‘Where Will All the New Citizens Live?’: The Satellite Development of Sunbury, Victoria, 1959–70

Abstract

Melbourne, Victoria, experienced rapid population growth in the decade following World War II through both natural increase and postwar migration. Yet the city’s development was distorted by rising land prices and hampered rate of supply. (Inter)national new town experiments served as informative precedents to address issues of disadvantage: as partial or complete tabula rasa, they could be planned from the ground up, at low cost. The north-western peri-urban township of Sunbury was identified as a potential relief valve for these urban pressures, also rebalancing Melbourne’s southern and easterly growth. What ensued was an opportune coincidence of state government endorsement and private sector initiative, ultimately failing as a consequence of overcapitalisation, but also calling into question the legitimacy of such reactive – and potentially exploitative – development. Whilst public interest was stirred, the satellite model could not overcome the tyranny of distance, the limitations of private enterprise, nor vulnerability to speculation and misappropriation.