As housing costs soar, how does Canberra's planning approach stack up against global peers?

Canberra's median house price has climbed to $750,000 this year, a figure that would have seemed unthinkable a decade ago. Yet compared to Vancouver, where the median sits north of $1.2 million AUD, or Dublin's €600,000 average, the capital's crisis appears almost modest. The difference lies not in market forces alone, but in how these cities have chosen to plan their futures.

The ACT Government's recent zoning reforms—particularly the push to increase residential density around town centres like Belconnen and Woden—mark a significant departure from the sprawling model that defined postwar Canberra. By allowing medium-density housing in established neighbourhoods along the light rail corridor, planners are attempting what Toronto achieved more deliberately: creating walkable, mixed-use precincts before prices skyrocket beyond reach.

"We're seeing a 15 per cent increase in approvals for apartments and townhouses in inner suburbs like O'Connor and Hackett," says the ACT Planning and Land Authority's latest quarterly report. That's progress, but slower than Singapore's 40 per cent shift toward public housing over the same period, or Berlin's aggressive rent-control measures in gentrifying areas like Friedrichshain.

The challenge facing Canberra mirrors that of Melbourne and Sydney: how to densify without displacing existing communities. The proposed development along Northbourne Avenue has sparked heated debate—familiar territory for cities like Copenhagen, which solved similar tensions by bundling density increases with affordable housing quotas. Here, such requirements remain voluntary.

What Canberra does have in its favour is space. Unlike Vancouver, hemmed in by mountains and ocean, the capital can still expand intelligently. The recently approved Molonglo Valley precinct will add 14,000 homes over two decades, a scale that gives planners genuine options. Housing affordability officer data suggests first-time buyers here need to save roughly 8.5 years for a deposit—better than Toronto's 12 years, worse than Auckland's 7.

Yet international comparisons reveal a gap between policy and execution. Dublin's new Housing for All strategy mandates 30 per cent affordable units in new developments; Canberra has no such requirement. Vancouver's speculation tax on empty properties has been emulated in parts of Canada but remains untested locally.

The coming months will prove telling. As light rail extensions reach Gungahlin and development applications flood in, Canberra has a narrowing window to learn from cities that waited too long. The capital's planners face a choice: follow Melbourne's ad-hoc approach, or embrace the kind of coordinated, international best-practice strategy that kept Berlin's transformation equitable. The market won't wait.

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