As China’s economy enters a stage of high-quality development，many cities are facing the transformation and upgrading of industrial structure，accompanied by the multi-dimensional transformation and development of social structure and spatial structure. In the face of the increasingly fierce international competition and the decline of manufacturing status，Melbourne has successfully transformed from the manufacturing capital of Australia in the 1980s to the knowledge service city in the 21st century，becoming the most livable and respected knowledge-based city in the world. The transformation path of Melbourne includes both the industrial diversification strategy of the economic dimension，the multi-center metropolitan strategy of the spatial dimension and the affordable housing strategy of the livable dimension，which provides a valuable experience for global cities. Based on the analysis of Melbourne’s urban development evolution and transformation background，we focus on the Melbourne’s transformation path of the economic dimension. We also summarize from spatial structure optimization，the city quality improvement and innovation vitality cultivation of successful practices in supporting economic transformation，as a source of reference for China’s urban transformation and development.