As Australian cities urbanise, challenges associated with rapid urbanisation are coming to the fore, particularly the need to deliver equitable access to services. To respond to the increasing challenge, it is necessary to observe rapid changes across the built environment, the socio-demographics of locations and other relevant factors. Access to services such as schools or primary health care in urban areas are unevenly distributed throughout cities, resulting in considerable inequality (Rashid 2022). In Australian cities, for example, inequalities exist in service provision between residents in the peri-urban areas (non-urban landscapes next to or surrounding metropolitan areas) compared with residents in inner city areas (Nice et al. 2024). The role of urban density is key to understanding how to deliver equitable access to key social services such as primary health care, education and public transport.
Access to social services across urban Australia
A recent study by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course (Life Course Centre) examined the variation in access to services across Australia’s capital cities and the opportunities arising from urban densification with respect to accessibility to social services, along with the associated co-benefits of increased urban density. The study explored the spatial elements across Australian state and territory capital cities to understand the relationship between:
- urban compactness – defined as the ability to walk to one of the 3 identified social services within 10 minutes, and
- social equity – defined by access to key social services, namely primary health care (including access to bulk-billing general practitioners and pharmacies), public transport (by frequency of service across a week) and early childhood education and care.
Key findings
Access to social services varies across Australia. For this study it was measured using a Social Service Index (SSI) ranging from 0 (no access to social services) to 4 (very high accessibility).
Findings from this study showed that across Australia’s capital cities:
- Access to social services within a 10-minute walk is adequately met only in the central business districts (CBDs) of Brisbane (SSI score of 1.75), Perth (1.75) and Sydney (1.25).
- Sydney’s large outer metropolitan areas had average SSI scores ranging from 0.50 to 1.0, meaning there was little to no access to social services.
- Melbourne delivers the highest levels of access to social services extending from the CBD to the inner east (SSI scores ranging from 1.2 to 2.7) and the north (SSI range 1.8 to 2.1).
- Metropolitan areas of Brisbane and Perth had largely limited access across all areas.
- Access to social services is very low in Darwin (SSI score of 0.25), Canberra (0.75) and Adelaide (0.75).
