Complexity at the Fringe: Land-Use Changes, Conflicts and Air-Quality in Peri-Urban Melbourne, Australia

The peripheries of cities in Australia are witnessing dynamic socio-spatial changes driven by infrastructure growth and land-use changes. This study investigates how land-use changes and housing developments near legacy industries in a recently established outer suburb of Melbourne lead to land-use conflicts and emerging air quality concerns, such as dust, odour, and noise. Employing a mixed-methods approach that combines spatial analysis with stakeholder interviews, this study situates these conflicts and environmental issues within the fragmented and compliance-driven local planning and regulatory frameworks. Drawing on the lens of Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS), this study reveals how rapid housing development encroaches on industrial buffer zones, leading to incompatible land-use patterns and subsequent air quality concerns. The findings demonstrate that existing planning and regulatory frameworks are inadequate for managing the nonlinear and emergent dynamics of peri-urban growth, contributing to escalating air quality concerns. This study contributes to the current understanding of peri-urbanisation by exploring the linkages between land use transformations, inadequate planning frameworks and air quality concerns. We further highlight the need for an adaptive, context-specific, local planning framework to anticipate and respond to the dynamic challenges of peri-urban growth.