The Greyfield Challenge to Australian Governments

Abstract

Between 2000 and 2020, Australia’s population grew almost 24% to 25 million. Most of this growth occurred in Australia’s major cities, acutely exacerbating sprawl, which has been a planning challenge since the mid- to late twentieth century. The urban-policy response has been toward more compact cities via ‘infill’—redevelopment within existing urban boundaries. This chapter distinguishes between former industrial ‘brownfield’ infill and the more challenging ‘greyfield’ infill. Greyfields comprise ageing, under-capitalised, low-density suburbia. Most metropolitan planning strategies enable small-scale, ad hoc greyfield redevelopment that tends to erase suburban qualities while only slightly increasing density. As a result, infill targets are not being met. But there is another way, outlined here as ‘greyfield precinct regeneration’: larger-scale integrated redevelopment facilitated through land assembly and supportive state and municipal planning policy.