Victoria is pursuing an ambitious push to become Australia’s leading AI hub, with a wave of new data-center proposals across Melbourne and a Sustainable Data Centre Action Plan aiming to unlock up to AUD 25 billion in private investment. The Donnybrook Road site in Mickleham and related western clusters signal a high-stakes expansion as developers gear up for a hyperscale campus, potentially worth around AUD 4 billion, amid the state’s focus on coordinating planning and workforce development. In the United States, Petersburg, Virginia, has retooled zoning to treat data centers as a by-right use in industrial districts, dramatically speeding approvals and reducing public hearings as multi-building campuses move forward. NuVu Real Estate’s planned $1.1 billion, three-building campus exemplifies the wave, emphasizing clean energy, a closed-loop water system, and grid connections to minimize environmental impact. Petersburg’s pipeline also includes Menlo Digital’s 74-acre campus, Wagner Properties’ 73-acre site, and Warrenton Group’s 175-acre development, all enabled by zoning changes that cleared the path for data-center growth without rezoning reviews. Taken together, the reports illustrate a global shift toward streamlined, large-scale data-center development enabled by regulatory changes and strategic investment.”