As median prices near $650,000, Bendigo is charting its own course on density and affordability—but experts say we're playing catch-up with cities like Melbourne, Vancouver and Copenhagen.
3 min read
Bendigo stands at a crossroads. While housing costs have climbed steadily across regional Victoria, our city's approach to urban planning and residential development remains markedly different from global counterparts facing similar pressures.
The numbers tell a sobering story. Median house prices in Bendigo have surged to approximately $645,000 in the past 18 months, outpacing wage growth and pricing out young families. Yet unlike denser cities such as Copenhagen or Vancouver—where mixed-use zoning and mid-rise apartment blocks dominate inner neighbourhoods—Bendigo's planning framework still heavily favours single-family dwellings on quarter-acre blocks across suburbs like Strathdale, Kangaroo Flat and Golden Square.
The Bendigo City Council's draft planning scheme currently restricts much of our urban core to residential zones of six metres or lower, effectively capping development heights and limiting the supply of affordable, compact housing. Compare this to Seoul or Toronto, where strategic upzoning near transport corridors has delivered thousands of apartments within walking distance of employment hubs and cultural venues like the Bendigo Art Gallery and Lake Weeroona.
"We're seeing a genuine appetite for change," says one senior planner involved in the Council's recent community consultation on the Activity Centre Strategy. The proposal identifies High Street, Pall Mall and surrounding precincts as opportunities for increased density—a nod toward international best practice. Yet implementation timelines stretch to 2029 or beyond.
Comparable regional cities tell instructive tales. Adelaide has aggressively reformed its planning codes to allow terraced housing and small apartments across established suburbs, helping cool price growth. Brisbane's transit-oriented development push along the inner-ring suburbs has delivered mixed results but increased housing choice. Even Bendigo's neighbour Ballarat is piloting streamlined approval pathways for dual-occupancy projects on standard lots.
What distinguishes Bendigo's predicament is our reliance on greenfield sprawl. New estates mushrooming at Epsom, Maiden Gully and beyond offer relative affordability but demand infrastructure investment in roads, water and electricity. Cities like Copenhagen embedded housing density decades ago, spreading costs and enabling efficient public transport.
The Bendigo Community Advisory Committee has flagged concerns about preserving neighbourhood character while meeting housing demand—a legitimate tension. Yet other cities prove both are possible. Portland's neighbourhood-scaled apartments and Vancouver's laneway houses demonstrate how thoughtful infill development respects heritage while solving supply shortages.
With council elections looming in October, housing policy will dominate debate. Bendigo's choice is stark: embrace bolder planning reform now, or watch affordability erode further as our peers move decisively ahead.
This article was compiled by AI from the sources linked above and screened before publishing. See our editorial standards.
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