The first question I ask is why? What is the desired outcome? Is the intention to reduce vehicular congestions in the city, reduce pollution, improve public amenity, or all of the above? Rebalancing the city is a phrase that has recently been used.

In Melbourne the CBD grid was first laid out in the 1830s. Melbourne has been fortunate to have such a clear and robust structure, which has endured. We could say Robert Hoddle was extremely far-sighted (even if my understanding is that the width of Melbourne’s principle streets was actually defined by the width required to accommodate large bullock carts that could continue straight through the city and not hold up other horse drawn traffic from making right turns).

In any event, Melbourne has a structure that was established 185 years ago, and while it serves the city well and has managed to accommodate changes in mobility and population (both resident and worker) over the years, does the current configuration reflect the needs of contemporary Melbourne?

We have become better at understanding the finer grain elements of how the city functions, and the importance these finer elements have on the successful operation of the city. It is not just about vehicle movement (or bullock carts), the road, or the public realm. It is about accommodating the needs and demands of a range of users. It is about public transport modes, pedestrians, cyclist, utilities, businesses, residents and, importantly, the need to further evolve the public realm in mitigating and managing the impacts of climate change within the city, a concept perhaps better understood as enhancing the city’s resilience.

All these elements have a spatial requirement. The challenge is understanding these demands – some of which can be at conflict with each other – and allocating space within the fixed parameters of the public realm or street.

Melbourne has been proactive with this issue and we have seen an evolution in terms of the way the streets are designed and used. If we look back, some of the bold moves in addressing the balance have been the introduction of Melbourne’s tram system, the creation of the Bourke Street Mall, and the exclusion of cars from Swanston Street.

Swanston Street is the most recent example, but it has taken the best part of 20 years – and various iterations – to become the successful street it is today. Across the city, we are continually seeing the recalibration of the CBD’s streets with the development of the tram super stops, expansion of footpaths, and increase in trees, but is it time again for a bolder move?

While there has been recent discussion around restoring William’s Creek along Elizabeth Street, I think the next move should be to address East-West access across the CBD. Do we expand the Bourke Street Mall up to Parliament, but remove the asphalt and replace it with an urban forest to address urban heat islands and improve stormwater management? Do we further restrict vehicles and prioritise cycling along Collins Street?

The wholesale exclusion of cars from the CBD would not result in a successful outcome; what is needed is a clear strategy. If cars are removed what do the streets become? There is a range of issues that need to be addressed in relation to how the city currently functions. We would need, for example, to agree on how to service our retail, restaurants, commercial and residential in getting goods in, and waste out.

Further, how do we address emergency services? How do we ensure our public transport system can support a dramatic increase in patronage? How do we mitigate increased vehicular traffic on the wider road network? Importantly, how do we ensure our productivity and competitiveness is not impacted?

There are solutions to all these challenges, but it takes a clear vision and strong leadership to deliver change. Many cities have introduced initiatives such as car-free days, congestion charging, or restrictions of the entry of cars with odd- or even-number plate numbers, or incentives for zero-emission cars. But these initiatives have only been successful when implemented as part of a bigger strategy.

In Mexico City, for example, the restrictions on odd- or even-number plates resulted in people either buying another car or an additional set of number plates. In London, meanwhile, the CBD’s congestion charge has been expanded, and a large part of the program’s success is that the revenue raised from the charge is reinvested in the public transport system and cycling network.

I clearly recall the day when Swanton’s Street was covered in grass. While no one expected it to stay as grass, it did demonstrate that we could envisage the street as something more than just a road for cars.

Adam Williams (adam.williams@archtam.com) is director, Global Sports leader, Asia Pacific, ArchTam. Based in Melbourne, Adam is currently leading ArchTam’s work on the Rio 2016 Olympic Master Plan and venues, and previously lead ArchTam’s work on the London 2012 Olympic legacy masterplan.

He recently joined industry experts in a live online forum discussing the potential removal of cars from Melbourne’s CBD, which accompanied a story in Melbourne’s The Age newspaper.

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The Australian Bureau of Statistics forecasts that the populations of Sydney and Melbourne will grow to 7.8 million each by 2052, a respective increase of 66 percent and 86 percent over a 40 year period.

Such rapid growth prompts some obvious questions, the answers to which are less obvious:

Where and how will all these people live?

Where will they work and what will their jobs be?

An increasing challenge for local government is how to balance policy objectives of a diverse employment market with increasing demand for residential development. As our cities become more connected through transport, planning, and urban renewal decisions and outcomes, it’s a balancing act that’s proving difficult.

The employment and residential nexus

Over the last decade, rising housing demand has seen a significant increase in high-rise apartment developments in Australian cities, resulting in debates regarding overshadowing and the visual impacts and merits of urban densification. In some Melbourne suburbs, for example, the proposed application of new planning regulations could limit higher residential densities in certain areas.

Meanwhile, there’s been a continued shift in employment focus across Australian cities. Melbourne’s manufacturing sector continues to decline, while the much-touted transition to a more “knowledge-based economy” – namely increased opportunities in the health and business services sectors – shows early promise but will take time to translate into major points on the economic scoreboard.

The challenge for inner-city local governments is how to support the growth of these emerging sectors while maintaining and supporting light industry, small business, and retail, all desirable and essential parts of healthy, functional and connected cities.

The problem is that increased demand for residential development has already substantially impacted these activities, forcing them farther out of the city.

The term ‘mixed-use’ is often promoted as a way to address these challenges, but the uncomfortable truth is that few developments successfully achieve their primary objective, resulting in a ‘mixed bag’ of outcomes. Further, the rental expectations for these premises can also be significantly higher when compared to the spaces they have replaced. What tends to be delivered is a residential development with retail or small office provision at the ground floor, an approach that often results in a disconnect with the actual local demand for such spaces. They often lack the physical features that allow them to be attractive work places, and prove difficult to adapt to other uses without creating conflict for the residential portion.

Global lessons learnt

The Greater London Authority’s (GLA) policy objective to deliver mixed-use developments holds lessons for us here in Australia. Its inclusion of active frontages and employment spaces has resulted in ground floor retail space of predominantly residential buildings often being boarded up and unoccupied, creating an unwelcoming and unpleasant urban environment in many middle-ring suburbs.

We can’t allow such outcomes to eventuate here in Australia. Encouragingly, however, a number of approaches can be adopted to address this emerging employment and residential nexus.

Smarter design is a crucial factor at both the precinct and building level. There is often the tendency to deliver a standard product that limits diversity and fails to provide for multiple users. Good mixed-use developments can introduce a level of complexity that not only delivers visual interest, but provides additional market opportunities.

Cross-subsidies between uses and inclusionary zoning mechanisms meanwhile present an interesting layer into the process, but they need to be calibrated at detailed scale and applied to specific areas to be both commercially and socially successful. Such an approach has been used in the planning and development of Hackney Wick in London. While still in its early stages, Hackney Wick has had robust technical support and strong leadership from the GLA, and may present a way forward in providing homes and jobs for a growing population.

Local government must inform and test its structure planning process, and it should be supported in these efforts by an analysis of the market to understand not just existing and future demand, but to recognise the requirements for the job sectors it wishes to support.

This will ensure that local government is able to clearly articulate its ambition and guide development in a way that utilises market forces to deliver short and long-term benefits for our cities and their communities.

If tomorrow’s Sydney and Melbourne are to reach their potential – if “home is where the jobs are” – we need to get cracking; the people – millions of them – are coming, and they’re going to want somewhere to live and somewhere to work.

Adam Williams (adam.williams@archtam.com) leads ArchTam’s Design, Planning and Economics practice in Victoria.

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