A vibrant Melbourne is a city where every suburb is a thriving, connected community

Every city is an amalgam of its many communities and neighbourhoods. The best cities find a way to leverage the collective energy of their people and harness all those stories, hopes and dreams into an optimistic, ambitious and inclusive vision for every citizen. This is why I have loved working in the Suburbs Portfolio.

I am so proud of the Suburbs team and their amazing contributions in recent years, working with local communities to revitalise and enliven Melbourne's suburbs. With the final Suburban Revitalisation projects now approved and underway, it marks the end of an era for the Suburban Revitalisation Boards (SRBs).

The Suburban Revitalisation Program has been a driving force for the renewal of suburban activity and neighbourhood centres, improving the quality of public spaces and local infrastructure, unlocking economic assets and land use for jobs, housing and services and building community capacity and participation. Every project has had a positive and enduring impact and been designed for and with the communities who have benefited from the investments: https://www.suburbandevelopment.vic.gov.au/suburban-revitalisation .

Funded projects have included events to bring diverse communities together, like the Pasifika showcase and Firefly Market in Tarneit, targeted supports like the Pathways to Employment Program in Reservoir and infrastructure investments like the Banksia Gardens Greening and Activation Hub in Broadmeadows.

This program is a shining example of how the State government, almost in spite of itself and its often-siloed departments and portfolios, can successfully work in a place-based way to deliver meaningful outcomes and improve liveability at a local level. ?

Ultimately the program has built trust and coherence between municipal and State governments and local communities at a time when these kinds of trusted partnerships are so critical for the future liveability of our city. Like the Metropolitan Partnerships , the SRBs have also provided the Victorian Government with valuable intel and insights about the needs, strengths and aspirations of suburban communities, which will hopefully be incorporated into the new plan for Victoria .

A huge shout out to the SRB Chairs, the Council CEOs and community and business leaders and everyone who has given their time, energy and ideas to making the SRBs a success. And a big thank you to the SRB team in the Office for Suburban Development, a small but mighty group of dedicated, tireless, empathetic public servants who have always put community first. It has been an absolute privilege to work with you all.

As we navigate our way towards a city of 9 million people and the implications of densification on liveability, housing affordability and social cohesion, we would do well to draw on all we learned from the SRBs over the last seven years.

Local communities know their neighbourhoods best. The role of State government isn’t always to do the doing. Often it is to listen, support, convene and co-invest alongside local councils, the private sector and community organisations.

We don’t have to come with all the answers, or all the cash; but we do need to come with curiosity, humility and an understanding of how investments and partnerships at a local level contribute to a vibrant city at a systems level.

Together we can create a positive vision for an equitable, regenerative, liveable Melbourne. But a city is a complex ecosystem whose progress can’t be tracked on a Gantt Chart. We can’t build the future that we want, for ourselves and our children, one multi-billion-dollar infrastructure project at a time. What we really need to build instead is a collective of trusted coalitions and a shared understanding of what success looks like.

As Jane Jacobs said so many years ago “cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, but only because, and only when, they are created by everybody”.

#cities #Melbourne #liveability #systems #regenerativefutures Regen Melbourne Megan Vassarotti Justin Burney. GAICD Kelly Grigsby Committee for Melbourne