and examined the pressing issues of density and the creation of localised economies to help positively shape our city as it heads well beyond five million.
Here in volume three, we turn our attention to the physical infrastructure and connectivity challenges that we must meet and overcome today, tomorrow and well beyond to deliver a world-class city of the future.
There is little doubt that quality infrastructure is the spine of every great, successful and effective city. With this firmly in mind, the primary aim of this volume is to methodically assess the condition of our current infrastructure, make informed and objective observations and, most importantly, provide constructive and considered recommendations for future oversight of, and planning for, Melbourne’s growing infrastructure needs.
Throughout this volume we examine physical infrastructure, including transport, water, energy and communications, and comment on community infrastructure, such as hospitals, schools and libraries. We recognise that both infrastructure categories have their own valuable role to play and firmly believe that both require more focused consideration and fresh, innovative ideas to adequately support Melbourne beyond a population of five million.
Melbourne has an optimistic future – we’re a city on the move and a vibrant, flourishing, envied epicentre. However, to support this future we also need to furnish and complement the city’s vision with appropriate and achievable plans.
How we plan the growth, sustainability, nature and make-up of our infrastructure is arguably one of the most important decisions we currently face and we trust that this volume will inspire discussion, generate awareness and motivate action.
We agree that Melbourne must get better as it gets bigger. So, let’s plan for it.
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