Week 2 of the theme group tutorial was pretty successful as we solidified our concept of the light rail system to create a more mobile Canberra. The rail system will allow the whole of the city to connect effectively in a cheaper, energy efficient way. I think this is a more suitable form of public transport for the city than the bus’s used now with the main focus on the bicycles and walking, which not everyone can and wants to do. There is also the fact that because the city is so spread out, it is unrealistic to be able to walk and ride everywhere anyway. It would reduce car use as the rail is cheap and easy and connect from outer suburbs into the main centre. By creating a new system which will build on the existing infrastructure and connect to important links like the airport and country rail link to Sydney (as well as having the possibility to connect to future transport links), Canberra will be a lot more accessible for everybody and bring people into the area. This includes tourists coming into the area for a holiday or day trip (they can jump straight on the light rail after the country link or airport and check out all the major tourist attractions in Canberra), people who already live in Canberra (use it for going to and from work and getting around the city), politicians (use it to travel from the airport to parliament house and back again easily), and politicians and school kids who have come to Canberra to visit or stay for a long period of time (use the light rail to travel direct from accommodation to the parliamentary services rather than long bus trips or expensive hire cars).
The rail link should bring people into the area as it will be a lot easier and cheaper to get around Canberra once you get there, as well as easier to fly and train direct from Sydney as the new network will connect directly to these. This is along with the idea that in the future, major bus stops and park and ride/train will also be positioned at the train stops to create a fully integrated transport network. Around each main terminal could be developed into TOD’s- transit orientated developments in the future. Instead of more development continuing further out of the centre, there needs to be more development within the civic, and this should occur naturally with the increased amount of people at the main light rail stops. These areas could include mixed use developments (commercial, retail and eateries) which are pedestrian friendly and add to the appeal of the light rail. This would allow not so much an over developed centre in the future, but more built up hubs scattered throughout the city. This will also allow the parliament to be a social part of the community instead of being totally segregated from the city in the future where only politicians go. These main stations of the elevated light rail could potentially feature smaller break off points to sit and relax and look over significant parts of the city. This could be something like the High Line in New York.
After presenting our basic panel layout for the presentation, Jane gave us some other pointers to help enhance our concept. She mentioned that a lot of areas in Canberra are almost out of proportion because of the large scale of the main streets and the minimal numbers of people using the spaces. So, the light rail concept will help to fill these mass spaces and add something new to look at and hopefully it will be seen in the future as an important cultural component of Canberra. She also said that from a lot of areas in the civic, the views of parliament hill are naturally and intentionally framed, so we have to be careful not to totally block out all views from the elevated light rail network. These are all aspects we will have to consider in the actual design of the network but for now we have to get started on the big picture!
MAIN POINTS- WHY INTRODUCE A LIGHT RAIL NETWORK?
· Provide easier ACCESSIBILITY to Canberra from Sydney and Melbourne to BRING PEOPLE IN to the capital.
· Provide easier and cheaper accessibility within Canberra to make it more MOBILE.
· Promote CONNECTIVITY to make it easier for people coming to Canberra solely for PARLIAMENT reasons.
· ENHANCE the cultural aspect of Canberra so it’s not only seen as a parliamentary hub but also show off all Canberra has to offer, and give Canberra a new IDENTITY.
The following is a basic sketch of our panel breakdown draft:
No comments:
Post a Comment