MacroMelbourne

http://www.communityfoundation.org.au/assets/pdf/macromelb_liveable_city.pdf

MacroMelbourne- A Liveable City for all its People

This is a document produced to “address emerging issues around disadvantage in Melbourne”. Its sole purpose is to find ways to contribute to Melbourne being a liveable city for all its citizens. (MacroMelbourne 2007) I totally agree with this purpose and sincerely hope that this would not be lost in the midst of global competition. It proposed ways to become involved in helping to shape the Melbourne’s future, for businesses, organizations and individuals. This is an excellent move to include the disadvantage, being concerned that Melbourne might be divided into two very different cities; “one for the well off and another for the poor.” I believe that this is an issue worth stressing on for Melbourne’s future if it wants an united community. Both plans and actions should be hand in hand with improving its ranking among cities while not neglecting the poor in Melbourne.

Referring to cities-ranking surveys, such as Mercer and Monocle; these studies on rankings and results have been used by cities to attract foreign investors as well as retaining its people. However, this ‘liveability’ is determined by the professionals working for major multinational companies (Casey 2009), not by average Melburnians. Does that mean these studies fail to reflect actual liveability for everyone?

By scraping the surface, it is hard get insights of a city without real accounts from every economic sector of people. Just like how I would not have been able to see from a different perspective if I did not take up the part time job in Smith Street, these surveys can never reflect the actual situation of a city.

Then again, these liveability rankings are designed for use by employers when considering company relocations so it would not be necessary nor practical to dive into everyday lives for an average person. In that case, liveability seems to apply only for well-off people in Melbourne and accurate for you if you belong to the same category.

References

Casey, N 2009, Melbourne Benchmarking and Liveability Report, Melbourne City Council.

Melbourne Community Foundation 2007, MacroMelbourne-A Liveable City for all its People,Melbourne Community Foundation, Melbourne.

Nowell, L & Toy, M 2010, 'Our outer suburbs are poverty traps’, Herald Sun, 18 April, viewed 12 Oct 2010, <http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/our-outer-suburbs-are-poverty-traps/story-e6frf7kx-1225854963435>.