Census Results Reveal Two-Thirds Of Australia Flock To Urban Living

The results of the 2016 Australian Census have demonstrated a big swing to urban living across the country.

Australia’s capital cities have grown by 10.5% in the five years between the 2011 census and the 2016 census, compared to the rest of the country at 5.7%.

According to the data, two thirds of Australians now live in our capital cities with Sydney and Melbourne being the largest cities.

Urban Taskforce CEO Chris Johnson said the swing to a more urban population was demonstrated by the growth in the number of people now living in urban apartments.

"In 2011 Sydney’s apartment dwellers were 25.8% of home dwellers and this has grown to 28.1% in the 2016 census," he said.

"With around 70% of all dwellings constructed in Sydney over the last year being apartments the percentage of dwellings that are apartments will continue to grow.

“Another growing trend is towards renting apartments in cities. In 2011, 31.6% of residents were renters in Sydney and this has grown to 34.8% in the 2016 census.”

“As cities like Sydney and Melbourne increase their populations over the next 40 years both will become cities of 8 million people. This is the same size as the current populations of London and New York so we must plan for this type of city in the future," he said.

Mr Johnson believed the swing to apartment living would inevitably lead to greater densities in cities like Sydney, mainly in apartment buildings located around railway stations.

"Just like the impressive Metro and Subway rail systems of New York and London, Sydney and Melbourne will need to develop sophisticated metro rail networks to underpin where future densities are located," Mr Johnson said.

“An interesting statistic in the census data is that for the first time in our history the majority of people born overseas are from Asia not Europe. This is a trend that will continue and this is likely to increase the swing towards more urban living in higher densities.”