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During the next 20 years nearly 2 million additional people are expected to call Queensland home. Those people need homes.

On top of that, our household sizes are shrinking which is adding to housing demand and need for different types of housing. Lets consider rising divorce rates as one example. Suddenly you have one large household, possibly living in a single family home, splitting into two smaller households.

We need more homes and we are at an important crossroads. Do we keep building out, a concept known as urban sprawl, expansion or greenfield development, or do we start to tip the scales in favour of building in, known as infill or consolidated development?

For Townsville local, Trinity Bennett, it’s a no brainer. The 18-year-old, who is currently at university says she would like to see more variety of housing in our existing urban areas, rather than just building in new areas.

“I am only 18 right now but when I go to have kids I really don’t want to be living too far out of the city, so reworking some of the existing suburbs would be great,” Trinity said.

“I feel like I won’t live in one house for my whole life. At one point in time I may need four bedrooms, and at one point in time I may only need one.”

Does urban sprawl come at a higher cost?

Co-founder of Yes In My Backyard (Queensland) and Housing Supply Expert Panel Member, Natalie Rayment, says urban sprawl has come at a cost.

“One of the drivers for sprawl in the first place was that land is generally cheaper on the periphery of town,” Natalie said.

“Back in the day, infrastructure delivery was highly subsidised and so those costs were not clearly tied to the cost of a house whereas now that infrastructure is rolled out as part of the development and the initial delivery and ongoing maintenance has to be factored into the cost of the house.

“Over time it has become more clear what burden that cost of spreading out is having on the local or state government that then has to maintain the infrastructure and supply services.”

Not just a financial cost

Natalie says it’s not just a financial cost, with sprawling neighbourhoods placing a burden on the climate, and people’s time (such as time spent commuting).

“At some point it became much more obvious that development was expanding into areas that were previously bushland, habitat, farmland or known to be flood prone,” Natalie said.

“Many people are commuting into urban centres for work and services. Add that to the cost of living and reliance on the motor vehicle in areas where you are not able to walk to things so easily, the living and environmental costs of urban sprawl start to add up.”

The lasting impact of previous decisions

It’s true when they say that the development decisions we make today will be felt for generations to come.

There are claims the first piece of planning legislation, the Undue Subdivision of Land Prevention Act in 1885, paved the way for urban sprawl in Queensland, by setting minimum lot sizes and street frontages.

“The new frontier of urban expansion back in the day was to build out so it was probably an expectation that that was what they were going to do – open up new areas, new suburbs,” Natalie said.

“That was the formula for the great Australian dream. People lived in their house, and demand was met by continuing to build more houses at the edges of urban areas.”

What is being done to limit urban sprawl?

Planning policies are already starting to favour development occurring in existing urban areas. In 2017, the Queensland Government released the updated South East Queensland Regional Plan which set a target for 60 percent of new development to occur in existing urban areas.

Town planner, Kerry Riethmuller, who led the review of the regional plan, said this tipping of the scales to favour infill development was underpinned by the latest data and modelling.

“We used a range of data, including the population and household size projections at the time, to understand how many new homes would be required and whether we needed to expand the area in which that development could occur (known as the urban footprint),” Kerry said.

“It’s costly to expand our urban areas and the regional plan was focused around locating new homes in areas with existing infrastructure and services.”

The updated North Queensland Regional Plan, released in 2020, also reinforced the need for growth to occur within existing urban areas to increase housing options and manage cost of living, especially within the Townsville area.

To sprawl or not to sprawl?

Kerry is quick to clarify that infill development and greenfield development should not be mutually exclusive when are looking at whole regions or states.

“Change is a natural part of the evolution of our cities and towns, the places we live now were not like that 50 years ago,” she said.

“While some local government areas may be more constrained, which leads to new development occurring in existing areas, when we take a look at broader regions, or even the state, there is a role for both infill and greenfield development.

“It doesn’t have to be one or the other, but it does have to be more in than out - providing housing choice for people is the key.”

And for Queenslanders, Natalie has one key reminder when it comes to sprawling development that can often seem like the easier option than infill housing, or gentle density, in established neighbourhoods.

“If you are saying no to certain development, like townhouses or units, then what are you saying yes to?,” Natalie said.

As Queensland continues to grow and change, the Queensland Government is working with councils and industry to plan for and deliver housing where it is most needed and to create liveable communities for all to enjoy. Find out more.

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