Future Brisbane opinion: Brisbane is clean, green and economically resilient and Council is nurturing those traits

GRAHAM QUIRK: For Brisbane to thrive into the future it needs major infrastructure to keep moving. Here are the major projects driving us forward.

BRISBANE is a great place to live, work and relax – it’s a safe, vibrant, green and prosperous city, valued for its friendly and optimistic character and enjoyable lifestyle.

We are a liveable city with great weather, vibrant green spaces, lively bars and restaurants, world-class art galleries and premier events.

Together we’ve already achieved a lot.

We’ve created more lifestyle and leisure opportunities, and delivered Australia’s most modern public transport while keeping Brisbane clean, green and sustainable.

Every day, Brisbane City Council works with residents and local communities to help make our city what it is today with a long-term vision for the future.

It’s because of that careful planning that we now find ourselves on the brink of an exciting new chapter.

Brisbane has every reason to be optimistic about its future, particularly in the next several years with the new runway at Brisbane Airport, the Queen’s Wharf Brisbane and Howard Smith Wharves projects and the Brisbane Metro that will add another dimension to our city.

The new airport runway will give Brisbane a greater capacity than Hong Kong or Singapore and, with no curfew, there will be more and more direct flights increasing investment opportunities and creating jobs.

The Brisbane Metro is a high-frequency public transport system that will cut travel times, reduce central business district bus congestion and improve bus services to the suburbs.

The 21km high-frequency Metro will help relieve bus congestion in the inner city and give locals more travel options in the suburbs.

The Queens Wharf Brisbane project, along with the Howard Smith Wharves redevelopment, will deliver a world-class entertainment and lifestyle precinct for Brisbane.

Brisbane has a thriving $146 billion economy and has rapidly emerged as an influential leader in the Asia Pacific and a highly desirable place to do business.

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk in front of the $650 million Kingsford Smith Drive upgrade.

Our New World City has a reputation for being economically resilient, with a strong and connected business community, as well as a city with outstanding education, business, employment and lifestyle opportunities.

A liveable city is about more than just new jobs and better roads.

We’re growing our city while maintaining the character of our suburbs, planning carefully for inevitable growth and focusing development around transport options.

Council is creating new lifestyle and leisure opportunities at Mt Coot-tha, right on the city’s doorstep and one of Brisbane’s green jewels, with a new zip line, picnic areas and walking trails and a sustainable retreat for people and refuge for wildlife.

Keeping Brisbane clean and green is all about making our city more liveable and sustainable for our children and their children to follow.

Council is recognised as a leader in reducing carbon and, last year, achieved carbon neutral status for its operation – making Council the largest carbon neutral organisation in Australia.

We will make our suburbs more liveable as we manage population growth by ensuring there are an additional 200 parks created over the next 20 years and that we continue to grow and connect our natural areas to create 40 per cent natural habitat cover and acquire bushland to provide more corridors to protect our wildlife such as koalas.

But there’s more to be done to carefully plan for the future.

That means continuing to tackle traffic congestion to make getting around our city quicker and safer with more travel options, while keeping housing affordable in a strong economy with more jobs right across Brisbane.

The delivery of projects attacking congestion such as Clem7, Airport Link, Go Between Bridge and Legacy Way takes 120,000 vehicles off our surface roads every day to ensure motorists experience significant travel time savings.

Major upgrades under way to expand key arterial roads, including Kingsford Smith Drive, the Inner City Bypass, Telegraph Road in the northern suburbs and the Wynnum Road corridor, mean residents can get home quicker and safer.

By delivering on a strong plan now, with a vision that looks to the future, Council is improving quality of life for residents while ensuring our city has the services and infrastructure to meet the needs of the future generations.

Graham Quirk is Lord Mayor of Brisbane

Route map for the planned Brisbane Metro