A new highway is emerging in Southbank. It’s green

After years of advocacy, planning and budgeting a new byway is taking shape in Southbank – a connection of green spaces forming an abstract highway for birds, bees and humans.

In 2012 the City of Melbourne created its first Open Space Strategy with a recommended target of 22 square metres of green space per person. That has been a tall order for Southbank and its average of three square metres of green space per person – the result of poor planning and rapid population growth – making it the most densely populated neighbourhood in Australia.

The truth is, the opportunity to correct lost opportunities of acquiring derelict buildings for open space in Southbank has long passed with real estate bidding far surpassing the City of Melbourne’s budget. What we are left with are opportunities to creatively link together a network of passive and active spaces.

And that is exactly what has been under way for the past several years thanks to advocacy on behalf of Southbank3006 and other groups. We are all aware of those spaces that already exist: the pocket of green at Boyd Park, Kennedy Park in front of Melbourne Square, spaces along Southbank Boulevard, the Dodds Street Linear Park and Sturt Street Reserve. In 2026, several projects will link these disparate areas in a notable way.

Firstly, a project that Southbank3006 spearheaded converting granitic sand at the ACCA forecourt into 950-plus square metres of green space will form a significant connection from the Sturt Street Reserve to Dodds St to Southbank Boulevard to 18,000 square metres of planned open space at the transformed Arts Precinct and eventually extend all the way to the Greenline along the Yarra-Birrarung.

Secondly, the Kings Way Undercroft project will transform underused space into 5000 square metres of community space, including recreational areas, green space and open gathering areas. It will provide an important link between two sides of the motley green highway: from Southbank Boulevard, to Kennedy Park, through Boyd to the Normanby Rd Reserve.

Finally, plans for the Normanby Road Reserve will deliver an additional 12,000 square metres of open public space, including lawns, garden beds, play areas, picnic spaces, community gathering areas and much needed water management features. Though budgeted, this last critical piece of the green highway is currently on hold while the council brings the Department of Transport and Planning on side. Community members are encouraged to participate in engagement events and the survey now under way through to February 8, 2026 (participate.melbourne.vic.gov.au/normanby-road-reserve).

There is likely much more good news in store for Southbank as part of the council’s mission to make Melbourne the Garden City. The council has agreed to cut the red tape that was preventing pavement-adjacent plantings and appointed Garden City Ambassadors, Paul Bangay and Margaret Parisi, to help champion community-led green neighbourhood projects.

While lost opportunities for large open spaces in Southbank can’t be reclaimed, the projects and initiatives slated for 2026 show what creative thinking, thoughtful advocacy and community persistence can achieve. I personally can’t wait to see green extend from “highways” to all of Southbank as community members are empowered to convert concrete and clay into chromacolour throughout the neighbourhood. •