Strategic Metropolitan Planning in Australia - Melbournes Planning History - Essay Example

Task Strategic Metropolitan Planning in Australia: Melbourne’s Planning History: Do Governments Shape or Follow Growth? The City of Melbourne has grown to become the second biggest commercial and fiscal center in Australia. It grew from a settlement scheme to the current status of a commercial center (Sandercock, 1990). The city stands between port Phillip and Yarra valley and was the former home of the people of Kulin who are an association of various language groupings of the native Australians. The foundations of the city of Melbourne can be traced to the port Phillip alliance, which initially purchased land from the local villagers with an intention of developing the land to a fully fledged settlement scheme (Forster, 2006). This happened back in the year 1835 during the month of June when European settlers started trooping into the country. Later on in the year 1836, the governor called Bourke created the former port Phillip district with Melbourne as its administration center. The appointment of a district superintendent known as Charles La Trobe during the month of October in the year 1839, who was artistic and very gifted greatly facilitated the establishment of Melbourne in its real modern form (Hamnett & Freestone, 2000). The superintendent facilitated the establishment of expansive parks for the general public within the city. However, the city experienced a lot of panic in the year 1843 due to the increase in incoming British capital, which caused unrest in the city (Sandercock, 1990). These incoming funds were later on leased out to the squatters at high interest rates which contributed to a lot of panic when the British required submitting the funds to their motherland. The city of Melbourne began as a settlement that consisted of tents and huts along the banks of river Yarra. The resultant various use of the river water led to disease outbreaks and diseases such as typhoid fever were a common occurrence (Thompson, 2007). The rapid growth in building the city emerged as a result of the 1850’s gold rush that the country and the city were experiencing. The rush also led to a doubling of the city’s population which culminated in the formation of the town council in the year 1847. The gold rush made people to migrate from various parts of the world to look for gold. This was for the purpose of looking into the city’s planning and development issues that the gold rush brought. The city’s planning was created for the purpose of regulating the gold trade that was taking place in the city (Sandercock, 1977). The 1891 economic breakdown led to a collapse in the financial institutions with many businesses that were running in the city. This brought great financial losses for the stakeholders along with high unemployment rates among the city’s population. The city has previously suffered many deaths among their civilian population during the two world wars (Hamnett & Freestone, 2000). These activities brought the urge among their leaders of developing or copying plans to counter their people’s problems. This suffering was later on followed by an augmented prosperity rate that was greatly fuelled by an increase in prices their Victorian wool, an increase in the governments sponsorship of transport along education along with high immigrations into the city (Forster, 2006). The city suffered from the recession of 1989 that was brought about by the collapse of their travelling systems. These problems greatly created travel problems for the residents which called for initiatives to deal with them. The unemployment rates also increased during the 1990’s as a result of their leaders plans (Sandercock, 1990). The government that was elected in the year 1992 under Jeff Kennett, managed to restore the city’s financial position. This was mainly done by cutting down on public expenditures, privatizing many industries and reduction of their public services. The costs that had been set too high by their colonizers greatly affected the social status of the inhabitants but eventually helped in reviving the city’s economic performance (Thompson, 2007). The public expenditure was later on resumed by the administration of Steve Bracks, a labor party candidate who came into power in the year 1999. A major recovery in the city’s district of central business came with an increase in apartments and the opening up of newer public areas. There has also been a population growth with many policies being implemented by the leaders to help in sustaining their urban population (Sandercock, 1977). For example, since the year 2009 the government has been increasing the housing areas by repossessing most of the public land that is meant for agricultural purposes. This has mainly been endorsed by the leaders as the most appropriate measure of accommodating the city’s population growth. The city has however experienced a decline in the growth of their economy along with reduced government funding for public transport systems. The city’s cultural foundations have found sustainable growth in their arts, literature and performances as a result of the relocation of many artists to the city (Thompson, 2007). Melbourne has adopted most of her styles of construction and administration from the British. The leaders were keen to adopt the British sewerage systems by developing thousands of underground tunnels which flow into large and open treatment facilities (Sandercock, 1977). These systems do attract very many engineers from all over the world who come to view them with an aim of copying the designs used. The use of land resources in the city of Melbourne were controlled by their metropolis boards of work which set an improvement rate for all property owners to enable them in maintaining public spaces and their planning efforts (Hamnett & Freestone, 2000). The development efforts were therefore carried out by the local authorities and not the metropolis councils. This eventually meant that the city utilized the services of their water engineers in determining the directions in which the city grew. The control on their urban morphology was greatly facilitated by the engineers who greatly played a role in manipulating the city’s land use (Sandercock, 1977). The city planners suggested new methods for altering their layouts with an aim of eliminating the problems the city encountered along with augmenting their citizens standards of living (Sandercock, 1990). The new layouts would ease the way people maneuvered within the city and improve people’s living conditions. The leaders adopted new methods of carrying out activities within the city that aimed at alleviating the problems the population encountered. The city planners have also been deemed to lack credibility with their alternatives to the problems being encountered lacking scientific credibility (Hamnett & Freestone, 2000). The leaders have also continued following the previously set development policies which has been facilitated by the fact that the city has its own distinctive features. This is because it is almost impossible to imagine what every blueprint will mean when its implemented. Development decisions in the city of Melbourne have recently been politicized with some actions being taken according to their political favorability. For example, the metropolitan water board laid support for their plans which were founded within their regions of control whereas the other regions were supported by the Victorian state planners (Freestone, 1999). These issues raised conflicts since both parties wanted the city expanded towards their intended directions. Currently, there are policies which exist that place barriers around the city’s suburban expansion while encouraging their residents to use the existing transport systems reserved for the public (Sandercock, 1977). These policies have hindered the actions of the leaders who may be willing to come with development ideas for the city. In order to correct the situation, the leaders should press for changes in the existing legislation through their parliaments (Thompson, 2007). This has made them follow all the set legislations that govern developments within the city. The legislations also facilitate for the development of mixed business centers which allow for mixed activity centers comprising of many types of businesses housed under one roof (Sandercock, 1977). These centers are required to interconnect to other public transport structures to facilitate exchanges without causing disruptions to their systems. This is a measure that was copied from the British administration and is still currently followed by the planners in the city to avoid congestion in their systems. The system has been adopted by the planners but has been a cause of failure within the city’s economy (Sandercock, 1990). The city of Melbourne has largely achieved the control on high intensity developments while preserving their natural habitat through the influences of local action groups. These groups obtain their funding and advices from external bodies that have their roots in the colonial governments. The leaders therefore have to comply with their demands when deciding on which development strategies to adopt (Sandercock, 1977). The city’s growth has recently been directed towards the previously favored east and south rather than the preferred habitable north and western areas of the region. The strategic planning of Melbourne is currently full of compromises due to the many issues facing. Many planners working for the government perceive the city as growing in the wrong directions. This is because it has been growing in the directions that were previously designated by the previous leaders in the colonial government. The leadership of the city has however been credited with the development of areas such as museums, freeways, tunnels, bridges, stadiums like those found in the docklands among other issues. These development efforts have come as a result of their leaders administrative initiatives (Sandercock, 1977). In conclusion, the strategic planning activities of the city of Melbourne have been adopted from Hoddle’s layout of 1837 which was published in the year 1929. The first strategy plan that was adopted and later followed resulted from the need of rehabilitating the dilapidated areas of the city. The strategic plans have been implemented as they originally were with a few changes being made by the leadership concerning them (Forster, 2006). References Forster, C. 2006. The Challenge of Change: Australian Cities And Urban Planning In The New Millennium. Sydney: Geographical Research. Freestone, R. 1999. Preserving Sydney’s Heritage in the Early Twentieth Century, Australian Historical Studies, Melbourne. Hamnett, S. & Freestone R. 2000. The Australian Metropolis – A Planning History, Allen & Unwin, St Leonard’s. Sandercock, L. 1977. Cities for Sale: Property, Politics and Urban Planning In Australia, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne. Sandercock, L. 1990. Property, Politics and Urban Planning, Transaction, New Brunswick, Brisbane. Thompson, S. 2007. Planning Australia, An Overview Of Urban And Regional Planning, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Read More