The population of Australia has grown by 3.8 million over the past decade. Melbourne is the fastest growing city in the capital city – close to 1 million new immigrants in the ten years to June 2016. With this growth, there is a need to expand social infrastructure – all the common social services and facilities that people need in their lives, which is critical to the livability of the region. However, our analysis shows that there is a clear mismatch between the fastest growing regions and the social infrastructure available to these communities. The suburbs of Melbourne’s peripheral growth corridor are the fastest growing, with a large increase in young families and school-age children. When the growth rate of Melbourne’s metropolis is as shown in Figure 1, the concentration of population growth is clearly visible. The most populous local government regions from 2006 to 2016 included Whittle sea, which grew 62%, Cardinia grew 69%, and Wyndham grew 98%, or 113,000. In stark contrast, Nillumbik has the lowest population growth rate of 4.5%, or 2,765.
Population growth has a huge impact on community planning and its services. The government uses demographic data, such as the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ demographic data, to provide policy and planning decisions for the location and funding of schools, hospitals, parks, roads and public transportation. These are the physical infrastructure needed for human settlements. Most attention is often focused on “hard” infrastructure such as transportation, electricity, water and telecommunications, which is important for economic development. In contrast, social infrastructure is often described as a “soft” infrastructure. This name does not reflect its important role in society and its importance to health, well-being and livability.
What is social infrastructure?
Social infrastructure describes the common services and facilities that people need throughout their lives. These are very important for the livability of a region. It also refers to the amenities that most people seek when making decisions about real estate or place of residence. These include: Hospital, health care and medical center Primary and secondary schools, kindergartens and child care Library, community center and community residence Public transportation, walking and cycling options Community support agency Cinema, museums and art galleries Swimming pool, gym, park and public open space Police, ambulance and fire station Aged care and retirement accommodation, social housing and a variety of housing options for all ages and population groups. These are the key factors in a livable city. They create the conditions needed to promote the health and well-being of all urban dwellers – not just those living in wealthy, well-served suburbs. The quality and scope of people’s lives, learning, work and entertainment directly affect their long-term health and the future development of chronic health. Importantly, this means that government-funded social infrastructure has long-term universal health prevention benefits. Therefore, the good design and planning of a good service community directly benefits all aspects of society.
Melbourne’s social infrastructure Social infrastructure should be distributed fairly and equitably in cities.
However, Melbourne’s fastest growing suburbs, with an ever-increasing number of families and children, are the least served areas (Figure 2). This difference is largely due to the current approach to planning social infrastructure based on projected population targets measured before providing services to new regions. People living in the new suburbs must wait for enough people to move in before they can prove that the government can provide new social infrastructure. This means that it can take years before building important services such as local schools, parks and community facilities. Current social infrastructure planning methods encourage car dependence, social isolation and serious inequalities in our cities. This has had a devastating effect on the livability of some areas and the health and well-being of the population. This is especially unfair when people are often forced to move to external growth areas to find affordable housing. This creates a hotbed for complex social problems, mental and physical health differences. The result is a community where people do not have the time and opportunity to lead a healthy, active lifestyle and connect with each other.
Create more livable communities from the start Building new infrastructure is very expensive.
The simple solution is to share their existing social infrastructure with the new neighbors for the thoughtful internal and central suburbs. This means increasing the density of these areas and sharing existing services (note the development of opponents who are not in my backyard). This is an important recommendation of the Victorian Infrastructure 30-Year Plan and is in line with Melbourne’s goal of maintaining livability. The new suburbs will also continue to develop. Here, the social infrastructure needs to be in place before people move in. This is important because changing the methods used to determine social infrastructure requirements in advance will also greatly improve the livability of these areas. A more equitable approach to social infrastructure planning is based on access. Hard infrastructure like roads is built during the development process, and the same model should be applied to the provision of social infrastructure. This will ensure easy and close access to social facilities and services to create a healthier, more livable community.