Future Melbourne: Plan for hubs where you can live, work, play
MELBURNIANS could soon be living, working and playing in hubs close to their homes in a bid to ease pressure on central Melbourne. East Werribee and Monash are among eight areas that have been identified as “priority precincts”.
Future Victoria
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EIGHT “priority precincts” have been identified to help take pressure off the city by creating major innovation hubs and new economic centres.
The city must become a polycentric city with more than one economic heart, the CityPulse study by PwC concludes.
“Smart planning of hubs outside of the CBD will create vibrant communities where Melburnians can live, work and play, reducing travel times and improving lifestyles,’’ the report says.
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The government has identified Monash, La Trobe, Fishermans Bend, Flinders St-Richmond rail corridor, Parkville, Docklands, East Werribee and Arden-Macaulay with the aim of sustaining the city’s growth and easing the pressure on central Melbourne.
PwC partner David Sacks said new centres for jobs were needed as the radial infrastructure could not keep sustaining more workers travelling into the CBD.
“It’s unusual to see a city of our scale with only one CBD, which really shows that we need to move to a polycentric city and be a fair and equitable city and retain our position as a liveable city,’’ Mr Sacks said.
The Arden precinct in North Melbourne is evolving out of the $11 billion Melbourne Metro rail tunnel project. The 55ha space will include a new railway station as well as commercial and residential developments.
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It is expected that by 2051, Arden will be home to 34,000 jobs and 15,000 residents.
Seven employment and innovation clusters were also identified for development by the Victorian Planning Authority — Dandenong, La Trobe, Monash, Sunshine, Werribee, Parkville and Fishermans Bend.
These hubs have an education, medical and research focus to promote future industries and foster job creation in large organisations or small start-ups.
Some, such as the Melbourne biomedical precinct at Parkville, are well advanced with several highly respected research organisations operating as well as connected institutes at the hospitals and the University of Melbourne.
“The thing that we find with innovation precincts is they are a cross-pollination of large and small organisations,’’ PwC partner Kate Eriksson said.
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Peter Seamer, director of Planning Strategies and former chief executive of the Victorian Planning Authority and Federation Square, said it was critical to “change the way our city works”, and have employment centres closer to where people live, reducing travel length and taking the pressure off an already congested transport system.
“Infrastructure decisions are far more powerful in changing the nature of our cities than any planning document,’’ Mr Seamer said.
“It is essential that new major projects align to the need to develop long-term future suburban business precincts, and these connections are not seen as an afterthought.”
Monash is an example where there is not enough transport or “lifestyle” infrastructure to accompany the major influx of hi-tech companies and institutions.
And major opportunities have been identified to propel investment in East Werribee through the expansion of the West Gate Freeway and the potential connection of the hub to the Werribee rail line, and for La Trobe through a connection to the planned North East Link.
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