Mega-Melbourne is a parasite on Australia

Monday 31 August 2026

I reported last week on The Age newspaper’s interactive tool showing what Melbourne will look like when its population soars beyond 10 million.

The modelling suggests that six activity centres will be denser than anything that exists in Melbourne today:

The number of dwellings across the top 15 centres is projected to massively increase under each development scenario – urban containment or expansion:

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About the author

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.