For the last twelve months I've been working hard, hence the limited blog updates throughout the year. The master’s degree I have been studying for the past 5 years is the major cause behind the limited updates, and it is finally finished. For the last year I have been balancing running Terra Verde and studying full-time to finish a Masters of Urban Design through UWA at the Australian Urban Design Research Centre in Hay Street Perth. As so much time and effort has been expended on my thesis I thought I would share some of the final portfolio that was generated and some of the wording from the essay that accompanied it. I hope the wording and the portfolio images are not too dry. And I always welcome feedback and questions, either through this medium or my Facebook page as most people seem to prefer.
To begin with the title and question was as follows:
Thesis Title: Evolution of an urban arterial road into an
activity corridor, integrating transportation and land use.
Thesis Question: Can Stirling Highway be redeveloped into a
series of linked high street style precincts to create a dense, vibrant, and
activated corridor assimilating Directions 2031 dwelling targets, and still accommodating the movement of people along its
length?
Introduction
The Metropolitan Region Scheme (MRS) Amendment 1210/41:
Rationalisation of Stirling Highway Reservation, released in March 2012, has
become a contentious issue among urban designers as well as the general public
of Perth. A key statement made by Main Roads W.A. has been that the highway is
congested, and therefore it must be widened to alleviate the congestion. Their proposal is to widen the highway to
provide bus priority lanes, increased footpath widths, and additional medians
for right turn lanes and pedestrian safety. This approach is auto-centric and
there are numerous urban design precedents and supporting data that demonstrate
this as being an inappropriate approach.
The purpose of my thesis, centred on a design-based analysis
process, was to closely investigate the entire 10 kilometres of Stirling Highway
slated for redevelopment in the MRS Amendment. The thesis proposed that the MRS
Amendment was not required, and that a better alternative could be developed by
incorporating heritage preservation, modern urban design principles, and the
integration of transport with mixed-used development to meet the Directions 2031 targets. Instead of a
top-down planning approach, the thesis recommended an approach based on
community consultation and the co-ordination of all applicable planning and
infrastructure objectives. It is only through the microscopic assessment of the
diverse influences in play along the Stirling Highway could a determination be
made if there was a more appropriate urban redevelopment approach than that
proposed in the MRS Amendment.Stirling Highway History and Context
The loss of cultural and historical memory during urbanisation is a common phenomenon in contemporary cities today and affects Australian urban areas despite their relatively young age.Perth is a very young city within the context of European settlement, and consequently it has a limited historical palette of built form and cultural characteristics. Stirling Highway is one of the original roads laid out upon settlement, with the route closely following one of the tracks originally used by the Mooro Aboriginal tribe. The character of Stirling Highway is eclectic by virtue of its length and history, and it links diverse land uses with a variety of transportation methods.
There are numerous historical and cultural buildings along the highway, many dating from the late 18th Century. The oldest is thought to be the Halfway House, built around 1831 and now called the Albion Hotel.[1] A large proportion of these historical buildings are located at intersections which were previously quiet cross-roads and are now major multi-lane intersections with traffic lights. It is these intersections the MRS Amendment proposes to widen, which will require the demolition of a majority of the Stirling Highway’s cultural heritage and historical built form.
Today Stirling Highway is a major arterial road within Perth. It has a Primary Regional Road classification and has an average of 36,030 vehicles using the highway on a typical weekday (up from 30,520 in the previous year’s traffic count). There is a traffic congestion issue along Stirling Highway, primarily in peak travel periods. The MRS Amendment identifies one potential solution to this congestion. However, this thesis proposes that the MRS Amendment has an overly auto-centric approach to the detriment of the surrounding urban fabric, rather than addressing the cause of the peak congestion periods.
Strategy
The urban design strategy I undertook in the thesis was to scrutinise a 'typical' high street, and I selected Rokeby Road in Subiaco to study, and note all the features that make a high street a place where people are attracted to.The design approach was not based on nostalgia, or sentiment, rather it was founded on the fact that high streets are typically regarded as the most conducive to a pedestrian-scaled or walkable urban environment while also fostering connected local communities.
The first page of the thesis portfolio breaks down my thesis question and either verbally or visually lists the important points. A quick note, the actual portfolio pages are A1 in size, so apologies for the size of the fonts and images at this scale. However, if you click on them you should be able to see the pages at a larger scale, just not full size.
Image 1. Thesis Question, Stirling Highway background and typical High Street characteristics.
A prominent UK Urban Designer, Mary Portas provides a great definition of her perspective of high streets in her paper:
“Our high streets can be lively,
dynamic, exciting and social places that give a sense of belonging and trust to
a community.”[2]
However Portas’
view of high streets is also not about sentimentality but practicality
and regard for the current economic climate.
“The new high street won’t
just be about selling goods; the mix will include shops but could also include
housing, offices, sport, schools or other social, commercial and cultural
enterprises and meeting places. They should become places we go to engage with
other people in our communities, where shopping is just one small part of a
rich mix of activities.”[3]
This quote suggests one possible solution that integrates the
disparate elements of inner city living and sub-urban amenity into a new model
for dense urban living. The planning approach based on the separation of functions
coincided with the growing demand for the motor vehicle, but consequently increased
our reliance on them. Future development along activity corridors should
provide an integration of transportation options and land use to diminish this
reliance. This will lead to the creation
of urban spaces that provide a focal point for a higher density environment
while enabling communities to develop.
The
principal objectives of the proposed street section was to reduce the current traffic
volume on Stirling Highway, encourage the use of public transport with through
connections and reconnect both sides of the highway using a pedestrian-scaled
concept for high street design.
Keeping the
road reserve to the minimum required to facilitate vehicular movement reduces
the distance between each side of the highway. The inclusion of a median island,
which also allows stormwater management, will enable space for tree planting
along the highway corridor. Looking at the street design from a parallel
perspective, the activity and vibrancy of the street is also affected by the
proximity of building entrances, with less than ten metres between each being
the optimal distance.[4] The
combination of street trees, designated pedestrian crossing points and dense
mixed-use development in various high street style precincts will delineate a
space that can reduce vehicle speeds and typically provides for “larger numbers
of pedestrians to safely and easily move across arterial roads.”[5]
Mapping Exercises
To determine if typical high street characteristics could be applied to Stirling Highway I had to study vehicle traffic, particularly in congested periods, and determine the cause of them. I also investigated the existing public transport system, school bus routes already in place and alternate transport routes for vehicle traffic. These were all mapped and the large image on the second page of my thesis portfolio displays all the information - see image 2 below.
Image 2. Transport Strategy
An increasing proportion of Australians are choosing to live in cities; the most recent figures quote 80 per cent of the population which in turn generate over 80 per cent of the nation’s fiscal wealth[6]. To accommodate this population growth government departments are endeavouring to redevelop existing urban areas. The increase and subsequent redevelopment is putting additional pressure on the existing infrastructure of our cities, with one consequence being heavily congested roads.
Driving along Stirling Highway reveals a congestion problem, with the most congested section around Claremont’s town centre, primarily in peak travel periods.
However, there should not be an issue with congestion along the highway given the close proximity of the Perth-Fremantle rail and the existing public transport system along Stirling Highway. In addition commuters from the suburbs bordering Stirling Highway comprise less than three percent of the working population commuting into the CBD.
One factor influencing the congestion is the start of retail trading hours, business working hours and school hours all occurring around the same time. Another is the perception that Stirling Highway is the fastest route to the CBD. Underutilised public transport also influences congestion, with the absence of walkable connections between the rail line and surrounding suburbs being a contributing cause. This last item is considered a “key element of the transport system”[7] in street planning for Victoria.
A key objective of the proposed high street styled precincts that combine functionality, local connectivity and walkability, is to reduce the volume of traffic moving past the precincts, thereby reducing congestion through pedestrian-focussed urban design. The mapping exercises undertaken in the thesis explored alternatives to the traffic corridor proposed in the MRS Amendment and the findings are discussed in more detail below. These alternatives were analysed and integrated in conjunction with the development of the proposed design.
From here I went on to describe solutions to deal with the volume of traffic along Stirling Highway and addressed the periods of congestion. The titles of each section were as follows:
- Alternative Routes;
- Mass Transit and Alternative to the Automobile, and;
- Assigning Priority to Transport Modes;
These sections listed numerous methods to reduce traffic along Stirling Highway, and all rebutted the need for the redevelopment of the highway as proposed by the MRS Amendment.
Housing Demand, Housing Supply and Urban Density Targets
I therefore had the proof required to begin an analysis of Stirling Highway through an urban design perspective and begin to apply the high street characteristics I had developed earlier. Further information was required at this point to fully understand the residential and employment targets Stirling Highway could incorporate - particularly if I wanted to activate the highway as I had proposed in my thesis question. Directions 2031 And Beyond (D2031), a joint document compiled by the WAPC and the Department of Planning, is a strategic planning document providing a detailed framework for urban growth. It promotes urban design principles that will help the metropolitan area develop in a controlled, well-connected and sustainable manner. D2031 also lists predicted growth rates of the West Australian population, dwellings and employment. It then sets out dwelling targets, while encouraging these targets to be met through integration with infrastructure and development.
The Draft Central Metropolitan Perth Sub-Regional Strategy (CMPSS) was prepared by the WAPC to provide guidance at a local level for issues that are either too complex to resolve in detail in D2031, or that extend beyond local government boundaries. In particular, these strategies provide guidance for expected growth within each local government area.
The CMPSS identifies and addresses issues that relate to
creating more housing opportunities; it targets a minimum of 121,000 new
dwellings across the 19 local government areas in central metropolitan Perth.
The Stirling Highway Growth Corridor is treated in the CMPSS
as an activity corridor with the expectation that higher densities of
development will be achieved. As such it is identified with a potential for an
additional 1,400 dwellings, with around a third of the dwellings (400) possibly
centred on Claremont. These targets were set in consultation with planning
staff from each local authority and are subject to ongoing review.[8]
Claremont was highlighted for this density increase for
several reasons. One was the proximity of four railway stations in or bordering
the suburb, aligning to the State’s policies on transit orientated development.
The other was its contextualisation as a
secondary centre which is defined as sharing similar characteristics with
strategic metropolitan centres, but servicing smaller catchments with a more
limited range of services.[9]
Image 3. Local Government Areas and Statistics & Directions 2031 Density Targets
To finish off the mapping and information gathering along the entirety of Stirling Highway I also mapped the existing land use and built form along the entire ten kilometres, as you can see in the top map in image four below. Armed with all this information I then zeroed into three precincts along the highway, all with different characteristics. I provided a quick summery of each of the three precincts and proposed a high street section appropriate to their location and existing characteristics for each precinct.
Image 4. Land Use Typologies and Precinct Information.
From here on in the thesis I mapped the individual characteristics of each of the precincts, beginning with the North Fremantle site, as seen in the three image below.
Images 5, 6 & 7. North Fremantle Site Analysis - Movement Networks, Existing POS, Town Planning Schemes, Population and Employment Densities, how the highway will affected by the proposed MRS Amendment and Heritage buildings that will require demolition to allow the redevelopment of the highway as per the MRS Amendment.
Each precinct is very different, and each thesis page in the site analysis section had statistics and graphs gathered from relevant articles read throughout the thesis backing up the stance I had adopted for Stirling Highway. Statistics such as:
- An aging population will lead to reduced car dependency and additional requirements for an excellent public transport system.
- Comparison of car ownership and alternative transport options in suburbs with medium to high densities with that of suburbs with lower densities provided data supporting the use of public transport and alternative transport methods in the higher density areas, particularly those surrounding a rail system.
Both the town centre of Claremont and a residential section of Nedlands were also mapped, however I won't include the images here as this blog is getting rather large.
The last image I will include is the final page, where I have pinpointed the most likely locations for density massing - at cross roads which lead to the rail line. I then developed quick three dimensional models to determine land area that could be obtained if I incorporated the high street style sections I had proposed.
Image 8. Massing and Density Calculations.
From here residential and employment densities were calculated and the result was found to be that more than the required infill targets could be met for the seven local government areas bordering Stirling Highway, whilst still retaining the sought after western suburbs amenity that attracts people to the area.
Conclusion
The concepts proposed in the thesis sought to preserve and embellish the
spaces along the Stirling Highway corridor, while providing a walkable
connection to all of the amenities. Instead of a one size fits all approach,
the proposed design responds to, accommodates and enhances the places that
already exist. It also accommodates an increase in density and employment
opportunities along the entire ten kilometres.
The strategic convergence of the elements introduced in the
essay (which I didn't go into detail here) and the design portfolio anticipate the successful activation of the high
street precincts. These elements aim to reduce traffic congestion, enhance the
pedestrian experience, foster sustainability, and build a community culture.
The proposed concepts provide only a “vision” of what can occur along Stirling
Highway. If the desire was generated to move forward towards implementation,
further study of the design elements will be needed including approval and
co-ordination from the seven local government bodies located along the highway,
Department of Planning and the West Australian State Government. The success of
the proposed redevelopment of Stirling Highway discussed in this thesis hinges
on this co-ordination. The flow-on effects of such planning would also require
an attitudinal change in travel behaviour, supported by authorities and adopted
by commuters.
This design study affirms it is possible to link Stirling Highway
as a series of high street style precincts and that the MRS Amendment does not
engender the best outcome for urban vitality, future flexibility and growth or
amenity. The retention and integration of existing historical buildings with
dense multi-use developments provides a sense of place for residents and
visitors while ensuring Perth’s cultural identity is preserved. If the proposed
design were to be implemented, the journey along Stirling Highway would be
significantly enhanced from its current stat and from the MRS Amendment
proposal. Rather than using the highway as a means to get to a destination, the
highway, with its vibrant inter-connected nodes, would become a series of
desirable destinations.
I hope I haven't bored anyone too much with the length and word count of this blog? If you have read all the way to the bottom I am impressed and appreciate it very much!
It is hard to equate the considerable time I devoted to the thesis with the titbits shown above, hence it was difficult to condense a year of study into a short, catchy blog!
If you would like to see the remainder of the images, or the read the essay in full please let me know and I would love to send the rest to you!
The sheer size of the proposed MRS Amendment lends itself to the possibility of affecting a large proportion of the population, of which many of whom are friends of mine. For those friends, and anyone else with a keen interest, if you have any questions about any of what I have outlined above, please get in contact with me.
Thanks again for reading my blog and making me a part of your day!
Jenny
Jenny
[1]
BOLTON, G; GREGORY, J: (1999): Claremont:
A History, P.5.
[2] PORTAS, M; (2011), The Portas Review: An independent review into the future of our high streets, Department for Business, Innovation & Skills, P. 3.
[3] PORTAS, M; (2011), The Portas Review: An independent review into the future of our high streets, Department for Business, Innovation & Skills, P. 3.
[4] AECOM; (2010), Urban Density Study: Southbank Structure Plan, P. 87.
[7] VIC ROADS; (July 2011), Smart Roads, Connecting Communities, P5.
[8] DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING; WESTERN AUSTRALIAN PLANNING COMMISSION; (2010), Central Metropolitan Perth Sub-Regional Strategy, P.5.
[9] WESTERN AUSTRALIAN PLANNING COMMISSION; (2010), State Planning Policy 4.2: Activity Centres for Perth and Peel, P.12.
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