Importance of Capital Metro - Canberra as a Great Global City

Capital metro is very important much needed piece of infrastructure although controversial especially if you believe the Canberra Times. Canberra has always been designed to have rail and the large wide median strips show this; but this has never happened. Canberra’s reliance on cars needs to be broken to deal with many issues such as growth in population, sustainability and higher fuel prices, (ACT Government, 2012).

 The first stage is Gungahlin to civic is controversial option but really this makes sense because currently Northbourne avenue is currently a pressure point for public transport, public transport from civic to Gungahlin doesn’t work, this is because there is no bus priority along Northbourne, (ACT Government, 2014). Options to rectify this are to make the left lane along Northbourne a bus only lane which would congest traffic further or the light rail. One obvious answer the light rail its good for Canberra and needed for the future, (Hass, 2014). 

The other thing building capital metro is facilitating is the Northbourne corridor revamp which will completely change Canberra’s image for tourists as they drive in from dilapidated housing commission buildings to nice modern mixed use buildings, more people and more vibrancy, (ACT Government, Land Development Agency, 2014) .

Bibliography

ACT Government, Land Development Agency, 2014. Northbourne Housing Precinct. [Online]
Available at: http://www.lda.act.gov.au/en/northbourne-avenue-corridor

ACT Government, 2012. Transport for Canberra, Canberra: Environment and Sustainable Development Directorate.

ACT Government, 2014. Capital Metro. [Online]
Available at: http://www.capitalmetro.act.gov.au/

Hass, D. C., 2014. ACT Light Rail. [Online]
Available at: http://www.actlightrail.info/
[Accessed 21 October 2014].

City to the Lake

City to the Lake is Canberra’s largest urban renewal project if the ACT government gets around to it. It will bring Canberra’s CBD to West Basin bridging across Parks Way. This Project needs to be done very carefully and needs to enhance not worsen the aesthetic appeal of Lake Burley Griffin. While I do believe this project needs to happen I’m not sure now is a suitable time, not to be to negative but with recent hits to Canberra’s economy and retail struggling around the city I think adding large new retail spaces just won’t work.

Increasing Civics population by building high density housing in the centre of the city as has been seen in New Acton could make this project more viable in the future. On the positive side this project will deliver much needed accommodation in the centre of the city and even more importantly deliver much needed infrastructure, (ACT Government, Environment and Sustainable Development, 2012). Within the City to the lake plan is a new Aquatics Centre, Stadium and land reserved for a new convention centre.

 New Aquatics facilities and a stadium are desperately needed for Canberra and I would start this project by building the new aquatics facility and stadium and then re-evaluate the rest of the project once that is complete, (ACT Government, Environment and Sustainable Development, 2012).

References

ACT Government, Environment and Sustainable Development, 2012. ACT Planning Strategy, Canberra: ACT Government.

Update

Just updating you all my last post and the next 3 are a part of this semesters assessable

  work of 4, 200 words Forum Post spread across the semester. I'm sorry they are brief but I am restricted by the 200 word limit.