Melbourne is a city on steroids: the pace of growth it is experiencing is like nothing in our history.

It took Melbourne close to two centuries, from the town’s birth in 1835 until just after the Commonwealth Games in 2006, to tick over to a population of 4 million.

Melbourne just keeps on growing. Credit:Wayne Taylor

Melbourne should pass 5 million later this year.

A million extra people in little more than a decade.