Mapping the ‘beat’: the urban morphologies of Melbourne’s evolving live music clusters

Abstract

This paper explores how morphological conditions have mediated the evolution of live music venues in Melbourne. Three inner-city creative milieus have been selected in which the frequency of live music gigs shows different patterns of change: emergence, resilience and decline. The urban DMA—density, mix, access—of the study areas was mapped, as the synergies between these attributes have been linked to the emerging ‘atmosphere’ of creative places. The findings indicate that low residential density pockets within higher density neighbourhoods, mix of public–private interfaces including blank walls, fine grain, functional mix and permeability are key enablers of music clusters.