Page 2826 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 17 September 2014
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Associate Professor Richard Hu said that increasing pedestrian movement was vital to revitalising the city centre. He believed that this is more important than increasing vehicle movement.
I was heartened to read a piece in the Canberra Times about the views of Honorary Professor Edward Blakely, who was executive director of the Office of Recovery and Development Administration for New Orleans following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. The article included:
For example he recently advised the council to allow light traffic through shopping areas, so people “could cruise through and see if their friends were there” and pick out a cafe.
He suggested the best medicine for pedestrian-only areas of Garema Place and City Walk may be for them to be broken up until the city has better public transport.
“If you had a strong transport network, like Melbourne, you pedestrianise, because people can get there, in Canberra’s case, you are going to have to mix it, because the automobile is still your principal mode of transport,” Dr Blakely said, suggesting one-way, single lanes of traffic and median strips to keep traffic minimal.
He said Pasadena, a city in Los Angeles County in California, had recently been advised against a purely pedestrian mall, which he said “turned out to be the right decision.”
Others with an interest in the state of the city centre made suggestions about practical changes that could improve the vibrancy of the area. Some suggestions included more use of the public space by businesses as well as buskers and street traders. Some suggested using empty spaces for short-term pop-up stores. Others suggested encouraging businesses on the ground floor to engage with the public rather than closing themselves off.
I was very pleased to read the opinions from planners and others with an interest in the space. I believe that discussing the issues in Garema Place and City Walk is a good first step towards improving it. Revitalising the city centre will require simple improvements like more regular cleaning and more attention being paid to the amenity of the area. It may also involve loosening restrictions on what can be done in the area. Encouraging private investment always involves some element of risk but, as we have seen in other parts of the city, the rewards can be significant.
My motion calls on the government to facilitate an options paper to detail the alternatives for renewal of Garema Place and City Walk. It is not simply restricted to land use planning. An options paper does not lock the government into large spending. It allows people to share ideas and investigate them. An options paper is part of the discussion process. After options have been considered, the government, in consultation with the community, can decide the best way to invest in the city centre.
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