Yes in my back yard! Sydney and Melbourne activists demand ‘soft density’ to ease housing crisis

Jonathan O’Brien and Ethan Gilbert from Yimby Melbourne in front of the Nightingale Village in Brunswick. Like their Sydney counterparts, they want greater density in inner suburbs. Photograph: Penny Stephens/The Guardian

They are fed up with a lack of new housing, they’ve read up on the technicalities of zoning and heritage protections – and they’re coming to a local council meeting near you.

Historically low building approval rates as Australia stares down a worsening housing crisis have led to a chorus of housing activists and economists rebelling against the traditional opposition to any proposals to increase density from nimby (not in my back yard) residents.