What would you like to see change in Melbourne? What would you do if you magically had the power? What ideas, small or even drastic, might you have to improve our metropolis for everyone as a place to live, to work, to create and, for some, to raise a family?
.jpg)
(Illustration: Jim Pavlidis)
Melbourne might be the serial recipient of "The World's Most Liveable City" title, but that doesn't mean we can't and shouldn't make it even better. And it doesn't mean we don't have lots of problems. We do.
Today's instalment of The (Ideas) Zone is all about you. You are warmly invited to participate in a blog discussion throughout today. Just follow the prompts at the bottom this article to leave your comments and ideas. I am also seeking suggestions for topics for the interactive column for 2016.
Here's a list of some of the issues and notions, often related to each other, that have resonated this year:
1/ Public transport – the city simply needs much more of it.
As Melbourne continues to expand, people on the fringes, many of them young families chasing the dream of owning a home in a community with decent amenities, are bitterly disappointed to find a paucity of resources – particularly public transport. A sharp increase in the number of bus routes would seem a pretty evident way to ameliorate this, at least in the short term.
Further in, the existing train, tram and bus networks are struggling to deal with surging demand. Meanwhile, so many people are being forced to waste so much time sitting in traffic jams. Here's Ron Tandberg's take on it:
2/ More and better housing options.
We are seeing a proliferation of this:
And yet, as our population increases and ages, people want and need access to medium-density options in the middle suburbs, places with great amenity. It's starting to happen, but recent changes in law mean that too many councils have locked up too much space, limiting it to traditional homes on quarter-acre (about 1000 square metres) blocks.
The suburbs between 10 kilometres and 20 kilometres from the city's centre have public transport, employment, shops, cafes, restaurants and all the other things that make cosmopolitan living a joy. They need to be opened up to a range of higher-density housing options.
3/ Shared green spaces.
Just last week in The (Ideas) Zone, there was a robust debate about this – people want more green community spaces. It's not hard to reintroduce nature into the built environment. We can do a lot better. Here's an example – a former elevated rail line in New York that has been turned into a hugely popular park called The High Line.
4/ Bike paths.
For the past few years, more new bikes than new cars have been sold in Australia. Yet, cyclists understandably feel they're not getting a fair suck of the proverbial sauce bottle, and end up in bottlenecks as an inadequate number of bike paths too often just end up trailing away into nothing at intersections. Many cities all over the world are giving far more space to bikes. We should too.
5/ Population growth.
The (Ideas) Zone is designed as a forum for community debate – and so often, no matter what the issue or problem featured, a vocal minority piles in and argues the solution is to shut the doors. I disagree, but you're welcome to mount the argument here today. The projection is that Melbourne's population will all but double in size to 8 million by 2050. What do you think should happen, and why?
6/ Fishermans Bend
This massive development is a chance to get so much right – and a risk to get so much wrong. While Docklands is supported by many, including me, and has improved over the years, it's seen by many others as an example of how to stuff up a lot of things. Here's a vision from RMIT's urban development gang of how to get some shared natural space into Fishermans Bend, rather than making it full of steel and concrete.
7/ Homelessness and lack of opportunity.
On any given night in Australia, more than 100,000 people do not have a safe place to sleep, about a third of them in Melbourne. That does not mean they are all sleeping rough – most are not – but it does mean that in this rich city, a place feted the world over for its epic liveability, too many people are missing out on an opportunity to have a decent life. Many organisations – government agencies, charities, not-for-profit outfits and social enterprises are helping, but the problem is far from solved. Got any ideas on how to get things moving better?
So, over to you – please feel free to leave ideas, comments, questions and topic suggestions below.
147 comments so far
More comments
New user? Sign up
Make a comment
You are logged in as [Logout]
All information entered below may be published.
Thank you
Your comment has been submitted for approval.
Comments are moderated and are generally published if they are on-topic and not abusive.