Let's jump in the time machine to 2030....
The Monash Freeway in Melbourne has been widened to ten lanes in both directions. Yet it takes twice as long to travel from any adjacent suburb to the CBD than it did in 2020. And there is now a $50 toll for a one-way trip.
The population of our two biggest cities has grown by 50%. With Melbourne & Sydney now supporting 6.5 million people, all public services are under huge strain. The public transport systems in both cities are at maximum capacity.
As the host city of the 2032 Olympic Games, Brisbane has benefitted from unprecedented public and private sector investment, Brisbane, Sunshine Coast & Gold Coast are effectively merged into one expanded super-region.
Medium–high rise residential developments are now located in suburbs that previously featured only traditional single dwelling houses. There has been a huge increase in the number of ground floor premises since 2020.
Paying for and owning things as we did in 2020 is largely obsolete. The consumption of most physical items and services is fully automated on a pay-per-use or per-time-period basis. There is a subscription model for anything from food, sneakers, jewellery & furniture.
With this shift in consumer purchasing methods, most physical retailers in 2030 are located in our CBDs and their metropolitan super-regional shopping centres.
And since 2020, the number of suburban high street shops with retail use has halved and the total number of vacant shops has trebled.
If there could have been another use to fill these vacancies.
Like, say an office.
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