Markets 
This week, and for the next three weeks, your editor’s note will look a little different. As I revealed in last week’s note, The Age and the University of Melbourne will host Melbourne Assembly, a three-day forum in October to bring together the people, ideas and conversations shaping the future of our city.
To give you a taste of what to expect, I’ve asked four of our leading journalists to each write a note about one of the key conference themes: shaping the city, innovation and education, healthy places and people, plus sport and the arts.
This week, our city editor, Cara Waters, introduces the headline international and local experts who will present ideas on shaping our city, and outlines how The Age will cover the topic in the coming weeks.
Over to Cara.
Melburnians are living in Australia’s fastest-growing city.
Our city and surrounding suburbs added 105,030 people in the 2024-25 financial year, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and we have grown by 2 million people since the turn of the century.
We’ll ask how, and where, are we going to fit everyone in?
Our population is hurtling past 5.5 million and forecasts predict we will overtake Sydney as Australia’s largest city by about 2032.
We’ll then accelerate towards a projected 9 million people by 2050.
Melbourne has balanced its growth while continuing to maintain its status as one of the most liveable cities in the world. We are known for our major events, sport and the arts.
But our future vibrancy, vitality and quality of life will rely on bold ideas and brave decisions.
Over three days, Melbourne Assembly will be the centre of crucial conversations for our future. Former New York mayor Bill de Blasio and global planning pioneer Carlos Moreno, our headline international speakers, will join local experts in canvassing the brightest ideas for our city.
The first key pillar of the conference is shaping the city, and as you may have read earlier, it will feature De Blasio in conversation exploring strategies for affordable housing when demand exceeds supply.
De Blasio will consider what Melbourne can learn from New York and the headwinds global cities face as they compete to attract talented people who wish to move to culturally vibrant, yet economically accessible places.
A panel discussion and audience Q&A will follow, featuring Grattan Institute chief executive Aruna Sathanapally, former Victorian premier Steve Bracks and Melbourne School of Design director at the University of Melbourne, Dan Hill.
Lendlease chief executive Claire Johnston and architect and Palawa woman Sarah Lynn Rees will join the panel.
Lord Mayor Nick Reece will also confront the friction between rapid growth and liveability.
Before the summit, The Age will bring you a series of features exploring how Melbourne could look in 2050 and beyond.
Walkley award-winning journalist Royce Millar has been writing about this great city for 30 years and, in the coming weeks, will bring you a thought-provoking look at the challenges we face, the obstacles to long-term planning, the potential solutions and how Melbourne compares to the world’s other great metropolises.
First we’ll investigate Melbourne’s status as a megacity and the critical tensions that rapid expansion brings.
We’ll explore how sprawling urban hubs first became entrenched in the development of our city and examine past, failed attempts at decentralisation – from satellite city schemes to northern rail networks.
We’ll also confront our apparent collective reluctance to plan for the long term and discuss the importance of Melburnians having a say in their city’s fate.
The series will move on to a housing reality check – looking at what a burgeoning population really means for the state government’s ambitious targets for activity centres and new homes, as well as to what extent Melbourne is prepared for the city’s growth, outward and upward.
We’ll showcase exclusive research commissioned from leading demographic data platform, iD, and use growth scenarios containing all new development within the existing metro urban growth boundary versus pushing further into the countryside to ask how, and where, are we going to fit everyone in?
Finally, we’ll examine paths forward and ask whether Melbourne must inevitably join the ranks of global megacities such as New York, London and Shanghai. We’ll consider whether we can cap or slow growth, or refocus our efforts to redistribute our population to other cities and towns.
Presenting partner, the University of Melbourne, is joining The Age to host Melbourne Assembly at The Edge in Federation Square from October 19 to 21, alongside major partners – sport and entertainment precinct Melbourne Park and health insurer Bupa. Right Angle, the City of Melbourne and the Committee for Melbourne are supporting partners.
As a subscriber, you have early access tickets to this event at a substantial discount. You can click on this link to see the offers available for various parts of Melbourne Assembly and enter the code EditorNote to apply the subscriber discount.
Further information will be made available at the Melbourne Assembly website. Stay tuned for updates in the coming weeks about our other guest speakers.
But the best voice of the city is yours – we want to hear your experiences, your vision and the practical ideas you have to improve Melbourne.
Whether you have a fresh concept for revitalising the arts, a smart strategy for suburb planning and housing, or a passion for improving health and wellbeing, the voice of our subscribers is essential to setting the conference agenda.
Meanwhile, don’t forget to vote in our poll on 20 ideas to improve Melbourne – from extending the tram network, to free school lunches and improving apartment living.
Be quick – it closes this weekend!
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
From our partners
Read the full article here
