Melbourne to overshadow the City of Sydney by 2040 at nation's job hub
Melbourne is forecast to overshadow the City of Sydney as a job hub before 2040 as major new urban renewal precincts come to light, according to Minister of Planning Matthew Guy.
The upcoming metropolitan blueprint Plan Melbourne suggests that Melbourne could bypass Sydney as early as 2036 with a total of more than 700,000 jobs, up from 450,000 in 2011.
Major new urban renewal precincts include Fishermans Bend, E-Gate and Arden Macaulay and Docklands, which is now complete.
“Driving the growth of the City of Melbourne as Australia’s largest jobs hub by 2040 will be a key direction of the upcoming metropolitan blueprint, Plan Melbourne,” says Guy.
“We are on track to achieve this outcome by 2040 or earlier with nearly 90,000 jobs added in the City of Melbourne between 2006 and 2011 compared with less than 30,000 in the City of Sydney,” says Guy.
As at the 2011 Census, the City of Sydney housed a total of 530,000 jobs compared to 450,000 in the City of Melbourne,
“The key to a productive and competitive Melbourne is a reduction in the cost and time it takes for the labour force to travel to work.
“That is why the Victorian Coalition Government is unlocking residential and mixed use development opportunities in and around the CBD of Melbourne.
“Every resident that lives and works in the central city saves Victorian taxpayers money in regard to road and public transport costs,” says Guy.
Guy says to build the nation’s largest job hub we also need to build the largest residential hub.
“The nation’s largest jobs hub will also require significant future investment in transport infrastructure to make it accessible for commuters but able to be bypassed by freight and logistic movements.
“That is why the Coalition Government is continuing to jointly progress construction of the East West Link and planning of the Melbourne Metro rail tunnel,” says Guy.
There is capacity for more than 300,000 additional jobs in the City of Melbourne and Fishermans Bend Urban Renewal area, according to the Department of Transport Planning and Local Infrastructure.