''He loves it. He's always telling his school friends how lucky he is to wake up and have the view of all the boats and his friends love coming here to play because they think it's like a hotel.'' Ms Elmazi moved to Docklands in 2003 and said she had noticed a lot more families moving into the area. ''Who wouldn't want to walk over a bridge and be at work or a lot closer to everything else you can do in the city,'' she said. ''And it's a great community down here so I don't blame people for wanting to make the move.'' Esther Kamien, her partner and her seven-year-old son, Ryan, moved from a house in suburban Knoxfield to a high-rise apartment in 2011. ''A lot of my friends don't get it, but we love it,'' she said. ''Our place is a lot smaller than where we were, but I think that encourages us to get outside and take advantage of all the things that are literally on our doorstep.''

She said she had no regrets about the lifestyle change. ''I wouldn't change it for the world and Ryan think's it's great, and there are plenty of other kids in the building for him to play with. I can't see myself going back to the suburbs to be honest.'' Allen Borg and his wife Colleen are about to give high-density housing a try after buying a three-bedroom apartment at New Quay. ''Time is the main reason we're moving,'' he said. ''We built our house in Sunshine West 17 years ago, but I'm just sick of spending so much time in traffic to get anywhere.'' He said his wife would be a tram ride from work and while he spent most of his days on the road, it would be easier to get where he needed to go from a more central location. Their son, Christopher, 21, hated the idea because he would be further from his friends, but their daughter, Shannon, 17, was thrilled.

''Some of our friends and neighbours think it's a great idea but others think we're crazy, but we've decided to give it a go and if it doesn't work out, we'll just move somewhere else.'' Baden Lucas, from Lucas Real Estate, said the majority of properties sold in the inner city over the past few years had been bought by owner-occupiers, many of whom were young families. ''The properties are more affordable than houses closer to the city and there are now a lot more family-friendly facilities in these areas to cater for the change in demographic,'' he said. ''At Docklands, for instance, there's now a pre-school, creche and kindergarten that are serviced well by those working and living nearby. There are also parks and other recreational areas. So while there might not be a backyard, there's certainly plenty of areas for the kids to play.'' The state government has also revealed a plan to build a government school in the inner city, perhaps within two years.

City of Melbourne statistics show there were 452 children aged four and under living in the CBD in 2011, and 153 aged five to nine, increasing to 600 and 243 respectively in 2013. Anton Wongtrakun, managing director of Dingle Partners real estate, said people were becoming less interested in a big backyard in the suburbs and all the maintenance that came with it. ''Most of these apartment buildings have quality facilities and recreational facilities … so people moving into high-density housing are really gaining a lot more than they're losing.'' But Monash University's Dr Bob Birrell, from the Centre for Population and Urban Research, disputed any such trend. ''Apartments are not suitable for raising families. There's a plenty of alternative options outside the apartment stock for people who are thinking about or who are raising a family,'' he said. ''All of the demographic data we have indicates there's a tiny minority of families and it's very unlikely to increase much.''