It seems the long-running boom in Melbourne apartment construction has catapulted Melbourne up the skyscraper index.
According to the Toronto Condo Bubble blog, whose author has compiled data from The Global Tall Building Databas of the CTBUH, Melbourne is ranked number four for the number of 100-plus metre residential buildings under construction, with 15 such projects currently underway (see next graphic).
With Melbourne apartment approvals remaining highly elevated (see next chart), along with turbo-charged immigration, it could remain high up on the skyscraper index for a while yet.
No doubt, Victoria’s planning minister, Matthew Guy, will be happy about this outcome. Last year, he called for Melbourne to have the most tower-dominant skyline of all the capitals.
But with Victoria’s manufacturing industry in terminal decline, the economy is already overly dependent on housing construction and population growth. Such an economic model only works so long as Melbourne keeps on building. Eventually, however, construction will necessarily slow, potentially leaving a large chunk of Victoria’s workforce without jobs.
The state is pursuing a risky economic model.
