Series
Docklands: Lifeless concrete jungle or vibrant hub
In this series, The Age explores what has gone wrong with Melbourne’s most maligned suburb and what could be done to fix it.
This suburb is often called a deserted wind tunnel. Here’s how it can flourish
We explore what’s needed to bring new vitality to what was once Australia’s largest urban renewal project.
- Cara Waters, Rachael Dexter and Melissa Cunningham
There are hundreds of children in Docklands, but no high school. Residents want it built on the Costco site
Some families with high school-aged children are moving out of Docklands while rumours swirl that the site will house Melbourne Pathology’s laboratory when the retailer relocates.
- Najma Sambul
A brewery with palm trees and volcano: Inside the $225m plan to breathe new life into Docklands
Newly opened eateries at Marvel Stadium are designed to cater for more than the footy crowd, while developments on the waterfront side of the venue are next in the AFL’s sights.
- Cara Waters
It cost $100m to build, but would fetch less than $500k as scrap metal. How the Melbourne Star stopped shining
Sixteen years after it began spinning, rumours are mounting the trouble-plagued Melbourne Star Observation Wheel may be sold in parts.
- Rachael Dexter
Could Docklands become Australia’s Silicon Valley? One Victorian MP thinks so
Libertarian MP David Limbrick says a special economic zone would turbocharge Docklands. It would mean scrapping payroll and land taxes.
- Melissa Cunningham
The Bureau of Meteorology is based in Melbourne’s ‘freezing wind tunnel’, but no one’s measuring the wind there
Docklands is often battered by strong winds, but experts say no wind testing was done when the suburb was built, while a wind sensor and more trees would mitigate the problem now.
- Melissa Cunningham
Other series
Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2026
This year’s laugh fest has kicked off, with more than 2000 performers stepping up to the mic. Here, our writers take a closer look
- 10 stories
Hate of origin: Inside football’s most intense rivalry
Essendon and Hawthorn have hated each other for more than 40 years, from some old-fashioned thuggery and a fake drug scandal in the mid-80s to last year’s failed bid by the Hawks to poach the Bombers’ captain.
- 5 stories