Docklands is an inner-city suburb of Melbourne, the capital of Victoria, Australia, located directly to the western end of the Melbourne central business district between the neighboring suburbs of West Melbourne to the north/northwest, and South Wharf, South Melbourne and Port Melbourne to the south/southwest. Primarily a waterfront residential area centred on the northern (right) bank of the Lower Yarra River just upstream of the river mouth into Hobsons Bay, Docklands is bounded by Spencer Street and Bridge, Wurundjeri Way and Montague Street to the east, Footscray Road and Dudley Street to the north, the Moonee Ponds Creek, CityLink Western and the Bolte Bridge to the west, and Lorimer Street, Boundary Street, the West Gate Freeway and the Charles Grimes Bridge across the Yarra River to the south. It had a population of 15,495 at the 2021 census.
The site of modern-day Docklands was originally swampland that in the 1880s became a bustling shipping dock area as part of the Port of Melbourne, with an extensive network of wharfs, heavy rail infrastructure and light industry. Following the containerisation of shipping traffic, Docklands fell into disuse and by the 1990s was virtually abandoned, making it the focal point of Melbourne's underground rave scene. The construction of Docklands Stadium in the late 1990s attracted developer interest in the area, and urban renewal began in earnest in 2000 with several independent privately developed areas overseen by VicUrban, an agency of the Victorian Government. Docklands subsequently experienced an apartment boom and became a sought-after business address,CBRE report pointing to Melbourne Docklands outperforming all other Australian office markets attracting the national headquarters of, among others, the National Australia Bank, ANZ Bank, Myer, David Jones, Medibank and the Bureau of Meteorology, as well as the regional headquarters for Ericsson, Bendigo & Adelaide Bank and television networks Nine and Seven.
Known for its contemporary highrise architecture, Docklands is currently home to a number of heritage buildings that have been retained for adaptive reuse, and is also the site of landmarks such as the Southern Cross railway station and the Melbourne Star as well as major sport venues such as the Docklands Stadium and the O'Brien Icehouse. It is also home to two of the only three marinas along the Yarra River. Although still incomplete, Docklands' developer-centric planning has split public opinion with some lamenting its lack of open urban green space, pedestrian activity, transport links and culture.
History Early history
Before the foundation of Melbourne, it was a large wetlands area of the Yarra River estuary consisting of a large salt water lagoon and a giant swamp at the mouth of the Moonee Ponds Creek. It was one of the open hunting grounds of the Wurundjeri people, who created middens around the edges of the lake. The lake was populated by fauna including native black swans and wild ducks as well and earlier, with its connection to Hobsons Bay, such marine life as snapper and swordfish.
In 1835, Vandemonian John Batman established a home on Batman's Hill, marking the westernmost point of a new settlement. The rest of the area, however, remained largely unused for decades. The swamp, known as Batman's Swamp, and later West Melbourne Swamp was a major source of nuisance to the colony, considered ugly and unsanitary and produced a strong unpleasant smell.
The first plans to reclaim the swamp issue were presented on 5 May 1858 by engineer Alexander Kennedy Smith to the Philosophical Institute of Victoria and proposed a system of three canals and a road to Footscray. While the reclamation did not proceed, the road did. Swamp Road (now Dynon Road) was completed in 1863 and included two bridges across the north of the lagoon.Cox, H. L. (Henry L., Bourchier, T., & McHugh, P. H. (1866). Victoria-Australia, Port Phillip. Hobson Bay and River Yarra leading to Melbourne [cartographic material] / surveyed by H.L. Cox ; assisted by Thos. Bourchier & P.H. McHugh, 1864 ; engraved by J. & C. Walker. London: Published by the Admiralty.
The advent of rail infrastructure in the late 1860s saw the city's industry gradually expand into the area. By 1878, Moonee Ponds Creek became a series of drainage canals with a system of bluestone constructions helping to funnel the salty water further south.
The earliest extensive plans to develop the area was in the 1870s, when a plan was prepared to extend the Hoddle Grid westward, following the curve of the Yarra River and effectively doubling its size. The plan proposed several gridlike blocks with an ornamental public garden and lake in the shape of the United Kingdom, occupying the site of the salt lake. However, expansion of the grid westward was abandoned in favor of a northward extension.
Construction of Victoria Dock
Under the guidance of British civil engineer John Coode, a major engineering project began in the 1880s to reroute the course of the Yarra River, which resulted in the widening of the river for shipping and the creation of a new Victoria Dock (the name was previously used by one at Queens Bridge as early as the 1850s). The dock was lined with wharves and light industry grew around the nearby western rail yards of Spencer Street railway station (now Southern Cross railway station), which were used for freighting the goods inland.
Early to mid 20th century: From West Melbourne swamp to slum and new shipping port
During the wars, Victoria Dock was used as the main port for naval vessels and most of the Victorian troops returned from both wars to the docks.
In 1924 the Victorian Railways engineer Edward Ballard prepared designs for a new freight yards including a new Melbourne Yard and Spencer Street Yard and West Melbourne Dock (later Victoria Harbour) and an extension of Dudley Street westward and a new main road through West Melbourne which would later become Docklands Highway with land to be transferred to the Melbourne Harbour Trust.
During the Great Depression era, the area along Moonee Ponds Creek was home to a large rubbish tip. Just across the creek (near the site of Costco) were Dudley Mansions, a notorious slum of half a dozen homes constructed from refuse which Frederick Oswald Barnett began photographing and actively campaigning against.
Construction of the new Victoria Harbour took place over the following decades and with shipping was moved from the Yarra turning basin at Queensbridge Victoria Dock became Melbourne's busiest.
Disuse and rave epicentre With the introduction of containerisation of Victoria's shipping industry in the 1950s and 1960s, the docks along the Yarra River, east of the modern Bolte Bridge, and within Victoria Harbour immediately to the west of the central business district, became inadequate for the new container ships.
The creation of Appleton Dock and Swanson Dock in an area west of the Moonee Ponds Creek, now known as West Melbourne, closer to the mouth of the Yarra, became the focus of container shipping, effectively rendering redundant a vast amount of vacant inner-city land to the immediate west of Melbourne's CBD.
Docklands became notable during the 1990s for its underground rave dance scene. The growth of the warehouse rave scene carried on from the earlier gay and lesbian warehouse party scene which had started in the early 1980s, and continued in the Docklands through parties such as The ALSO Foundation's Red Raw, Winterdaze, New Year's Eve, and Resurrection dance parties.
The site was also host to a number of dance parties by Future Entertainment and Hardware Corporation. DJs and performers such as Paul van Dyk, Carl Cox, Jeff Mills, Frankie Knuckles, David Morales, Marshall Jefferson and BT headlined these events. The biggest event hosted, in terms of attendance, was the "Welcome 2000" New Year's Eve dance party hosted on 31 December 1999.
Urban renewal Docklands was seen as a large urban blight by the Cain Jr. State Government. Property consultants JLW Advisory carried out the first market demand assessment of the site.AA - Melbourne Docklands - September/October 1998
The size of the Melbourne Docklands area meant that political influences were inescapable. The Docklands project was on top of the government's agenda, however, due to the poor condition of the wharf infrastructure, a further investment was required to initiate the project, which the government at the time could not afford. Nevertheless, the Docklands project stayed on the drawing board, but with little progress. In 1989, several architectural firms were invited to discuss how the area could best serve the Melbourne public.
In 1990, the Docklands Task Force was established to devise an infrastructure strategy and conduct the public consultation process. The Committee For Melbourne, a not for profit organization that brought together the private sector of Melbourne for a public good, was pursuing another planning strategy. It involved a bid for the 1996 Olympic Games and another proposal to turn the Docklands into a technology city, known as the Multifunction Polis (MFP). Both bids fell through in late 1990. Nevertheless, the Committee For Melbourne's approach became the preferred model in the proceeding strategies for the Docklands development, leading to the formation of the Docklands Authority in July 1991.
Kennett era and ARM Masterplan With a government running in budget deficits, not much progress was made on the Docklands project. In late 1992, Jeff Kennett was elected Premier. Kennett instituted many changes and turned the government's financial position around. He then embarked on a multitude of projects, which included Docklands. It was politically imperative to get the project rolling, the Docklands Authority opted for the concept of having infrastructure funded by the developers. The development industry supported this, and claimed that the project would be more efficient. Docklands was divided into sections or precincts, which were to be tendered to private companies to be developed.
May 1996 saw the relaunch of the tender process. Few restrictions were applied to the bids from developers, and as the vision was to make Docklands 'Melbourne's Millennium Mark', the key criterion for a successful bid was to get projects going by 2000. It did not take long for the realisation that the lack of government coordination in infrastructure planning would create problems. Developers would not invest into public infrastructure, where benefits would flow on to an adjacent property. This was corrected by allowing developers to negotiate for infrastructure funding with the government. The Docklands Village precinct was planned for a residential and commercial mixed development, but, in late 1996, that plan was scrapped when it was announced a private football stadium would be built on the site. The site was chosen for its easy access to the then Spencer Street station (now Southern Cross station), and it was intended to be an anchor for the entire project and provide for a clear signal to the long-awaited start of the Docklands project. However, the stadium also created a huge barrier between the City and Docklands.
Work on the Bolte Bridge, designed by architects Denton Corker Marshall, for Transurban and constructed by Baulderstone Hornibrook, another architectural centrepiece took place from 1996 to 1999 and costing $75 million.