Metropolitan Melbourne Investigation Discussion Paper - Victorian ...

Figure 3.6
Municipal population as a percentage of the total investigation area population in 2006
Source: ABS Estimated Residential population
Percentage
4.5 to 6.5
3.5 to 4.4
2.5 to 3.4
1.5 to 2.4
The population of the investigation area has increased by
about 430,000 people in the past ten years. Much of the
growth over this period has been in the outer suburbs
from new housing estates and in central Melbourne from
inner urban gentrifi cation and apartment development.
Some parts of Melbourne have experienced local
population declines such as in the outer suburbs in the
north-west, west and east. This is largely due to young
adults leaving the family home to move to other parts of
the city.
Melbourne’s age structure varies greatly across the
investigation area. Inner urban areas such as the City of
Melbourne are dominated by young adults, refl ecting the
employment and entertainment options in these areas.
Outer and growth areas, by contrast, are dominated by
young families. Melbourne’s “middle ring” of established
suburbs has a range of age groups, although they tend to
contain a higher proportion of older residents than other
parts of Melbourne.
Metropolitan Melbourne is recognised for its cultural
diversity with one in three Melburnians born overseas.
The highest proportion of overseas born are found around
Footscray-Maribyrnong in the west, Preston-Coburg in
the north, and Dandenong-Springvale in the south-east.
These patterns refl ect various waves of post-World War
Two migration. More recent arrivals to Melbourne (since
2001) have tended to settle in inner Melbourne (often
overseas students and skilled migrants) and around
Werribee in the west and Dandenong in the south-east.
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