La Trobe University has revealed a bold masterplan for its Bundoora campus in Melbourne’s north — the so-called “University City” initiative — meant to transform the site into a vibrant, sustainable, mixed-use urban precinct over the next 30 years.

Spread across about 255 hectares, the plan envisages housing for up to 15,000 people while significantly expanding learning and research capacity to accommodate more than 40,000 students. It will consist of four connected neighbourhoods: a residential “North Village”, a student-mixed “East Village”, a research/commercial “South Village”, and a central “City Centre” housing the core campus academic, retail and commercial functions. The University City project is budgeted at about AUD 5 billion and is expected to generate substantial economic benefits for the region — for instance, boosting gross regional product in Melbourne’s north-east by an estimated AUD 440 million per annum when complete, and additional student spending of around AUD 202 million a year.

In addition to the scale of housing and student growth, there is a strong emphasis on sustainability, green space and community integration: the scheme includes more than 1 million m² of regenerative, climate-resilient open space (including the Nangak Tamboree eco-corridor), improved active-transport links (pedestrian, cycling), and new streets and laneways to enhance connectivity.