Oldest Chinatown in Australia faces headwinds from suburban Melbourne New Chinatown plan in Box Hill
- It happened in Sydney, and in Brisbane – the lure of the suburbs drew the Chinese from those cities’ traditional Chinatowns to communities away from the centre
- Now a developer plans a US$310 million lifestyle, dining and residential complex 14km from historic Little Bourke Street, hub of Melbourne’s Chinese community
When large numbers of Chinese gold prospectors began arriving in Melbourne, Australia, in 1853, they would stop in the city’s Little Bourke Street to rest and obtain provisions before heading off to seek their fortune in the Victorian goldfields.
By the early 1860s many Chinese district associations had bought land there to build club rooms, which the Chinese community could use as meeting places, and soon the strip became Australia’s first Chinatown.
After more than 160 years of boom and bust Little Bourke Street is still there. Buildings from the 19th and early 20th centuries still stand, and today it is a food and cultural hub.
Chinatown’s survival is a testament to its ability to evolve, says Mark Wang, CEO and co-founder of Melbourne’s Museum of Australian Chinese History.
Given Chinatown’s history and cultural significance, plans for a A$450 million (US$311 million) New Chinatown 14km east of the city, not surprisingly, met a mixed response from Melburnians. Some were excited at the prospect of a new food and business strip, while others were sceptical, and saw the development as a cynical exercise in cultural exploitation.
The proposal follows a pattern of urban decentralisation and suburban development that is occurring in many of Australia’s cities.
