Greening the greyfields: unlocking the redevelopment potential of the middle suburbs in Australian cities

Pressures for urban redevelopment are intensifying in all large cities. A new logic for urban development is required---green urbanism---that provides a spatial framework for directing population and investment inwards to brownfields and greyfields precincts, rather than outwards to the greenfields. This represents both a major opportunity and a major challenge for city planners in pluralist liberal democracies. However, plans for more compact forms of urban redevelopment are stalling in the face of community resistance. A new paradigm and spatial planning platform is required that will support timely multi-level and multi-actor stakeholder engagement, resulting in the emergence of consensus plans for precinct-level urban regeneration capable of more rapid implementation. Using Melbourne, Australia as a case study, this paper addresses two of the urban intervention challenges---where and how---via the application of a 21st century planning tool ENVISION created for this purpose.