Series
Big Perth: How the city started sprawling (and why it’s still going)
Perth’s notorious sprawl began in the 1960s and has only increased its pace. WAtoday charts the city’s spread, the companies behind the master-planned communities pushing our urban boundary further afield, and the issues faced by residents on the urban fringe. This series is the result of a months-long investigation by journalists Sarah Brookes, Hamish Hastie and Jesinta Burton.
The 220-kilometre city: Why Western Australia is giving up on infill
Mining billionaires might have made the state wealthy, but it’s developers’ decades of wheeling and dealing that continue to have the most impact on daily life.
- Sarah Brookes, Hamish Hastie and Jesinta Burton
- Exclusive
The man who sold the sprawl: Inside the mind of Nigel Satterley
There are few West Australian business titans more formidable than veteran developer Nigel Satterley. But there’s more to one of this sprawling city’s founding fathers than some might think.
- Jesinta Burton
- Opinion
Spread too thin: What we’re losing as Perth sprawls
The house-and-land package is still at the heart of the Australian dream, but what are we missing out on in this mind-boggling suburban expansion?
- Mark Naglazas
- Exclusive
Bigger houses squeezed onto smaller blocks leave our suburbs sweating. How do we ‘re-green’ Perth?
Perth has the worst tree canopy cover of any Australian capital, with the state government putting it as low as 16 per cent coverage.
- Sarah Brookes and Hamish Hastie
There are no chicken or tent sweeteners, but Perth home buyers still want their castle
Home buyers’ expectations have evolved beyond chickens and camping equipment, but the man at the helm of Perth’s oldest developer says the formula for building successful suburbs remains largely unchanged.
- Hamish Hastie
- Exclusive
The good, the bad and the ugly: What’s it like living on Perth’s urban fringe?
Too many people living in suburbs right across Perth’s urban sprawl frontier are not yet living the lifestyle they were sold. So, is it coming? And if so, when?
- Sarah Brookes and Hamish Hastie
Perth’s ‘greedy generation’: How urban sprawl empties taxpayer wallets
Housing estates on the fringes should pay a sprawl tax, says a Perth property expert, but others in his industry are “strongly opposed” to such a radical idea.
- Sarah Brookes, Hamish Hastie and Jesinta Burton
- Exclusive
What’s stopping infill in WA? The hurdles developers face
Perth’s love of suburbia has stood in the way of infill, but changes may be on the horizon.
- Hamish Hastie
- Exclusive
350 Optus Stadiums: Counting the staggering profit of God’s acres in Perth
From vacant acres on Perth’s fringe to places of worship, schools, commercial buildings and houses, these churches own some of the state’s most valuable private property portfolios.
- Sarah Brookes and Hamish Hastie
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