Melbourne  is the capital of the state of Victoria, the second most populous city in Australia and the youngest of all the ‘world cities’. The city is the hub of a metropolitan area  of 4.1 million and it’s one of the world’s most multi-cultural cities. It’s located in the estuary of the Yarra River and it’s ranked as the world’s most livable city in recent ratings.  Melbourne is featured by a dynamic economic booming. In fact, despite of the crisis, it has a record low unemployment and a population growth. The city has been able to reinvent itself, from a Victorian era to a sustainable one.

Melbourne is now a major center for architecture, sustainability and the environment in Australia, it has been home to many examples of green buildings and sustainable development ,for example the 60L Green Building in Carlton and above all the Council House 2 (also known as CH2), in Melbourne’s Central Business District.  Melbourne has two different urban images. On one hand there is the Inner Melbourne with its  shopping centers , residential high-rise residential building and skyscrapers , mixed with the Victorian historical buildings. Much of the past  growth was due to the gold rush , one of the biggest in the world’s history, which saw a huge influx of migrants in the city. On the other hand, there is the suburban sprawl, one of the most large in the world, where the 80 % of the population live, with all the problems that are involved with this aspect, even if the tram network of the city  is one of the largest in the world.This type of urban sprawl is typical of city like Los Angeles, the most famous example of suburban city. The Central Business District skyline is broken up into 2 distinct skylines, the eastern and western, but all the city is dominated by the Rialto Towers and by the Eureka tower.

Although Sydney is surely the gate of Australia, Melbourne is still the financial, artistic and cultural capital of the country and it’s appeal is growing every year. An isolated city but at the same  time a very multicultural one.