Across March we’ll be Reading the City; shining a light on the many ways we understand and talk about Melbourne itself. From the city as an abstract concept to the physical landscape in all its permutations, we’ll be hearing from visual artists and architects, policy makers and designers, novelists and historians. The City of Literature becomes the focus, and you’ll never read it the same way again.

Urban Sprawl, Melbourne 2030 Sunday Forum

In the first of two Sunday Public forums, the Centre teases out some of the issues and pitfalls in how we conceive of Melbourne’s growth. The state government 2030 initiative has fans and detractors, but what does it all really mean? High density or urban sprawl? More roads or improving public transport? Are our options ‘boom or bust’ or ‘boom and bust’? What price for growth?