The sheer scale of Australian investment into major infrastructure projects has been transforming the Australian landscape and improving amenity, access and liveability of our major capital cities.

These city-shaping projects have also been a strong economic driver over the past several years. The creation of thousands of jobs has flowed positively into the labour market, with the ABS recently reporting that the national rate of unemployment in trend terms, has improved to only 5.1%. This is the lowest rate of unemployment since early 2012.

The nation’s infrastructure investment pipeline has been a major priority for both Federal and State Governments as they collectively seek to keep up with Australia’s population growth.

According to projections released by the ABS in late November 2018, population growth figures again beat governmental forecasts. Australia is now expecting to reach 30 million people as early as 2029, decades earlier than originally anticipated.

In the coming years we can expect further delivery of critical transportation infrastructure and increased amenity across diversified sectors of society including education, health, sporting, entertainment and culture.

With billions of dollars invested in projects such as Adelaide’s Future Frigate Program, Brisbane’s Queen’s Wharf Casino, Melbourne’s Airport Rail Link, Perth’s METRONET and Sydney’s Second Airport – the landscape of our cities will continue to change.

Take a look at some of the ‘before and after’ transformations of iconic infrastructure projects that have been taking place in our cities thus far.

Adelaide

Royal Adelaide Hospital

Representing an investment of over $2.1 billion, the Royal Adelaide Hospital is South Australia’s flagship hospital. The facility provides a comprehensive range of clinical care to an estimated 85,000 inpatients and 400,000 outpatients each year.

Supported by 6,000 staff, the new hospital was built on 10 hectares of Adelaide parklands on the North Side of the terrace and is complemented by courtyards, terraces and sky gardens.

The future for Adelaide infrastructure is exciting and will continue to be led by further developments in renewable energy infrastructure as well as the $90 billion investment into submarine and shipbuilding.

Perth

Elizabeth Quay

This mixed-use development represented a $2.6 billion investment into the heart of the Perth CBD. Elizabeth Quay was designed to revitalise the city centre, by creating a truly inspiring waterfront precinct.

The project connects the river back to the city – with over 150,000 cubic metres of soil dug out to create a new inlet. Elizabeth Quay now features parklands, playgrounds as well as 39,000 m2 of retail space, 150,000m2 of office space and 1,700 residential apartments.

The future infrastructure investment pipeline for the Western Australian capital is promising with analysis by CBRE, estimating $13 billion earmarked for the metro area over the next five years. This is over and aboves major developments which are happening in the lithium space.

Melbourne

AAMI Park Stadium

AAMI Park Stadium was Melbourne’s first large-scale, purpose-built rectangular stadium. The stadium hosts the NRL, Super Rugby as well as A-League soccer.

Located about 1km east of the CBD, the stadium features a cutting edge ‘bioframe’ design, with total capacity of approximately 30,000 people.

The AAMI Park Stadium is just one of the reasons as to why Melbourne was crowned the Sports City of the Decade back in 2016.

The cosmopolitan lifestyle, and abundance of amenity in the Melbourne CBD has long underpinned Melbourne’s continued dominance in the upper echelons of the World’s Most Liveable Cities rankings by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

More and more infrastructure projects are underway in the Victorian capital, accelerated by the Andrews Government in conjunction with surging population growth.

Some of the exciting projects include the proposed $10 billion Melbourne Airport Rail project and the proposed visionary $50 billion Suburban Rail Loop.

Sydney

Sydney Metro North West

Sydney Metro Northwest is due to open in the second quarter of 2019 and remarkably, is expected come in $500 million under budget.

The surplus funds are expected to be injected into future routes of the Sydney Metro program.

The welcomed rail project will see the growing North West region of Sydney receive eight new railway stations and 4,000 commuter car parking spaces.

Trains on the new line are projected to run every four minutes during peak hours.

The project will be a critical part of the transport infrastructure in the region, which is expected to receive an additional 200,0000 people over the coming decades.

This project represents one project of many within the broader roads and rail infrastructure boom in the city.

Brisbane

Brisbane’s Second Runway

Brisbane’s second runway is on track to commence operation in 2020, and once complete, will enable the airport to service the same capacity as Hong Kong and Singapore airports today.

By 2035, it is estimated that the runway will create 7,800 jobs and contribute $5 billion to the economy per annum. The second runway is also designed to support the expected growth in tourism from Asia and beyond, as more international visitors are drawn to other new projects in the city such as the $3.6 billion Queen’s Wharf Casino precinct which is due to open in 2022.

The Sunshine State is also readying itself for domestic visitors and migrants; Queensland has been the number one choice for interstate migrants over the year to March 2018.

Property Investment Australia

Want to learn more about our capital city economies, demography, employment and infrastructure pipeline. Our comprehensive ‘My City’ reports provide a full snapshot of this key information, along with data and analysis relating to each city’s property market. You can receive a copy of ‘My City’ when you book in for a free appointment with one of our Strategists.