It's no surprise Melbourne's urban population has now overtaken Sydney's, experts say. The question is, will it stay that way?
Melbourne's Significant Urban Area population is now bigger than Sydney's. It's no surprise, experts say.Melbourne has taken over Sydney as Australia's most populous city thanks to the widening of its western boundary.Melbourne has also seen less residents leave in recent years than Sydney.
"What's happened with the 2021 census is Melbourne's main suburban area and also Melton, which is a growth centre in the west of Melbourne, have actually combined to form one continuous population centre, and that's now higher than in Sydney," ABS demographer Andrew Howe told SBS News. The Indian and Pakistan cricket teams enjoyed huge support from local fans for their match during last year's ICC T20 World Cup cricket match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.Melbourne has also welcomed large quantities of Indian students, many of whom tend to settle in the city, professor of demography at the University of Melbourne Peter McDonald told SBS News.
"However, for Sydney, we've had over 200,000 more people move out than move in. Sydney loses significantly more people to the rest of Australia compared to Melbourne."Sydney has historically lost many young families, most likely related to housing affordability, Professor McDonald says. There's are geographical limits to how far Sydney's suburban sprawl can extend, which helps to bump up property prices.Dr Birrell from the Australian Population Research Institute agrees housing costs are the main factor, partly because a vast amount of land has been allocated to Melbourne's suburban expansion, while Sydney's urban sprawl is more geographically restricted by the ocean to the east, the Blue Mountains to the west, and major rivers.
"There are all sorts of cost problems in providing the infrastructure and housing to all these people on the fringe."
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