Big apartments blocks part of strategy to arrest Adelaide city centre's population loss from 43,000 in 1915

New apartments are a response to big projects changing the city's profile.

Billions of dollars pumped into the city by the state government through projects such as the enlarged Adelaide Oval, Riverbank, Festival Centre and plaza upgrade are part of the strategy to arrest the drop in the CBD’s population.

A flurry of apartments projects has responded to the changing feel of the city. These include Vue on King William, Quest Apartments and Bohem on Whitmore Square.

Others tall apartments towers in the offing include Kyren Group's Frome Central project, the 34-storey tower next to a 21-storey student accommodation building between Rundle Street and North Terrace.

Kodo apartments in Carrington Street, Realm Adelaide off North Terrace and Echelon in King William Street south will also be imposing.

The City of Adelaide is the smallest area of any municipality (apart from Walkerville). But it is the wealthiest and the most powerful area in South Australia.
The city has about 50% of the population it had in 1915 when it reached more than 43,000.

By the 1960s, the city needed stimulation, with the population plummeting. It had already dropped to 28,000 from 35,000 in 1951 and continued to drop to 14,000 in 1972.

The City of Adelaide in 2016 had a population of just over 23,000 – up from a low of 12,290 in 1986. The city had grown at an average of 2.5 per cent, or by 529 people, each year over the previous five years.