By: Uma Rishi and Georgia Isaac
With Melbourne now the nation’s fastest growing capital, congestion on the city’s pavements has become a constant struggle. And the bad news is: it isn’t likely to go away anytime soon.
According to the City of Melbourne, the population of the CBD alone is expected to reach 67, 758 by 2036, which is 83% higher than the population in 2015.
Melburnian Shelly Tait shared her experience of living in the bustling city, alluding to one of the most common problems faced in the CBD.
“Sharing the footpath with everybody, that can be annoying if you’re in a rush,” she said.
And it’s not just locals who have complained about the crammed footpaths in the CBD.
Neil Isaac, a frequent tourist from London says bumping into people has become a regular frustration.
“It happens when people are coming out of stations, milling around tram stops and getting off trams. There are people on their phones and when everyone is moving in one direction from a tram you have to wait and move out of their way to avoid being bumped before you get on,” Mr Isaac said.
“There are busy times: start and end of work around transport hubs and on Bourke Street, especially during late night shopping.”
Mr Isaac also raised concerns about petty crime saying “pickpockets will thrive” due to the large clusters of people in the city.
Melbourne experienced both the largest and fastest population increase out of all Australian capital cities in 2014-15, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
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There are concerns “pickpockets will thrive” due to the large clusters of people on Melbourne’s crammed footpaths.
