If you are a proud Brisbanite and are sick of hearing the words “Melbourne this, Melbourne that,” then you might cringe at the fact this article is dedicated to the progressive town planning decisions being taken in Melbourne. The video above illustrates how the city has come to be sucessful in creating vibrant public places that people care about.
Most of the issues raised in the video are common sense such as why grid roads are so important and the need to promote public transport and discourage car use.
The current LNP controlled Brisbane City Council has had since 2004 to move the council forward and create policies that mirror current day town planning methods. In small ways, they have done this with the introduction of the much teased City Cycle scheme, which could be said to be well ahead of its time.
Swanston Street to be closed to traffic and allow light rail & pedestrian access only
However the council has made too many big, bad mistakes which have starved place making policies of funding. These are known none other then the billion dollar holes in the ground that still continue now, funded by you and me. Some would say (Cambell Newman) that Clem7, Legacy Way and rest of the TransApexmotorway tunnels are needed to support population growth. What our decision makers don’t understand is that if you increased other modes of transport such as light rail, bus and heavy rail, in another 20 years time we will not need to duplicate the size of the motorways we are building right now.
Increasingly, it seems that Brisbane’s decision makers need to snap out of their 20th century car dependant frame of mind, and push hard like Melbourne has in supporting better pedestrian, cycle and street-level activity. We need to be smarter and better then we are now. Roads are not the way of the future, they will only become more of an impediment over time.
People say that if Melbourne had Brisbane’s weather, it would be perfect, but everything mentioned in that video is man made. Brisbane has the potential to perfect our built form, transport, street amenity and day/night activity to become Australia’s most liveable city, we just need to create policies that support more progressive planning methods.
5 comments
#1BrisUrbaneDecember 18, 2011, 11:30 am
I think there are many good things that Brisbane has done. The focus in the video is Melbourne but it is a very narrow definition of Melbourne- basically the CBD grid. Most people don’t live there and it is only a small part of the city.
Brisbane used to be a number of smaller townships until the amalgamation of them under the BCC in 1925. As part of this, and later due to programs such as Urban Renewal, Neighbourhood Planning and Suburban Centre Improvement Programs, Brisbane now has a number of very good suburban centres (think Stones Corner, Taringa, Mitchelton).
So a thought. Would it be worthwile to have a West End Mall? Close off a section of Boundary street?
#2oiksterDecember 19, 2011, 3:16 pm
The bus service is pretty good in the city, underground.,. We need that underground rail station one day. The Queen street mall is good, no traffic, not even trams.
It is hard for most to keep up with the Goma yearly program.
South Bank is world class, i dont think you could do much better than what they have got, and it took 20 years to create.
Our citycats are brilliant, and we need to give people time to discover our villages like Bulimba and Portsidewharf. One day we will hopefully have Indorpilly added to the citycat line.
Riverlife at Kangaroo point is just being discovered by locals. PLus how many poeple have even been on a Kookaburra Queen or been to Moreton island. ? Brilliant seaferring adventures yet to be discovered. You cant rush people, Brisbanites are like the river, slow and winding.
Those car tunnels divert traffic away from the city i thought.
#3VivDecember 19, 2011, 4:50 pm
I think Brisbane knows what it wants to be, and it’s not a clone of Melbourne or Sydney. I live here and don’t want to live in another Australian city, maybe overseas though. To me Brisbane will be the most exciting city to live in in the coming years, I can feel it accelerating towards a cultural critical mass. Melbourne and Sydney have reached their apogee, they will remain great, but will only clog and bloat in the coming decades, they can not become greater. But, Brisbane will.
#4oiksterDecember 20, 2011, 7:25 am
That would be a good idea Brisurbane, close off a section of West-end. Nothing more relaxing than not having cars pass through the streetscape.
The traffic would not be that heavy anyhow, and i am sure that the westendies would support the idea.
#5aldoniusJanuary 13, 2012, 1:03 pm
My pipe dream is to extend the Queen St Mall north, all the way to the Wharf/Eagle intersection. A bus tunnel continues underneath with a new station at the northern end and a redeveloped QSM station.
Victoria Bridge is closed to general traffic and Melbourne St also becomes a mall, or at least a shared zone, extending all the way to Boundary St.
The Cultural Centre bus station and Melbourne St busway portal are reconfigured to take advantage of this, perhaps with Grey St as a flyover.
To extend the dream, Albert St is also pedestrianised from King George Square to the Gardens.
http://g.co/maps/mcmhe
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