POPULATION TURNOVER AND SPATIAL CHANGE IN MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

Abstract

Recent studies of intraurban mobility have been concerned to provide both an examination of the context within which mobility occurs and an assessment of the impact of population turnover on neighborhood change. Utilizing Australian census data which in 1976 for the first time allowed a detailed examination of mobility within urban areas, the paper examines first the extent of population turnover in Australia's major cities, and second shows that in Melbourne the net effects of population flows are significant in determining the population composition of small areas. In particular, the continuing suburbanization trend is found to be composed largely of family groups while population loss in the inner areas is complicated by the considerable difference in the socioeconomic status of the in- and out-migrants.This leads to the conclusion that population mobility is an important component of the gentrification process as well. These results indicate the necessity for policy makers to monitor trends in populat...