I’d read somewhere that Australia is going through a culture shift–suburbia is giving way to inner city apartment living that emerged in the 1990s in Sydney and Melbourne. It has only just begun to emerge in Adelaide. Suburbia is for families as no 3 or 4 bedroom apartments are being built—it’s only 1 and 2 bedroom.
It appears that in Melbourne especially the apartment investment boom has become more of an investor led boom rather than owner occupier based around the city becoming a centre for the knowledge-intensive industries. In Adelaide the apartment living boom is still centred around the mix of residence, work and entertainment. Hopefully, it does not disconnect from that mix, which is what has happened in Melbourne.
Adelaide, however, will not become a global centre of the knowledge-intensive industries with an inner city creative class since tech businesses now need the energy, talent and diversity of the world’s megacities to thrive. Nor does Adelaide have a history of applying start-up culture to existing industries. What it has is isolated cluster that cannot fight the tide of talent flocking towards the bright lights of cities like Melbourne.