November 10, 2026 — 7:30pm

Land would be reclaimed from Docklands’ Victoria Harbour for housing under a new plan to double the suburb’s population and reimagine it as a wetland oasis.

Architecture firm Bates Smart worked with Deakin University on the ambitious proposal to return parts of the area to its natural state and combat the area’s windswept wide boulevards.

Artist’s render of the reimagined Docklands with reclaimed land, mid-rise housing and a wetlands park area. Bates Smart and Deakin University

Bates Smart director Julian Anderson said Docklands struggled as an area because of the lack of density in the suburb, which the City of Melbourne estimates has a population of 19,139.

“The streets are too wide, it’s quite windswept,” he said.…