La Trobe University has revealed a $5 billion masterplan that will turn its vast Melbourne campus into La Trobe University City, a long-term project set to reshape the north into one of Australia’s most ambitious education-led urban precincts.
The plan outlines a 30-year transformation designed to boost economic growth, expand housing and create a sustainable, innovation-focused city built around research, industry and community life.
La Trobe University City will be built around four neighbourhoods accommodating up to 15,000 residents, with 15 per cent affordable housing. The plan also includes facilities for more than 40,000 students, employment for 33,500 people, a completed sports precinct, a climate-resilient eco-corridor and improved transport links, including a proposed Suburban Rail Loop station.
Developed with extensive community input, including consultation with the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation, the masterplan reimagines the 255-hectare Bundoora site as a dynamic hub of knowledge and enterprise.
Chancellor John Brumby said the project has the potential to become a major economic force for the region. “University City could boost Gross Regional Product in Melbourne’s north-east by an estimated $440 million each year by the completion of the project, while additional interstate and international students could spend around $202 million per annum in the Victorian economy,” he said.
“La Trobe University City will not only transform our campus, it will create a thriving community that drives innovation and economic prosperity.”
The plan centres on a research and innovation ecosystem built around the university’s strengths in health innovation, artificial intelligence, sustainable agriculture and food and digital transformation.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Theo Farrell said the vision combines education, industry and lifestyle in a way that positions La Trobe for the future. “University City is a bold, purpose-built innovation city where education drives everything – and sparks so much more,” he said.
Plenary Group, selected in 2022 as the university’s development partner, has already begun work on an $82 million University Health Clinic. Head of Infrastructure Damien Augustinus said the project would redefine how university precincts are designed and delivered.
For more information on the masterplan or La Trobe University City, visit the website.
