The lack of integrated planning threatens the future of Australian peri-urban areas at a time when their values are becoming increasingly important for Australian cities and regional areas.

A team of researchers from four universities argues that the privatisation of Melbourne’s trams and trains has been an expensive failure. By June 2006, the privatised system will have cost $1.2 billion more in public subsidies than continued operation by the former Public Transport Corporation. They propose that the state government should replace the franchise...

The paper reviews the approach advocated in the Melbourne strategic plan, 'Melbourne 2030', to planning for outer urban development in Melbourne. It analyses governance and current policy, and places the Melbourne 2030 objective of increased outer urban densities in the context of best international practice and historical approaches.

The debate over the costs and benefits of urban consolidation has perhaps never been more important given the rise in the importance of sustainability principles as a basis of planning, the growth of megacities and development pressure on countrysides.