Public Housing Redevelopment in Melbourne: A Multidisciplinary Response

Abstract

In September 2023, the Government of Victoria, Australia, announced its plan to demolish all 44 high-rise public housing towers in Melbourne, intending to replace them with a high-density combination of private and social housing dwellings by 2051. This redevelopment programme forms part of an ambitious suite of initiatives to increase inner urban housing availability in the face of widespread housing stress across the state. The programme has attracted scrutiny with policy makers, practitioners, community sector organisations, tenants and academics alike raising concerns about government consultation with tower residents and a relative lack of information about the programme’s delivery plans and feasibility. Prompted by these concerns, in 2024, the Legal and Social Issues Committee of the Parliament of Victoria’s Legislative Council commenced an inquiry into the programme. This paper presents a multidisciplinary academic response to the high-rise redevelopment programme, based on a joint submission made to the inquiry in 2025. We ask: what critical factors should be considered in proposals to redevelop public housing at scale in Victoria? We attend to issues including rationale and cost-modelling, resident and community engagement, land ownership, institutional learning, and sustainability, adding to a global body of knowledge investigating the redevelopment of urban public housing estates.

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