To save suburbia, we’ll need to destroy much of it

Australian suburbs have undergone a radical transformation over the past 60 years. Gone are the days of public transport, shops, and schools within walking distance. Blocks of land have shrunk to half the size of the 1960s quarter-acre block. Houses have doubled in size at the expense of backyards and trees; so crowded that passive solar and cross ventilation are hardly possible. These changes have happened gradually, taking several decades to erode the quality of the original suburbs into the vast, dark-roofed, treeless, overheated suburbs being built today.