Posts

Sydney isn't dominated by inner-city knowledge workers

-
Image
  By John Muscat We re-publish our article from 10 years ago which holds up as an explanation for why the metropolitan planning behind construction of the new 21 billion dollar Sydney M1 metro rail line is misconceived. Recently, the  Sydney Morning Herald’s  James Robertson  fired another salvo  in the paper’s long-running campaign for more inner-city infrastructure and amenity. Most of it was a regurgitation of some familiar assumptions about stalled employment growth on the industrial fringe and the need for rail ‘connectivity’ to core office-towers. Quoting an academic on the “schizophrenic nature” of Sydney’s housing construction, “either low-density [on the] fringe or high-density in the central city”, Robertson claims “sprawling population is becoming the biggest problem for government service delivery”, adding that “the trouble of travelling from western Sydney to the CBD has been the city’s most obvious transport issue for decades”. For a solution he cites more academics,
Post a Comment
Read more

Reply to Elizabeth Farrelly: Suburbia Not Kulturstadt

-
Image
Wilton housing estate, western Sydney ( ABC Illawarra ) Recently on Twitter I came across a post  about the NSW Planning Minister’s announcement banning dark roofing for detached houses in fringe housing estates to minimise the heat island effect. Scrolling down the comments, I noticed one by the Sydney Morning Herald’s anti-suburban architecture critic, Elizabeth Farrelly. “It’s ludicrous that this greenfield sprawl is still being approved in Sydney”, she wrote. Having just read a  column of hers slamming the proposed high-rise tower complex for inner-city Pyrmont’s Fish Market site, it was amusing to see her bash the other end of the spectrum. Where would Farrelly have people live? Proposed Fish Market site development, Pyrmont-Blackwattle Bay ( Infrastructure NSW ) I knew, in fact, that she quests for the holy grail of urbanists everywhere, medium-density or the so-called “missing middle”. Since there is a body of commentary explaining why this form of development struggles to ma
1 comment
Read more

Freeways Lost On The Way to Sydney's Post-CBD

-
Image
- John Muscat Model of Sydney's proposed North Western Expressway - it was never built If Twitter is any indication, the co-existence of freeways and CBDs or downtowns is a hot issue. Urban planning Twitter is full of laments, mostly from Americans, about the impact of freeways built since the 1950s on inner-city precincts. Many claim they were created with racist intentions, to destroy minority neighbourhoods or stifle their economic development. US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says “there is racism physically built” into some highways. It seems more likely the controversy relates to gentrification of the urban core and a new focus on lifestyle amenity over economic efficiency in transport infrastructure. In the United States, where processes of inner-urban gentrification are a more recent development, the emphasis is on tearing down existing downtown freeways and blocking new ones. This has developed into a crusade and the tone of advocacy is militant. Accusations of
Post a Comment
Read more

Street Trees Obscure Sydney's Architectural Gems

-
Image
Sydney Town Hall: northern aspect In streetscaping a tree-line is generally thought be an absolute good, and the more trees the better. To a large extent trees do complement streets and buildings, enhancing their aesthetic and environmental amenity. They can also shade pedestrians from heat and the elements while absorbing gaseous pollutants. City of Sydney Council’s Street Tree Master Plan 2011 sets out the benefits of street trees in more detail. But sometimes there are competing interests. Trees that threaten the safety of people, structures or vehicles should of course be scaled back or uprooted. And sometimes they detract from the built environment. Appreciating fine architecture takes a sweeping glance at a building’s whole symmetry, balance, geometry and sense of proportion, which isn’t possible through a screen of dense foliage. There are numerous cases of this in Sydney CBD.     Despite some regrettable demolitions over the decades, Sydney still boasts some classic buildings
Post a Comment
Read more