DENSITY IS ONE OF THE BIG TOPICS AT THE MOMENT, FROM THE EMERGENCE OF SMALL LOTS TO THE GROWTH IN THE APARTMENT SECTOR. WE HEAR CONSTANTLY ABOUT THE “SPRAWL IN PERTH”, BUT HOW DOES OUR DENSITY REALLY COMPARE WITH OTHER STATES?
Late last year the ABS released their first population grid, which maps resident population density using a 1km2 grid across Australia. Previous studies were based on statistical or local government boundaries which made comparison challenging.
There were some very predictable results, for example Sydney has the highest average density with Woolloomooloo and Potts Point, in the heart of Sydney, the densest locations in Australia with 14,747 people per square kilometre. Across Australia there is only 22km2 of land which has a population density of greater than 8,000 people per kilometre with almost all of that land (21km2) in Sydney. Even when we drop the threshold for high density down to 5,000 people per square kilometre, that category represents only 0.27% of the total land in our Greater Capital Cities Statistical area and, even in Sydney, that density represents less than one percent of land usage.
Areas recording zero resident population per square kilometre, which includes conservation areas, parks, industrial areas, large commercial areas, etc, represent a surprisingly high proportion of land. In Sydney over half of the land (53.1%) was for non-residential purposes, with vast areas of the Blue Mountains included in that grid. Of the state capitals, Perth came in second behind Sydney with 39% of land having zero population recorded, partly due to the extensive “Bush Forever” program and the protection policies for the underground water supply. Brisbane followed on 34.5% with Melbourne on 27.4%. Canberra lived up to its reputation as Australia’s bush capital with 78.2% of land recording zero population per square kilometre.
To compare the density of each mainland capital city we removed those areas which recorded a zero resident population result and compared the proportion of land use in three density ranges: low (less than 2000 people per square kilometre), medium (2000 – 5000) and high (5000+).
Brisbane had the highest proportion of land in the “low” category at 96.8%, with Perth second on 92.3% followed by the marginally denser Adelaide on 92.3%. Sydney and Melbourne also had considerable land in the low density category at 84.5% and 88% respectively.
This tool developed by the ABS will facilitate far better density comparisons than were previously possible and is a valuable addition to the analysis process.