As a result of an expanding economy and higher income, many Australian families are looking for bigger homes. They are planning and building houses with all the facilities they dream of, often including a home theatre, a four-car garage and ensuites for all bedrooms. Those new buildings, nicknamed 'mac mansions' because they are fast and easy to build are sprouting all over Australia. Some elderly neighbours are sad to see the leafier traditional suburbs give way to what they call 'a concrete jungle'. They are also nostalgic for a sense of community, which is fading now that 'castle thinking' is catching on and everything seems to happen behind those new towering walls.
Is this ostentatious display of wealth just the result of a competition among neighbours to do better and bigger than others? The owners themselves say they simply whish to provide their kids with a better lifestyle and see their properties as a reward for their hard work.