Where to next? Brisbane's future as a liveable city

Construction approvals in Brisbane are collapsing. The unit market is oversupplied. Property prices are stagnant.

The river city is at a crossroads, and it’s the subject of heated debate in the property industry.

“There’s a lot of conjecture and discussion about where to next,” says Jeff Wellburn, ProBuild Queensland’s managing director. “I think Brisbane is more consolidating its identity.”

Mr Wellburn and his team at ProBuild are overseeing the first stage of the Queen’s Wharf development. He says Brisbane needs a strong economy to sustain a strong property market, and says a collapse in the construction industry could threaten that future.

Mr Wellburn suggests building a livable city is the best way forward. He pointed to South Bank as a model for what Brisbanites were looking for in a city.

“Brisbane is an incredibly livable subtropical city,” Mr Wellburn said. “I think [Queen’s Wharf] will compliment what’s happening in South Bank.”  

To make Brisbane a more attractive place to live, replicating the success of South Bank in other locations should be the number one priority, Mr Wellburn says.

“I think it’s the next step in the right direction for a city like Brisbane in it’s growth, it’s entering the main stage and mainstream of the world.

“The developers are bold, they have a vision and we believe they’re onto something.”

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The development of desirable common areas would drive demand within the Brisbane property market, and create more opportunities for growth, Mr Wellburn says.

Morever, government and private sector investment in public infrastructure would be the best way forward, moving off the back of a slump residential construction.

Mr Wellburn is cautious about advocating a surge in the construction of commercial buildings, similar to the boom Brisbane saw in apartment construction.

He says the construction sector wouldn’t likely be able to replicate the rapid growth of residential highrises.

“There are a lot of people who have come off the resources boom who are looking for work in the construction sector,” he says.

“I’m aware of relatively high-stable vacancy rates in commercial buildings so I don’t see a boom in commercial buildings, office buildings, unless there’s an up-tick in the actual economy.”

PRDNationwide’s Dr Diaswati Mardiasmo agrees the best way forward for Brisbane is to replicate the success of South Bank, but she suggests doing it in the suburbs and on a smaller scale.

Creating insular economies, driven by their own momentum, is how to create a sustainable and strong property market within the city, she says.

“Decentralization is important for Brisbane,” she says. “The first thing [buyers] ask is “what’s there?” and saying that house prices are cheaper isn’t enough anymore.”

“At the end of the day what Brisbane City Council should do is if they’re looking to disperse the population or build more sustainable housing is they should be looking at what they can support from a livability perspective.”

Dumping a house and land development in the middle of the highway without anything else nearby will fail to deliver sustainable growth into the future, she warns.  

“You’re now starting to see all these community developments where you’re seeing new house and land packages with great prices but you look around the area you don’t see shopping centres and government offices and that sort of thing,” she says.

“We can redirect [government spending] to infrastructure construction office space construction and retail construction. If you’re going to make these communities into insular economies you need that.”