Transit Oriented Development in Brisbane?

Transcription

1 Lex Clayman TOD in Brisbane? University of Queensland Transit Oriented Development in Brisbane? A Woolloongabba case study Lex Clayman Thesis submitted for the Masters of Urban and Regional Planning 01 June of 34

2 Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction: What is TOD Literature Review Research Methodology Active and Private Transport Public Realm Public Transport Research Review Woolloongabba Case Study Woolloongabba Core Settlement Patterns in the Gabba Ward Transport and Accessibility Case Study Conclusion Recommendations Centre Management Settlement Patterns and Pedestrian Realm Public and Active Transport Policy and Other Recommendations TOD in Brisbane Citations of 34

3 Acknowledgements I would like to Thank Mike Gillen for his help in guiding this research. I would also like to extend a thank you to the Woolloongabba business association for their invitation to discuss the state of their suburb. 3 of 34

4 Transit Oriented Developments for Brisbane? Lex Clayman Abstract: This paper will demonstrate reasons that developments that Brisbane calls 'transit oriented' are not so. Brisbane's attempt to reign in urban sprawl has led the city to embrace many of the principles of transit oriented development (TOD) as outlined by the Queensland government guidelines. Through outdated policy, poor development choices, and a focus on individual sites rather than the greater city, Brisbane has created transit adjacent developments, where centres can only be reached by some form of transport due to being built at an automobile scale as opposed to a pedestrian scale. This paper will use the eastern suburb of Woolloongabba as a model of problems with Brisbane's transport and land uses. Drawing upon other TOD writings, solutions will be found centred on the broad theme of settlement patterns, public realm and integrated transport connectivity. 1.0 Introduction What is TOD? Cities in Australia since World War II have been expanding outward from the centre at a very rapid pace. The reason for this was the embrace of the Australian dream, which promised a quarter acre lot with a detached house and a garden. This promise was enticing for the returned veterans to raise their larger families more comfortably, and because the market demanded it, developers began to supply it (Hamnett, S. 1984). Today, cities are feeling the shock and negative effects of this style of development. As petrol prices rise to record highs, the demand for housing separated from amenities that can only be accessed by automobiles is diminishing rapidly. Brisbane has favoured lower density development since the late 1800s. In an effort to reduce inner city congestion and to avoid slums like those that Sydney and Melbourne were developing, The Undue Subdivision of Land Preservation Act 1885 mandated that no inner city lot be smaller than 400 square metres. As automobiles became more accessible, development began to spread further and further from the urban centre of Brisbane. (Sanderson, S. 2010). Major Australian Cities' (Statistical division) Population density per square km Total Population (30 June 2010) Sydney ,575,532 Melbourne ,077,036 Brisbane ,043,185 Adelaide ,203,186 Perth ,696,065 (ABS. 2010) 4 of 34

5 Other than Perth, Brisbane has the lowest population density of any of the capital cities. In recent years this is due to unsustainable automobile based development facilitated by the Wilbur-Smith Plan, and the focus on building tunnels that bypass the inner city, as opposed to upgrading public transport, or road infrastructure (Hamnett, S. 1984). Brisbane has however attempted to reign in some of its sprawling nature by embracing transit oriented development principles. Transit oriented development (TOD) is an idea that communities should be dense and walkable, situated within about a five minute walk of public transport. In Brisbane this has often meant a focus on individual urban and suburban centres being built at a pedestrian scale, but older developments, and residential neighbourhoods are often forgotten when the infrastructure and developments are built. This development centred focus on TOD is why TODs have been failing in Brisbane. Transit oriented developments need to be part of a broader scheme of consolidation concentrating on enhancing existing settlement patterns and creating new ones, where the centres provide necessary services to the communities they serve while enhancing the character of the overall city. Many of Brisbane's TOD and planning faults are on display in Woolloongabba. Woolloongabba is isolated from itself and other inner suburbs due to the motorway running through its major centres and roads. Woolloongabba itself is a multi nucleated suburb, with central points at the Mater Hospital, the Gabba Cricket and Football grounds and the Princess Alexandria Hospital. Separating the central places of Woolloongabba are four to six lane roads that move automobiles and busses through at high speeds. The main route of public transport to the core of the suburb is the Woolloongabba bus station, with the Mater and PA hospitals also having bus station access on the eastern busway. Other problems with Woolloongabba include poorly connected cycle lanes, public realm that is dominated by automobile based land uses and an unsafe, disconnected pedestrian environment. The aim of this paper is to assess Woolloongabba's TOD faults as a case study for Brisbane. The issues will be assessed against both academic literature, as well as successful developments from Australia and abroad. The paper will review the relevant literature on transit oriented development, both generally and in Brisbane, as well as the topics of settlement patterns, and its connection with multi-modal transport, land use, and public realm. The methodology review will outlines a basic study of Woolloongabba based on self assessment and reviews of other people's perceptions of their journeys through Woolloongabba. The discussion will use the literature and best practice examples to improve upon the studies undertaken of Woolloongabba. 5 of 34

6 It will also further expand on the assessment of Woolloongabba by looking at the relevant codes and policies that may have caused Woolloongabba's current form. The final part of the paper will apply those recommendations to the greater Brisbane region, as well as recommend more comprehensive study goals to improve upon this work. 2.0 Review of Literature The literature set the stage for deciding where to focus on Woolloongabba's development problems. The most prominent research on TOD in Brisbane has been done by Chris Hale and Philip Charles (Hale, C. Charles, P. 2007). They analysed the institutional framework surrounding transit oriented development, Brisbane's approach, and then followed with their own recommendations. Hale and Charles' findings were that most of Brisbane's TOD policy and infrastructure was in its infancy, and to proceed effectively, milestone based development targets should be set to ensure effective and speedy delivery of transit oriented developments. For a more general overview of what TOD is supposed to be, Ryan Falconer and Emmerson Richardson's (2010) Perth case study provides an overview of the elements of a traditional TOD settlement, with a focus on walkable centres, with adjacent TOD's. Their Perth study is indicative of the Brisbane model, of up to 1km or more between activity centres. TOD settlement with focus on individual developments (Falconer, R. & Richardson, E. 2010) One of the studies that challenges the claims of Falconer and Richardson is Buchanan and Barnet's (2006) study of fringe master planned developments in Christchurch New Zealand. The study concluded that without amenities such as career level jobs, transport times and choices change very little despite multi modal access to basic amenities such as grocery stores, or restaurants within the TOD zone. It also showed that people often do not change their travel habits if new means of travel are introduced after their current travel habits are already established. 6 of 34

7 In the book the high cost of free parking, Donald Shoup (2004) presents facts about the over saturation of parking in the United States, and the planning outcomes of setting parking minimums and free parking. Shoup also explores a range of parking policies to improve both public realm, and accessibility such as peak hour parking pricing, community car parks, and street fee collection. Sigrid Sanderson's article about thirty minute catchments highlights the importance of multi nucleated centres, and how public realm and transport needs intersect at different catchment levels. Woolloongabba being within 30 minutes of a cycling distance of the CBD is ripe for medium to high density development (Sanderson, S. 2010) 30 minute walking and cycling catchments in Brisbane from Brisbane CBD with the right types of connections. Sanderson's conference paper does not highlight the specifics of land uses and urban design's effect on travel time and choices. However, a study conducted by Laurie Buys and Evonne Miller (2012) highlighted a disconnection between inner urban high density (IUHD) developments, and transport modes. Through interviews with residents in high density areas in inner Brisbane, their study determined that despite living in areas well serviced by public transport, perceptions of efficiency still kept residents using their private vehicles for non work and inter-suburban trips. Continuity of trips and convenience we're the primary factors that motivated people to keep using their automobiles as their primary mode of transport. 7 of 34

8 Research from Kozlowski and Huston (2008) explores the value of enhanced public realm and higher density development in South Bank and Kelvin Grove. Their research compliments that of Buys and Miller's by showing the value that an enhanced public realm brings. Kelvin Grove and South Bank also had significantly higher rates of people walking to work due to the multitude of employment opportunities at South Bank, and the the growing QUT technology centre. Their research also demonstrated some of the negatives of enhanced public realm planning in small localised centres, with people being priced out of their neighbourhoods. The final piece of pedestrian realm research concerns evaluation methods of the pedestrian realm (Stangl, P. 2008). Stangl's research compiles several evaluation methods for creating and evaluating the effectiveness of pedestrian transport and pedestrian realm projects. The main focus of this article for the purposes of this paper will be the deficiency index, which is described as: "...based on a set of factors chosen as surrogates for ease of crossing, sidewalk continuity, and street connectivity (Ibid, D-8). Sidewalk continuity is measured by a formula that estimates sidewalk completeness on both sides. Ease of crossing is similarly scored by a set of measures including traffic speed, traffic volume, roadway width, and auto-pedestrian crashes. Street connectivity is estimated by the length of street segments, with shorter blocks resulting in greater connectivity." (Stangl, P. 2008) In addition to these academic studies, various neighbourhood codes and council policies were assessed. Brisbane City Council's West End-Woolloongabba plan is the base document that will be assessed against the academic research, and similar plans around Australia and the world. Supplementary to Brisbane's specific neighbourhood codes in chapter four of the City Plan 2000 document, the generic codes will also be a subject of this research for their strengths and weaknesses. 3.0 Research Methodology 3.1 Active and Private Transport This research was conducted by visits to Woolloongabba by multiple methods, cycling, walking and driving. Assessments were done by determining how much time it took to travel between the Gabba and various centres and suburbs by different modes of travel. Travel times were recorded to determine the effectiveness of each mode of travel. The public realm research was taken from people's subjective opinions on their walks between centres and suburbs. The respondents were asked their feelings on the topics of safety, comfort and sense of place. For the discussion portion of this paper, the data was analysed against the relevant planning codes, to determine if the sources of the issues that people had with Woolloongabba. 8 of 34

9 Cycle times Centres (Travel times from the Gabba Stadium) PA Hospital Mater Hospital Southbank Fortitude Valley West End (Boundary St.) 11 Min 12 Min 16 Min 22 min 15 min (Clayman, A. 2012) The first observation about cycling between centres in Woolloongabba was the inconsistency of bike paths. Paths began and ended without warning, making for a dangerous environment on the higher speed roads (60km per hour). It was also apparent that new infrastructure was built with cycling initiatives. Where recent road and building works have been done, bike lanes were clearly marked, and up to design code of 2.5 metres width (BCC. 2000) 1. The shared lanes were more problematic due to being unable to manoeuvre in heavy traffic, with traffic on the right and parked cars on the left, dodging opening doors from the parked cars on sudden notice was a hazard. The most continuous bike path was Stanley street across from the busway. On the south east side of the motorway, there was a shared bike and car lane that is separated by a physical barrier giving a safe haven to cyclists on the higher speed road. The separated lane gave way to an exclusive bicycle lane that ran all the way past the motorway overpass before ending. The bike lane began again around Mater hospital, toward the South Bank Parklands. As Stanley Street became the two way Vulture street, the road was marked for as a shared street, but with little room near the parked cars for cyclists to avoid automobile traffic. Walking times Centres (Travel times from the Gabba Stadium) PA Hospital 25 minutes Mater Hospital of 34

10 Centres (Travel times from the Gabba Stadium) Southbank 30 minutes Fortitude Valley 48 minutes West End (Boundary St.) 33 minutes Compared to the bike paths, footpaths were much more complete. The major disconnections occurred at street crossings, and car park access points. To reach the Gabba stadium from the Gabba busway, there were seven lanes to cross, in addition to the two lanes over the south-east busway. City blocks in Woolloongabba are overall very long and unbroken, however crossings are usually all at street corners, with few zebra crossings. With high speed traffic along main roads, this made journeys longer due to the need to double back to reach any areas of interest. Through residential areas like Woolloongabba hill, roads were less hazardous to cross due to less activity, but footpaths were very narrow, and often had unmaintained brush growing over the footpath. To walk between suburbs is difficult. No journey was less than 30 minutes and the trips were often much more broken than trips within Woolloongabba. The walk to Fortitude Valley via the Story Bridge was broken up by the need to cross main street back and forth several times due to footpaths suddenly ending, or construction work. The walk to West End was more continuous, with similar troubles of long wait times to cross main roads. The major problem that was observed during the footpath assessment was the lack of activation along the footpath. While this will be elaborated upon in the next section of the research, it is important to note that the motivation to take journeys by walking are dependent on the ease of which walking occurs (density) and the level of active frontages on the street (activity) (Stangl, P. 2008). Currently both within Woolloongabba and between the its nearby suburbs, walking is not a welcoming option due to a lack of pedestrian realm along the main roads. Driving Times Centres (Travel times from the Gabba Stadium) PA Hospital (Ipswich Road) 6 Min 10 of 34

11 Centres (Travel times from the Gabba Stadium) Mater Hospital (Stanley St.) Southbank (Stanley St.) Fortitude Valley (Main St.) West End ( via Vulture St.) 7 Min 11 Min 8 Min 14 Minutes The driving study was done using the main roads routes as suggested by google maps. Beginning at a car park across the road from the Gabba stadium on Stanley street, each trip was done to the main centre of each suburb, or to the entrance of each hospital. Driving is by far the most effective way to navigate through Woolloongabba, both internally and between suburbs, at least initially confirming the perceptions of IUHD residents in Buys and Miller's study (2012). This places Woolloongabba firmly in the car catchment, and partially within the cycling catchment. Better pedestrian and cycling connections could place Woolloongabba in the 30 minute cycle and pedestrian catchments. (Sanderson, S. 2010) 11 of 34

12 3.2 Public Realm What defines a 'good' public realm is largely subjective, for this study, five people were selected, and were walked around the Gabba stadium and Logan road centre. Some people were also walked to the different centres both in Woolloongabba and adjacent suburbs. To maintain a level of objectivity participants were asked a series of questions after their journey relating to their comfort during travels, ease of mobility, sense of place or character and their ability to find their own way. The responses for each topic were varied, but most of the criticisms were all around similar elements. For the Woolloongabba core 2, responses we're favourable toward comfort in the Logan road shopping area, where shade was provided by the awnings and building heights, respondents said that the Logan road shopping area was an especially unique place, and they spent time exploring in and around it. Many complained about mobility, saying that street crossings had too long of waiting times, and when they lost sight of the Gabba stadium, way finding became very difficult. The walk to the Mater hospital yielded similar responses, that along Stanley street, the shade and traffic buffer made it more comfortable to walk, and the presence of furniture stores, cafe's gave them reason to pause. On the west side of the highway, the heritage buildings were interesting to look at, and had enough cafe's and stores that walking along the footpath was comfortable. The major mobility complaint was how narrow the footpaths were. People reported problems in all four categories when they had to walk from the Gabba to the PA hospital, and the Gabba to the Story Bridge. The heat of the walk made people uncomfortable, they said there was virtually no shade along either route, and very few places to stop. On their way to the Story bridge respondents reported streets splitting off, with signage being unclear as to which street led to the bridge. The journey to both destinations also showed little sense of place or character according to respondents. Besides the occasional hotel, store or cafe, buildings were either set back in favour of car parking space, or just had no activation on the ground floor. During a night time trip to the Story Bridge, one respondent felt unsafe due to the lack of street level lighting. 3.3 Public Transport The public transport study for Woolloongabba was done by self assessment, riding various busses on the busway to the Woolloongabba bus station, as well as some bus routes that went by the main roads. Assessments were done during peak hours. The results of the ride were that rides to the Gabba busway station took about 8-10 minutes from the cultural centre busway. 2 From the Gabba Or Logan Road to Baclava or Broadway streets. 12 of 34

13 Despite the aforementioned problems of the wide roads, there was a clear sense of direction despite lack of signage when one arrives at the busway platform. The Gabba stadium is straight ahead, as is the Logan road shopping district, and the Woolloongabba centre and Stanley street shops are also within immediate view. Many of the busses also went to the south side of Woolloongabba, centred around the PA hospital. Bus rides took approximately 8-15 minutes from the cultural centre, however the sharpest difference between the Woolloongabba busway stop, and the PA hospital stop is the public realm that awaits outside. The PA hospital is a centre with a specific purpose (BCC. 2011) where Woolloongabba is a main activity centre and subject to different design guidelines. The busses that connected from West end were infrequent, and travelled along Ipswich road, while busses like the 475 that travelled from the western suburbs, took up to 45 minutes to reach Woolloongabba due to having to cross through the city, and fortitude valley to reach the Story Bridge. 3.4 Research Review Woolloongabba seems to follow the development pattern demonstrated by Falconer and Emmerson's (2010) study of separated TODs. A key difference that is present in Woolloongabba, the areas between centres are centres are largely not walkable. The Woolloongabba central is master planned, and by design close to amenities, but that development is not largely integrated into the rest of the suburb. Woolloongabba is serviced by high frequency public transport. The transparency of the transport system may be a large factor as to why it is not more widely used. The PA hospital stop is well integrated, as the busway feeds directly into the hospital campus. The Woolloongabba bus station however is situated across the road from all the activity of the centre. Woolloongabba bus station across from all activity (Hale, C & Charles, P. 2007) 13 of 34

14 While the station does technically conform to TOD rules of having activity within walking distance of transit stops, it violates the principle of integrated transit design (Halbur, T. 2007). This initial research shows Woolloongabba has some strong examples of public realm along Logan road, and Stanley street, but that realm is not well connected to any of the other centres in Woolloongabba, or the nearby suburbs. The most efficient way to travel the suburb is by car, with the scale of development accommodating vehicular movement before all other modes of transport. The next section will be the case study of Woolloongabba, comparing this research with the Woolloongabba neighbourhood plan, and the relevant codes that may have led to this development style. 4.0 Woolloongabba Case Study Woolloongabba is being used as a model for TOD in Brisbane, it was selected because its accessibility along the busway, and numerous disconnected centres made it similar to many Brisbane suburbs. Until recently, Woolloongabba was targeted for intensive development by the Urban Land Development authority (ULDA), with the urban development area being centred around Stanley street on both sides of the motorway Urban Development Area, Woolloongabba. (ULDA. 2010) of 34

15 This intensified development strategy included provisions for mixed uses, walking and cycling getting transport priority, and high density development. Currently though at time the time of this writing, the development powers seem to be preparing to be returned to Brisbane City Council, making that neighbourhood plan the dominant development blueprint (Brisbane Times. 2012) Woolloongabba Core (BCC. 2000) The first major issue with development around the Woolloongabba core is the lack of activation on the street near the stadium. A Woolloongabba structure plan has identified future potential of sites, but has not stated what needs to be done with those areas (Hale, C. & Charles, P. 2007). The Woolloongabba stadium is bordered on almost all sides by inactive space. While some of this space is green space for public use, the frontages along Vulture street, Wellington road, and Stanley street across from the stadium, are largely inactive, hosting either light industrial businesses such as automobile repair, or retail services such as computer repair and furniture shops of 34

16 To intensify development in the core, services need to be tailored to keeping families and sports fans in Woolloongabba before and after games. With the stadium as an anchor, businesses should be able to attract customers before and after games, as well as establish a reputation as an active district outside of events (NYC. 2009). A model for a stadium as an anchor for development is the new Yankee stadium precinct in the Bronx, New York. Yankee stadium is situated next to a subway stop, is along a bus line, and it provides amenity beyond the sporting ground. The stadium provides public sporting facilities, and is an anchor for businesses centred on baseball. Yankee stadium and village Images from Google images 16 of 34

17 With the new stadium project as a catalyst, New York city was able to build an entire neighbourhood centre with unique amenities and character. New York was able to achieve this through key rezoning, and density minimums. The city has also planned to have different professional services moved to the area such as the Bronx civic courts, attracting more professionals to live where they work (NYC. 2009) 5 In order for Woolloongabba to embrace a similar stadium strategy, parts of the planning code relating to building lot sizes need to change in order to allow greater usage of lots. Currently on sites less than 1000 square metres, buildings are only allowed to use up to 50% of the space on the lot, while lots smaller than 2000 square metres can only use the 1.0x the space on the lot. (BCC. 2000) 6 With Brisbane City Council resuming development control over Woolloongabba, the Stanley street side of the road needs a higher density, mixed use treatment. The centre design code governing the whole area is a way to allow mixed use developments into the area, but it does not govern the specific design. The subtropical design for south east Queensland (Queensland. 2006) 7 puts forth elements that should be present in new buildings, and there are controls by Brisbane City Council governing how building podiums touch the ground, and building setbacks. Furthermore part of Stanley street is limited by the heritage protections for the Logan road shopping area. The importance of bringing activity to a neighbourhood is paramount to attracting residents, in order to promote high density living, residents choose their location based on amenities (Buys, L. & Miller, E. 2010). With some career level jobs in Woolloongabba like the Queensland land care services, or the department of sport and recreation, some professionals may be lured to the area, but provisions for medium to high density commercial/retail development should be established along Ipswich Road to densify the street and create an active corridor down to the PA hospital subtropical_design_seq.pdf 17 of 34

18 Lex Clayman TOD in Brisbane? University of Queensland 4.2 Settlement Patterns in the Gabba Ward The Gabba Ward needs to be the focus of settlement connectivity (Abrahams, H. 2012)8 The local government area that Woolloongabba is represented under is the Gabba ward, it includes West end, Woolloongabba, Highgate Hill, Dutton Park, East Brisbane, and Kangaroo Point. Most of these suburbs have one or more features that make them either key strategic transport areas like, Like Dutton park with the train station, and its access to the Schonell Bridge to the University of Queensland/St. Lucia make it an ideal centre for intensive development that can provide jobs, and higher density living that could relieve pressure from the CBD, while still being highly accessible to the CBD. Other centres such as the Woolloongabba core, Boundary Street in West End, South Bank, and the Kangaroo point cliffs already have character and transport access, but they need to be connected via walkable corridors that run adjacent to housing. Until recently, Brisbane has always favoured lower density development, in its bid to compete with the southern cities, Brisbane developed its centres very rapidly over the past two decades, but with an emphasis on development, and not planning (Hamnett, S. 1984). The result of this development boom can be seen in the automobile orientation that Woolloongabba displays. Also like most Australian cities, Brisbane master plans many of its suburban neighbourhood centres due to state control of planning systems, and planning to meet specific outcomes of housing, and development (Searle, G. 2012) of 34

19 In doing so Brisbane has turned its centres into destinations, but has left the areas between centres, like Ipswich road to the PA hospital or Main street toward the Story bridge filled with automobile based uses, and dead space. In order to connect the centres of the Gabba ward, Brisbane should rethink some of its planning approaches. While master planning centres can create character, a relational planning approach similar to those taken by Sydney and many European cities, facilitates connections between centres to be established, and while centres remain functional hearts, nodes compliment the services provided in the centres (Searle, G. 2012). Top: City of Sydney relational plan, nodes connect to centres Bottom: Regional Sydney Nodes and connections (Sydney 2030, 2011) of 34

20 Sydney has followed a regional approach similar similar to the suggestions from Jan Byfuglien (2008) where Jan's study of settlement patterns of regional towns and urban centres in Norway where he determined people in regional areas had commuting regions depending on their needs. He concluded that connections between regions can be emphasised by turning regional nodes into larger nodal clusters, and internal improvements to regional nodes like unique features or services. With inter suburban connectivity being a major issue for Brisbane (Buys, L. & Miller, E. 2012), the treatment of public space along main road corridors is going to be important to creating a flow that will allow centres to connect to centres by walking, as well as transport (Stangl, P. 2008). To implement a relational plan for the Gabba ward, would require planning strategies that strategically lure certain types of businesses that require face to face interaction in order to support a daytime retail/restaurant economy, and fill the higher priced housing and providing local patrons to support a nighttime economy (Kozlowski, M. & Huston, S. 2008). A major inhibiting factor to improving the Gabba ward's settlement patterns will be private land holders (Kozlowski, M. & Huston, S. 2008). Kozlowski and Huston found in their study of South Bank and Kelvin Grove that the ease in which well designed development can be mandated in Australia and Brisbane is much more limited than elsewhere in the world: "...with so much land elsewhere in private ownership and development regulated largely by property market mechanisms, local authorities and state governments in Australia can only marginally influence urban design master plans to alleviate some of the negative social and affordability impacts of large-scale gentrification projects. The newly designed and built mixed income housing estates common in Holland or Denmark, where local authorities either own or have traditionally more development powers (Beatley, 2000), cannot be duplicated in Australia." To successfully alter the urban form of Woolloongabba and/or the Gabba ward as a whole, there would need to be a large amount of cooperation between the multitude of land holders, developers, state government and city council. To further alter the fabric of the Gabba ward, the number of trips that need to be taken by any kind of motorised transport should be reduced. While moving jobs near to where people live is a good way to encourage public transport use in traditional TOD models (Falconer, R. & Richardson, E. 2010). But Buchanan and Bartnett (2005) demonstrated that people do not change their travel patterns just by having amenities clustered in centres. Some amenities like corner shops, newsagents, small family restaurants and convenience stores should be integrated into lower density residential areas. The idea being that not every trip needs to be taken to a single main street or centre. Furthermore, small shops build character of an area and a city. 20 of 34

21 The Gabba core is the social and cultural heart of Woolloongabba, while the hospitals do represent significant centres of activity, their purpose is very specific, and they create anchors for some higher density residential for hospital workers to live near where they work, but the real attraction of Woolloongabba is the Gabba core. Therefore intensified development should occur down Stanley street, Ipswich road, and Main street to make connections between the Gabba core, hospitals, and Kangaroo Point more natural by making main roads walkable activity centres that are within walking distance of most existing housing. Other minor roads like Broadway street, East Stanly street, could see their unoccupied buildings and sparsely occupied car parking serve as new local convenience stores, and community space. Woolloongabba is in a unique position to be a main attraction that is closely situated across two non CBD river crossings (Eleanor Schonell Bridge, and the Story Bridge). With a relational planning scheme governing the Gabba ward, strong settlement connections should be seen along Main street up Kangaroo point to the bridge, currently most buildings are set back far from the street and oriented inward. The draft plan for Kangaroo point addresses most of the issues involving dead space and mobility through the peninsula (BCC. 2011) 10. The Dutton Park and Park Road train stations present an opportunity to create a major node to compliment the Woolloongabba core and further bring non-hospital related jobs to the area. Student housing villages would be a key factor in bringing livelihood to the area. Coupled with high density development and public realm planning down Ipswich road, a multi modal connection should be able to be created between suburbs. The other two major cultural hearts that need to be more actively connected with the Woolloongabba core are the South Bank Parklands, and Boundary Street in West End. Vulture street is the road that is adjacent to all three centres, and is the main link from West end to the Gabba core. South Bank connects with Woolloongabba at the Mater Hospital where Stanley Street becomes Vulture street, this link is well connected by cycle paths, but those paths end when heading toward Gladstone road. The next section of part four will explore integrated public and active transport. The treatment of main roads for the purpose of settlement connectivity will be dependent on public realm planning. Buildings and open space need to be intertwined, with activity engaging pedestrians, making the main roads walkable. Building up main roads with high density mixed uses allows those uses to be spread across the suburb, as opposed to concentrated in separated mixed use centres kangaroo_point_south_neighbourhood_plan.pdf 21 of 34

22 4.3 Transport and Accessibility The initial research has shown that public transport is an efficient way to reach Woolloongabba, while an automobile is the best way to travel around Woolloongabba and to the nearby suburbs. This is confirmed also in residents' perceptions of public transport in Brisbane as being mostly effective when needing to make a single trip journey to the CBD for work and back home (Buys, L. & Miller, E. 2010). Woolloongabba displays more of a system of transit adjacent development. Transit adjacent development (TAD) is essentially a failed TOD development, where the elements of TOD are present but all the rules are broken (Halbur, T. 2007). Transport may lead to a walkable destination, but shops are not oriented to transit stations, the transit stop is isolated and poorly designed, there are no incentives to ride public transport due to the excess amounts of car parking in the area, and while uses are close together, they are not integrated organically. When these are applied to Woolloongabba it can focus on the single dwelling detached developments on Woolloongabba hill separated by the main roads, the bus station that is across the road from all the major developments, a multitude of free parking by housing along the neighbourhood roads, and the complete lack of walkability or transit options between centres. Woolloongabba's transport problem can not be solved without discussing the rest of Brisbane. Brisbane's public transport system is part of a system that serves the entirety of the South-East Queensland region, while this makes for a system that is coordinated and oriented to longer distance trips, the local routes are routed through mono centric transport nodes, in this case that centre is Brisbane CBD. Brisbane CBD is the converging point where busses in the Brisbane region are sent out from. Brisbane 'BUZ' network converges through the CBD creating congestion (BCC. 2011) %20Public%20transport/BUZ_Schematic_ pdf 22 of 34

23 Lex Clayman TOD in Brisbane? University of Queensland Woolloongabba is too close to Brisbane CBD to make it another urban nucleus like Parramatta, Penrith, Liverpool (NSW. 2010)12. Instead, its strategic location lies in its access to the non CBD river crossings of the Story and Eleanor Schonell bridges and its ability to handle spillover development from the CBD. With the cross river rail, public transport in Woolloongabba has a chance to undergo a facelift to become a proper transit oriented suburb (QLD. 2012)13. While the four to six lane wide main roads present a significant challenge to scale and non motorised mobility, they also are able to be adapted to accommodate more bus only and cycle lanes without reclaiming pedestrian space. Like many new urban projects, it would be more of a return to past form (Falconer, R. & Richardson, E. 2010). Left: Stanley Street with trams circa 1968 pedestrians weren't confined to footpaths Right: Stanley Street now, pedestrians relegated to footpath, no sign of activity In the picture with the trams, traffic was slowed by public transport allowing the pedestrian realm to extend beyond the footpath. The current picture of Stanley street has no activity on the street or the footpath, due to business being closed, the Woolloongabba busway being recessed into the other side of the street adjacent to where the activity occurs of 34

24 The Queensland TOD guidelines suggest that transit stops in the middle of the road are favourable for traffic calming, (QLD. 2010) 14 (Davis, J.W. & Leonard J.D. 1997) and the main roads through Woolloongabba are wide enough to accommodate this style of bus stop, so in lieu of the total removal of parked cars to make way for side of the road bus only lanes, centre of the road transit stops can be established. The parked cars can be moved out from the curb and can act as a buffer between cyclists and high moving traffic, or parked cars can be removed from main roads entirely to make way for cycle lanes. Melbourne: Bike lanes are protected by parked cars, tram stops are in the middle of the road (MASG. 2012) 15 The other major component of Woolloongabba's TOD system that needs to be altered is the Woolloongabba bus station. Currently it is situated across the road from all activity, and is not integrated into the public realm (Hale, C. & Charles, P. 2007) (Halbur, T. 2007). The ULDA plan saw the Woolloongabba station moved to the other side of the road to be more integrated with the public realm. (ULDA. 2011) of 34

25 With the ULDA plan in question, it may not be necessary to move the the entire bus station if the Goprint building can be expanded to create another footpath and new public realm on the other side of Stanley street, and cover the bus station. If Cross River Rail becomes a reality, it is suggested that the bus station will be moved underground to the same location as the ULDA plan. The element of station and bus stop design is important to enhancing public realm and promoting transparency in the transport system. Just like with the focus on settlement patterns and relational planning, public transport routes and bike paths need to run unbroken between centres. The main roads through the Gabba are all wide enough to accommodate multi modal traffic patterns, without taking land away from the public realm. Signage needs to be better placed at all levels of travel due to way finding being a problem reported by pedestrians. 4.4 Case Study Conclusion Woolloongabba has all the elements of a transit oriented suburb, but they are not assembled properly. It has functional centres, multiple transport access options, development anchors and well designed heritage places. Woolloongabba's TOD failure is its inability to address its planning as a whole suburb. Instead it focuses on individual centres alone, and not how they relate to one another. Both the ULDA and Brisbane City Council's neighbourhood plans say they support mixed uses and transport networks that promote public transport, walking, and cycling over personal vehicles. The policy and design framework is not there to support that style of development (Hale, C. & Charles, P. 2007). Brisbane's parking rules in particular need changing, 40% of a car park entrance needing to be visible from a main road provides amenity for cars and encourages driving. Coupled with a no net loss policy makes any developments that might take car parking spaces away must be replaced elsewhere (BCC. 2000) 16. Design guidelines and policies like these cause the public realm to suffer. Due to the limitations of this study there was no direct method to collect what residents felt about intensified development in Woolloongabba. An interview with the Woolloongabba business association showed that they believed intensified development would be good for business, but they were concerned for the heritage character that was already there. Stakeholders and land owners must accept that in order to grow sustainably, their suburb is going to change. Even with affordable housing schemes, some people will likely be priced out of their suburb (Kozlowski, M. & Huston, S. 2008) of 34

26 5.0 Recommendations The recommendations put forth here are based on a combination of best practices found elsewhere around the world, and the applications of the academic literature. 5.1 Centre Management Centres need to provide two kinds of amenity. The first is the amenity to the local residents, which includes grocery stores, some cafe's and restaurants, and basic services like laundromats, hair cutting places, and some medical practices. The second kind of amenity has to do with greater amenity to the city. This kind of amenity would include things like locally owned restaurants and specialty shops, theatres, and career level jobs. Brisbane City Council's centre design code provides for the first kind of amenity easily, but the second kind takes more proactive management of what kinds of businesses are moving into a centre. The South Bank corporation was able to bring in unique and local businesses to the area due to the South Bank corporation's ownership of the land, and their control of the planning process and who ultimately rents or buys their spaces. With Woolloongabba this kind of scheme is not quite possible due to the multitude of land holders. In lieu of a unified development authority, a Woolloongabba development association might be created to work alongside council to facilitate developments that can bring both kinds of amenity to centres. With respect to the Woolloongabba core, Stanley street and Logan road, those centres are vital to the vibrancy of the suburb. The area around the stadium should become designated a night time entertainment district similar to Fortitude Valley 17, but with a focus on a multitude of night time uses outside of clubs. The Gabba should be a focal point of sports themed bars and restaurants with an emphasis on family and business activities in daytime, with a quieter but active nighttime atmosphere. With story buildings being the preferred height in the Woolloongabba core, Woolloongabba has an opportunity to create a vibrant rooftop culture as well, with rooftop bars, restaurants, and gardens. Logan road's heritage character should be maintained, so any add ons to those buildings should be subject to all heritage preservation rules governing architectural design. It is important that Stanley street has activity during both the day and nighttime in order to make pedestrians feel safe when crossing under the motorway of 34

27 5.2 Settlement Patterns and Pedestrian Realm Woolloongabba is already a mixed use suburb, but how those mixtures are arranged are some of the sources of the Gabba ward's centres isolation issues. Much of what should be the pedestrian realm is taken up by car parking space, and light industrial uses. The end result is a place that lacks pedestrian realm because footpaths are constantly broken to make way for car parking. In addition to making places feel empty, car parking in front of buildings also pushes building setbacks further from the footpath, reducing shade for pedestrians, and furthering the sense of emptiness. Along the wide and high speed roads like Ipswich road, Wellington road, Vulture, and Stanley streets, building heights should correspond to the width of the streets to create an appropriate scale. The building height does not matter so much as how the building touches the ground. Both the ULDA and Brisbane city council propose 3-4 story podiums set back 3-6 metres from the footpath (ULDA. 2011). This scale is appropriate so long as the activity at the ground floors address the street, and provide natural shading. And while it would not be necessary to build 20 story buildings all the way down Ipswich road to the PA hospital, or main street toward the Story Bridge; the same principle of activity addressing the street still applies. The major codes that will need to change to facilitate more connected streets are the ones governing lot sizes and building heights along the Ipswich road and Stanley street corridors. All lots should be able to take up the entirety of their space in order to properly address the footpath and ensure continuous street flow for pedestrians. In terms of the actual planning of Woolloongabba and the rest of the Gabba ward, the individual suburban plans are capable of addressing the needs of suburban centres as they currently do. But looser relational plans like those of the city of Sydney would be well suited to identifying key connecting corridors that should be concentrated on for good pedestrian realm, and inter suburban mobility. In Woolloongabba's case, all four main roads surrounding the Gabba would require this kind of strategic attention due to their proximity to housing and centres, and their being main roads between suburbs. The concentration on inter suburban connectivity is vital when centres begin getting developed with amenity for the greater city. In the relational plan, these would be the greater nodes, while centres that just supported local amenity would be smaller nodes. It is important that activity not just be confined to main roads. Corner shops and pubs should be created to enhance neighbourhood character and vitality, and give visitors a place to seek out that are outside of main centres. 27 of 34

28 5.3 Public and Active Transport The transport element of Woolloongabba is what needs the most improvement. The PA hospital bus station is located right at the area it is intended to service, but the Woolloongabba bus station is located across from the centre that it is intended to support, and the rest of the bus stops in the area are marked with signs, that only illuminate the presence of a bus stop, not where the stop is, or the number of the stop, both of which are required to determine where to get off the bus 18. Two Woolloongabba redevelopment plans intend to move the Woolloongabba busway station. The ULDA plan saw it moved closer to the Pacific motorway, and situated near open space but with entryways from footpaths across the street, and from as far as across the motorway. Key pedestrian access from multiple points allow for more transport integration (ULDA. 2011) The other plan that would see the Woolloongabba bus station moved is the cross river rail plan. At time of writing this plan does not have the details of access points of a Woolloongabba rail station, but it would be an underground station of 34

29 The solution to the bus system transparency lies in better bus stop design; where the bus stop has a sign or coverage area that is large enough to be read from a bus, and that indicates what street and stop number the bus stop is. This could be accommodated with centre of the road bus stops that can use the bus shed to label what stop number and street the destination is. Cycle paths suffer from a lack of connectivity. They start and stop on Stanley and Main streets, as well as Ipswich road. When the bike lanes are shared with car parking lanes, it is often an insufficient amount of space to manoeuvre, which can be hazardous to both the cyclist and the drivers of parked cars. While a long term plan for well designed bike lanes protected by buffers should be put in place, completion of bike paths is what should be a priority. Cycle paths should be held to the same completion standards of roads, and have termination points at major centres. The current Woolloongabba neighbourhood plan has provisions for more complete cycle paths down Ipswich road, and both east and west Stanley street toward the PA and Mater Hospitals, and the draft kangaroo point plan has a more complete cycle path leading from Main street to the Story Bridge. Under a relational plan, cycle paths would be constructed through to the Eleanor Schonell bridge in the southwest, and to Boundary street in West end via vulture street. 5.4 Policy and other Recommendations Chris Hale and Phillip Charles created a TOD delivery framework in 2007, that has seen some components of their ten steps met to various degrees. (Hale, C. & Charles, P. 2007) 29 of 34