Page 1536 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 12 August 1992
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that more than 50 per cent of jobs in Canberra are located in Civic and the subcentres of Belconnen, Woden, Fyshwick and Tuggeranong. The concentration of work in these areas is a major contribution to reduced travel demands, but the benefits from this concentrated employment are to some extent negated by Canberra's very dispersed residential layout. And it is through this particular layout that we come across a frustrating dichotomy. The subcentres that I mentioned a moment ago were designed to provide local self-sufficiency by minimising travel. While they fulfil this role in some respects, overall their effect has been the opposite of what was intended.
The message cannot be clearer, Madam Speaker. The original concept was fine, but it now appears that we may have gone too far for this stage of Canberra's development. The question now is: How can we remedy the situation and build on the good elements of our planning design for a more viable Civic community? Significantly, Madam Speaker, there are opportunities which are now at our disposal to correct the problems which exist. Canberra has reached the stage at which its transport activity is dominated by its low density; and there are no indications that this will change, as I have said, unless we do something about it.
Madam Speaker, while on this particular issue, I also point out that Canberrans enjoy a road provision which is high by national and international standards. Parking provision for Canberra is equally good. The end result of this combination is a city where the car dominates as a transport mode. In spite of the recent and slight improvement in public transport use, for which the Minister is to be congratulated, Canberra still remains highly automobile dependent. This transport pattern affects the centre of Canberra in terms of its activity, size and predominant role when compared to the subcentres. Madam Speaker, in a city such as Canberra, with a density of 14 or fewer people per hectare, this dependency appears to be out of control. There are a number of indicators, ranging from kilometres travelled per year to urban road length per head, which have placed Canberra at the top, or very close to it, of the list of the most car dependent cities in the world. It is also important to keep in mind that bus services to new suburbs are among the most unprofitable of ACTION's routes.
By pursuing an urban renewal strategy, we will increase the utilisation of services within the existing urban area instead of creating new services for new, greenfield suburbs. We know very well that this situation will remain unaltered or will get worse if we do not restrict fringe growth by developing a more compact, revitalised metropolitan area. It is almost certainly true that population increases in older inner residential areas are not likely, given the age profile of the residents. And it needs to be borne in mind that, had it not been for some kind of redevelopment already in those areas, the population decline we have seen would have been even more spectacular. We have been aware for quite some time that the answer lies with urban renewal, because the social and environmental costs of greenfield developments make them unacceptable as the course for the future. It is now necessary to implement viable programs aimed at increasing the number of occupants within existing inner urban areas.
Through the process of urban renewal, we will now have several options open to us: Firstly, the demolition of buildings and the construction of new dwellings; secondly, dual or multiple occupancy; thirdly, the conversion of buildings to residential use; and, fourthly, the subdivision of residential blocks. Madam Speaker, these alternatives, either individually or combined, will cater for the need for diversity in housing provision in inner suburbs and, as I have said,
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