Momentum for Brisbane Vertical Neighbourhoods Grows

Anti-sprawl, suburban renewal, densification—call it what you will, the only way is up for an increasing number of neighbourhoods in Australia’s growth capital.

The Brisbane City Council has unveiled the next phase of its strategic plan to bolster higher density residential development as it stares down the barrel of needing 210,800 new homes by 2046.

To accommodate the more than 600 people moving to the city every week, it has added three suburban centres to its growing list of key locations targeted for the delivery of more apartments.

They include areas surrounding shopping centres at inner-west Indooroopilly, southside Carindale and Nundah in the city’s north with a view to creating vertical neighbourhoods.

Under its so-called “anti-sprawl” agenda, the council has flagged planning changes to enable “greater flexibility” and “to make it easier to allow taller buildings to deliver more housing and mixed-use projects close to these well-located centres”.

Building heights will be reviewed across the precincts.

At Indooroopilly, towers could exceed the current 20-storey limit, while Carindale’s 10-storey cap may also be lifted. Nundah is expected to retain its 12-storey maximum but with more flexibility for mixed-use projects.

Speaking at a Committee for Brisbane event this week, Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said it was the “golden age of Brisbane”. 

“But I won’t sugarcoat this, we have our fair share of challenges too. Growth comes with growing pains, and we’re feeling it,” Schrinner said. 

He said Chermside and Garden City were also in the crosshairs for greater density and urbanisation. 

“It makes sense in terms of bringing people to where the infrastructure and public transport is, because at the moment we see a situation where much of the development that is happening in South-East Queensland is happening in greenfield areas,” he said.

“They’re areas that don’t have access to good public transport at the moment and then we’re in this constant phase of catch up to provide infrastructure to these new areas.”

Community consultation is slated for 2026, with any changes to be incorporated into updates of the Brisbane City Plan 2014.

For developers, the move signals new potential in suburbs already well served by transport and retail infrastructure.

Indeed, the pitch from Schrinner to the development sector is clear: the city wants private capital to deliver much-needed supply in places that already function as activity centres.

“We want to put more homes where the jobs are, where the transport is and where the services are,” he said. “Indooroopilly, Carindale and Nundah are the right places for growth, and under our plan they will be thriving lifestyle precincts into the future.”

The plan builds on the council’s Suburban Renewal Precincts program, first launched in 2022, which is already reshaping other centres—including Alderley, Stones Corner, Wynnum and Mt Gravatt.

▲ Carindale’s 10-storey cap may be lifted under the rezonings.

Land zoning in these precincts is being reviewed to create “opportunity for new housing in well-serviced areas, while protecting the character of our suburbs”.

Planning work will also soon begin around Westfield Chermside Shopping Centre, the next area to benefit from the program. 

Meanwhile, change is already afoot in the city’s middle-ring—most recently with a bold masterplan proposal being filed for the 3.64ha former Top Taste factory site at Kedron by landowner George Weston Foods.

Overall, the planned mixed-use precinct dubbed Bakery Square would potentially deliver more than 650 new homes in towers rising up to 15 storeys alongside retail, commercial and lifestyle amenities.

As well, last month approval was given to the masterplan for Australia’s first fully integrated arts village, The Paint Factory.

The transformation of the old Taubman’s paint factory at Yeronga on a 3.43ha site will include buildings up to eight storeys—including five residential buildings integrated with artist studios, an art gallery, food and drink outlets, event space, office space, performance space, green space and communal zones.

Committee for Brisbane chief executive Jen Williams said the council strategy not only addressed housing undersupply but also tackled congestion.

“There is no better way to reduce congestion than by ensuring new homes are built in close proximity to the services residents will need, in locations well serviced by public transport networks,” she said.

Williams added the strategy’s precinct approach also allowed the suburbs to conserve their unique character.

“Through focusing on individual centres within suburbs, Brisbane is able to retain that authentic appeal, while ensuring we continue to provide the housing and services the city so desperately needs,” she said.

The council’s Better Suburbs Initiative chair Ross Elliott said the strategic renewal shift was a natural progression of suburban hubs.

“These centres nearly all started life in planning over 40 years ago as designated shopping centres only – places which people drove to primarily for shopping,” he said.

“Over time, they have added entertainment, medical, and a range of other non-retail uses… They are increasingly places people want to live near in more numbers, and work near – if we allow it to happen.”