A marginalised spatial structure in Melbourne’s public housing estates: evaluating public spaces, infrastructure, and citizen participation

Faleh, M, Carrasco, S and Dangol, N, 2025. A marginalised spatial structure in Melbourne’s public housing estates: evaluating public spaces, infrastructure, and citizen participation. In: Rajendran, LP, Odeleye, N-D and Can, A, eds., Resilient cities in the global South: rethinking informality in urban planning and design. Regions and cities . London: Routledge. ISBN 9781032373775

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Abstract

During the exponential surge of cases of COVID-19, the selective hard lockdown imposed on inner Melbourne’s public housing estates exacerbated exclusion, stigma, and inequalities among economically vulnerable communities, like migrants and refugees residing in these towers. The facilities within and around the public housing estates and their precarious conditions recalled discourses of neglected public housing by government agencies. The COVID-19 pandemic also evidenced the segregation of these areas and less accessibility to green infrastructure crucial to overcoming the limited mobility protocols imposed by governments. Public housing estates are areas of multiculturality and diversity, requiring spaces and facilities to enable social interactions and reduce urban segregation from the rest of the city. This chapter draws on workshops, observations and interviews conducted between 2018 and 2020 with residents and community leaders in Melbourne’s public housing and representatives of supporting organisations working with migrants. This chapter examines the current spatial structure, infrastructure and facilities conditions of two of Melbourne’s public housing estates. This study questions the top-down approach and the need for more communication in reshaping public spaces and infrastructure by calling for a holistic approach favouring participatory approaches in redesigning and rethinking the spatial structure of these dense estates.

Item Type:	Chapter in book
Creators:	Faleh, M., Carrasco, S. and Dangol, N.
Publisher:	Routledge
Place of Publication:	London
Date:	17 July 2025
ISBN:	9781032373775
Identifiers:	Number Type 1868150 Other
Divisions:	Schools > School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment
Record created by:	Jonathan Gallacher
Date Added:	23 Jun 2025 12:49
Last Modified:	23 Jun 2025 12:49
Related URLs:	Publisher
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/53780

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