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Australians urged to switch to high-rise living to address housing shortage

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Newly built houses in the Denham Court suburb of Sydney, Australia, on Tuesday, May 3, 2022. One of the developed world’s last remaining doves turned hawkish as Australia’s central bank rocked markets with a bigger-than-expected interest-rate hike in the middle of an election campaign. Photographer: Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg

Australia's relatively small population of 26.5 million residents are concentrated in sprawling coastal cities that occupy large spaces.

PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

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- A shortage of housing in Australia has prompted an urgent push to increase supply, including proposals to build more high-rise apartment blocks, open land for development and impose taxes on homes that are kept vacant.

Despite Australia’s vast landmass, the country’s relatively small population of 26.5 million residents are concentrated in sprawling coastal cities that occupy large spaces. About 40 per cent of the population live in just two cities – Sydney and Melbourne – yet the local planning authorities in the major cities have often resisted shifting to high-rise developments.

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