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To celebrate the end of 2022, we’re revealing the top 15 locations our Nearmap MapBrowser users have searched for and viewed from above most this year*. Which city do you think will take out the number one spot?
Scroll down to find out, and join us as we unpack why each of these particular suburbs and cities could have been of interest to our customers, and to you!
One of Sydney’s most rapidly changing suburbs, Box Hill — in Dharug Country — is part of the State Government’s North West Growth Area and a suburb on every developer’s radar.
Since its rezoning in 2013, Box Hill has seen the construction of several, billion-dollar residential precincts — from ‘The Gables’ to ‘The Hills of Carmel' — and therefore, thousands of new homes (making it particularly popular amongst home buyers).
Neighbour to Badgerys Creek — where the new Western Sydney International Airport is currently being constructed — Kemps Creek in Darug Country has attracted several of its own large development projects.
Kemps Creek is where Amazon opened its first-ever Australian robotics fulfilment centre, where Microsoft plans to construct a $1.3 billion dollar data centre, and where Mirvac plans to host premium grade warehouse and logistic facilities within its 56-hectare industrial estate.
Also part of the North West Growth Area and on Darug Land — Marsden Park saw the construction of thousands of new homes and the Sydney Business Park in recent years and continues to attract large development projects such as a 24-hour industrial precinct.
The progress made within 2022 alone was captured by our frequently updated imagery.
Dubbo — Country to the Tubbagah People of the Wiradjuri Nation — is a regional city around 400 kilometres North-West of Sydney. It is also the centre of Australia’s first dedicated Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) — The Central-West Orana Zone.
This REZ is posed to unlock 3 gigawatts of wind, solar, and storage capacity — bringing $5 billion in new private investment and just under 4000 construction jobs into the region.
Badgerys Creek on Darug Land is home to one of the most significant transport infrastructure developments in Australia — the new Western Sydney International Airport (or Nancy-Bird Walton Airport).
Construction of ‘Sydney’s second airport’ began in November 2021, and it is expected to begin operations in 2026 — catering to projected aviation growth in the city, and easing congestion at the existing Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport in Mascot.
As the capital city of Australia, Canberra — occupying Ngunnawal Country — houses the Government of Australia and headquarters many government or public service agencies, including the Australian Defence Force.
Canberra has the fastest-growing estimated residential population of any Australian city according to the 2021 census, and increasing property demands have fueled a long-lasting construction boom in the capital.
Townsville is a coastal city in northeastern Queensland, on Bindal and Wulgurukaba Land. At the start of 2022, the city commenced its long-awaited $232 million Port of Townsville channel upgrade.
It was recently named one of Australia’s top 10 standout economic powerhouse cities. Considerations included the almost $12 billion in direct Local Government Area construction projects that are currently underway, plus notable defence and large-scale energy developments.
A city in northeastern New South Wales, Lismore — Country to the Widjabul people of the Bundjalung nation — is one of the most flood-prone urban centres in Australia and was among the worst affected areas during the 2022 Eastern Australia Floods.
Record-breaking rainfall brought on by La Niña saw flooding in Lismore peak at over 14 metres — two metres higher than ever recorded prior — destroying thousands of homes and sadly claiming a number of lives.
The devastation that struck Lismore was captured by our Nearmap ImpactResponse program in the days after the flood event.
Adelaide — in the traditional Country of the Kaurna people — is South Australia’s cosmopolitan coastal capital, and one of the capital cities with the lowest tree cover.
This year, we released our analysis of change in residential tree canopy across 281 Adelaide suburbs between 2011 and 2021. The AI-powered study revealed that just under three in ten Adelaide residents live in suburbs where tree cover is greater than 20%, and that over the past decade, substantially more Adelaide suburbs have lost tree canopy than have gained.
Across the 281 suburbs in the city, half have lost at least 9.8% of their residential tree cover, while just 18 suburbs gained 10% or more — calling for improved vegetation management.
You can see how our AI-identified tree canopy change in the Adelaide suburb of Vale Park in the following video.
Victoria’s second-largest city, Geelong — in Wadawurrung Country — is currently undergoing a development boom as tens of thousands of Melbournians ditched the capital for a ‘Geechange’ in recent years.
It’s the focus of the largest urban growth projects in regional Victoria — the Northern and Western Geelong Growth Areas, which will welcome more than 110,000 new Geelong residents. The Australian and Victorian governments have also signed off on a $500 million deal to revitalise Geelong, including funding for a convention centre and the Queenscliff Ferry terminal.
As famous for its plentiful, uncrowded beaches as it is for being home to one of the largest coal and exporting harbours in the world — Newcastle is the second most populous city in New South Wales and Country to the Awabakal and Worimi peoples.
It is one of the cities included in the State’s ‘Six Cities Region’ — a strategy that intends to address housing challenges, development constraints, environmental issues such as urban heat, and rapid urban growth in New South Wales.
Perth — located in the Country of the Whadjuk Nyoongar people — is not only the fourth most populous city in Australia but the fourth most searched location on our list.
The largest city of Western Australia is also the most remote capital in the world and the headquarters of Australia’s mining industry.
Sydney’s population of over five million people share an area covering 12,000 square kilometres across 658 suburbs — four of which appear on this very list.
Undergoing seemingly constant development and new infrastructure builds, Australia’s biggest and most familiar metropolitan city — home to the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation — looks slightly different, and even more fascinating, with each new survey we fly.
The Sydney-Melbourne rivalry continues as the two cities rank side by side on yet another list.
Melbourne — or Naarm, the traditional lands of the Kulin Nation — is the capital city of Australia’s southeastern State of Victoria — and the second most populous city in Australia. It was ranked the most liveable city for seven consecutive years from 2011 to 2017 — retaining a top 10 ranking to this day (the only Australian city to do so).
Built around and characterised by the sinuous Brisbane River — known as Maiwar by the original indigenous inhabitants of the Turrbal Nation — Brisbane is the capital city of Queensland and the third most populated city in Australia.
As captured by our ImpactResponse imagery, the city and its surroundings suffered major damage at the hands of the 2022 Eastern Australia Floods. Insured losses in Brisbane alone climbed to $1.38 billion — more than any other local government area in Australia.
These locations are only a small number of those which we cover in Australia. Expanded imagery will cover up to 95% of the population, over 100 urban and some remote areas across Australia, with orthographic, oblique and immersive 3D datasets.
Learn more by visiting our Coverage webpage, or by chatting with our team about what you can achieve with current aerial imagery of your locations of interest — get in touch today!
While we make every effort to ensure the accuracy of the data and analysis in blog articles, this information is not to be relied on as professional advice. No endorsement or approval of any third parties or their advice, opinions, information, products or services is expressed or implied by any information in the blog. Should you seek to rely in any way whatsoever upon this content, you do so at your own risk.
