The Urban Developer
AdvertiseEventsWebinars
Urbanity
Awards
Sign In
Membership
Latest
Menu
Location
Sector
Category
Content
Type
Newsletters
Untitled design (8)
22 DAYS UNTIL OUR UNMISSABLE FLAGSHIP CONFERENCE MORE THAN 500 ALREADY ATTENDING
22 DAYS UNTIL OUR FLAGSHIP CONFERENCE 500+ ALREADY ATTENDING
SECURE YOUR SPOTDETAILS
TheUrbanDeveloper
Follow
About
About Us
Membership
Awards
Events
Webinars
Listings
Resources
Terms & Conditions
Commenting Policy
Privacy Policy
Republishing Guidelines
Editorial Charter
Complaints Handling Policy
Contact
General Enquiries
Advertise
Contribution Enquiry
Project Submission
Membership Enquiry
Newsletter
Stay up to date and with the latest news, projects, deals and features.
Subscribe
ADVERTISEMENT
SHARE
print
Print
OtherStaff WriterSun 05 Mar 17

Construction Cost Puts Melbourne In World's Top 20 Most Expensive

iStock-543473804_620x380

Melbourne made the list of top 20 most expensive cities to build in, according to the latest International Construction Cost report published by Arcadis.

Coming in at 14th, Melbourne's ranking increased since 2016 largely due to the prolonged impact of the slowdown in commodity markets and fluctuations in global currencies.

Arcadis Director Built Asset Consultancy Gareth Robbins said despite a strong pipeline of infrastructure projects in Victoria and across the country, Melbourne still sits in the top third of the most expensive cities to build in globally.

“Construction costs remain high in part due to Australia's geographic isolation. Compared to Europe and the Americas, there is far less private sector competition to complete construction work and these companies import a large proportion of construction materials, which can fluctuate in price due to the Australian dollar and taxes.

“Despite the cost, Melbourne has a strong plan for construction across rail, road-widening projects and new buildings underway.”

Taking the top spot in the construction report was New York followed by the high density Asian cities of Hong Kong (second), Geneva (third) and London (fourth).

At a global level, London fell two places since 2016, largely due to the devaluation of the pound following the UK’s Brexit vote making it less expensive compared to other cities.

Shanghai, in 35th, and Manilla, 38th, were the biggest fallers overall, both dropping eight places.

The highest climbers in the ranking of 44 cities were Auckland (13th), Belgrade (30th) and Taipei (40th) which all rose four places compared to 2016.

“High density cities like New York and Hong Kong are particularly high cost locations to build due to constraints with land availability, accessibility and land values," Mr Robbins said.

"Despite this they continue to prosper and see significant development activity thanks to their attractiveness as desirable global cities for commerce and people.

“The cost of building critical infrastructure and new buildings over the course of a long build phase is notoriously difficult to predict, making the challenge of providing as much cost and commercial certainty as possible a vital one.”

The top ten most expensive cities to build in are:

  1. New York

  2. Hong Kong

  3. Geneva

  4. London

  5. Macau

  6. Copenhagen

  7. Stockholm

  8. Frankfurt

  9. Paris

  10. Vienna

ResidentialRetailIndustrialAustraliaConstructionPlanningPlanningSector
AUTHOR
Staff Writer
"TheUrbanDeveloper.com is committed to delivering the latest news, reviews, opinions and insights into the best of urban development from Australia and around the world. "
More articles by this author
ADVERTISEMENT
TOP STORIES
Bates Smart Richmond Sportslink HERO
Exclusive

BtR Focus Drives Bates Smart’s Richmond Sportslink Concept

Leon Della Bosca
6 Min
Exclusive

Carparking Correlation: How Parking Fees Provide Office Sector Health Check

Taryn Paris
6 Min
Molti chief Ben Teague out front of 32 Mercer Road Aramadale (rendering)
Exclusive

Buy to the Sound of Cannons: Molti’s Counter-Cyclical Move to Melbourne

Leon Della Bosca
5 Min
Exclusive

Tapping the Bunnings ‘Halo Effect’

Taryn Paris
5 Min
Exclusive

‘Construction Not a Scale Game’: Hutchinson

Phil Bartsch
9 Min
View All >
Bates Smart Richmond Sportslink HERO
Exclusive

BtR Focus Drives Bates Smart’s Richmond Sportslink Concept

Leon Della Bosca
Construction workers building social housing in Gosford, New South Wales.
Affordable & Social Housing

HA Contracts Adds 18,000-Plus Homes to Pipeline

Marisa Wikramanayake
Construction of skyscrapers in the city
Development

Sector Confidence Steady but Reform Calls Grow Louder

Leon Della Bosca
The property sector stayed confident across the June quarter, fresh data shows, but the pressure on government is buildi…
LATEST
Bates Smart Richmond Sportslink HERO
Exclusive

BtR Focus Drives Bates Smart’s Richmond Sportslink Concept

Leon Della Bosca
6 Min
Construction workers building social housing in Gosford, New South Wales.
Affordable & Social Housing

HA Contracts Adds 18,000-Plus Homes to Pipeline

Marisa Wikramanayake
2 Min
Construction of skyscrapers in the city
Development

Sector Confidence Steady but Reform Calls Grow Louder

Leon Della Bosca
3 Min
Exclusive

Carparking Correlation: How Parking Fees Provide Office Sector Health Check

Taryn Paris
6 Min
View All >
ADVERTISEMENT
Article originally posted at: https://theurbandeveloper.com/articles/construction-cost-melbourne-expensive