With Australians moving away from the inner city and into more affordable areas on the fringes, many people are missing out on the joy of community, experts say.

Sorry, this audio has expired What impact are sprawling suburbs built on our cities' fringes having on our sense of community?

Large housing estates, which have been around since the end of World War II, offer a popular alternative to those who see inner-city living as a perpetual pipe dream.

But the problem is, they've been designed to fit into a particular financial model, with most families owning a car, urban sociologist Peter Walters says.

This, he says, leads to more centralised amenities and residents "having to use their cars for almost everything".

"What that means is that very little of what they do is local to their neighbourhood," says Dr Walters, from the University of Queensland.

Inner-city bars might not be to everyone's taste, but the outer suburbs should at least have places to meet, experts say. ( Getty: Emeric Fohlen )

The flow-on effect is that residents have fewer "accidental encounters" with their neighbours in their local area, which ultimately creates a sense of community. They also have fewer "third places" to socialise outside of their homes and workplaces.

"If we walk up the main street of Newtown in Sydney or one of the streets in Fitzroy in Melbourne, we'll see lots of different bars and cafes and little clubs and things where people can sort of have a life outside of their private realm, outside of their home," Dr Walters says.

While the inner-city examples of "third places" might not be to everyone's tastes, he says people in the outer suburbs should at least have places to meet for "casual relaxed contact with the people who live around them".

Suburbia can be alienating — but sometimes it's tricky to fix

It can be an uphill battle for planners and governments struggling to keep pace. They need to provide infrastructure such as public transport, while providing the communities with schools, shops, parks and meeting places.

He says local pools in the 1960s were great "social magnets" but "this sort of public infrastructure is missing from a lot of new suburbs".

Often housing estates are developed first — with schools added later. ( Getty: Universal Images Group )

And just plonking green spaces into suburbs, such as wetlands and parks, isn't a solution, he adds.

"[It] can be a wonderful third place as long as it's safe, and it's attractive and it's shaded and within easy access of people's homes," Dr Walters says.

"If it's not planned properly ... women and older people often feel uncomfortable."

Wendy Steele, an associate professor of urban planning at RMIT, acknowledges there are challenges but believes that with "critical mass" comes opportunities and "hope" for people to be "creative" and make the spaces work.

In reality, more than 80 per cent of Australians live in "middle or outer suburbia" which can be "very alienating" and "homogenous", she says.

She agrees with Dr Walters, saying it means many residents find themselves feeling "disconnected" and "detached through poor infrastructure such as transport".

Renewal and reactivation could be the key

Associate Professor Steele says the so-called "renewal movement", which has seen pop-up shops take over vacant stores in suburban shopping strips, is one powerful example of "reactivating spaces" and creating vibrant communities.

She credits the movement, which invites artists and independent retailers to an area, for breathing life back into Newcastle.

What adds a community feel to places like Fitzroy isn't necessarily what people in suburbia are looking for. ( Getty: Emeric Fohlen )

But good planning can only go so far and people within communities "create a sense of place and space", she says.

"Community is not a homogenous idea. Fitzroy might be wonderful for a certain type of community ... but is it welcoming to our Indigenous communities? Is it welcoming to those where accessibility is an issue? Is it a safe place for women?" she asks.

"We have to be careful about romanticising certain ideas of what a good community spirit or third place looks like.

"We can look at some really well-planned areas but they have no sense of community at all," she says, citing Melbourne's Docklands.

"Planning ... cities [are] like romance. You can put together flowers, chocolates, the night at the movies, but does that create the buzz that you're looking for? Not necessarily."

Dr Walters believes "people crave community" no matter where they live.

"There's still a very strong sort of psychological or emotional need to know the people who live around you to feel secure, to do each other small favours and research has shown that if that sense of community exists, people actually commit to a neighbourhood," he says.

Finding community spirit in the suburbs

On Melbourne's western growth corridor, mother-of-two Kirsten Marran agrees.

She's advocating for more toy libraries in Australia's fastest-growing council area of Wyndham.

"That's where community space, where people can come and be is just so important," the Little Buddies Toy Library president says.

She says it's not unusual for women to feel isolated at home with their children, but it can be worse in the outer suburbs where many people aren't confident English speakers, don't have access to a car and may have just moved to the area.

Kirsten Marran says it's not unusual for women to feel isolated at home with their children. ( Supplied: Little Buddies Toy Library )

But since moving to the older and more established suburb of Hoppers Crossing, in 2010, her family has fallen in love with the area's energy, cultural diversity and young families.

"There's a warmth and openness because everyone is new. Everyone needs a friend," she says.

She believes the area's residents, including many migrants, are creating their own sense of community.

On the other side of town in Mernda, north-east of Melbourne, school teacher and mother-of-two Kylie Taig says she's found home.

"When we moved we made a decision to become part of the community," Ms Taig says.

"We were looking for somewhere with young families and bushland."

Her family spends time tending their plot in Mernda Community Garden at Carome and she offers parents advice about how they can help their kids with their homework.

The trade-off, however, is that she commutes to work up to two hours each way.

"Lots of people say, why don't you move? But we love it," she says.

"It's quiet and we know our neighbours, my son has lots of friends, there's hundreds of people running Parkrun out our front door.

"We do need to get in the car for a few minutes to get to the community garden, but that's OK."

As with many newer developments, it's taken time for infrastructure to arrive.

Ms Taig says the extension of the train line is a big deal and the police and ambulance station are also welcome recent additions.

Kylie Taig's husband Matt and son Noah often participate in Mernda's Park Run. ( Supplied: Kylie Taig )

"But there's things that still need doing," she says.

Major roads need upgrading, there are plans for a new aquatic centre and hospitals aren't close by.

"Being young we can access and drive to a lot of places, but when you get older, you want things close by," Ms Taig says.

Associate Professor Steele is hopeful, believing communities such as these can "flourish".

"What you need to bring together is really good principles of planning, good design, strong community, good democratic principles," she says.

"These all come together because it's really about that kind of caring and careful attentiveness to place and people in [that] place that will make a difference".