From Parks to Social Infrastructure: The Historical Evolution of Public Facility Provision Standards in the Metropolitan Planning of Melbourne

Abstract

This paper examines the historical evolution of planning standards in Melbourne, with particular focus on the provision of public facilities in metropolitan planning schemes. While planning standards are central to regulating the built environment and improving quality of life, they remain underexplored in the English-speaking literature. Using Melbourne as a case study, the research investigates when and why standards for public facilities were adopted, how they have changed over time, and their broader implications. Findings highlight that the development of standards was shaped by local factors such as politics, administrative power, public discourse, and economics, as well as international planning practices and cycles of capitalism. Different phases of metropolitan development produced shifting attitudes towards planning, affecting service provision. Communities most in need consistently suffered from unequal distribution, particularly under neoliberal reforms of recent decades. The paper concludes with policy recommendations to promote a more equitable redistribution of public facilities and improve the quality of life for outer-fringe communities.