Network City: Retrofitting the Perth Metropolitan Region to Facilitate Sustainable Travel

Abstract

Abstract'Network City', the latest 25 year planning strategy for metropolitan Perth, Western Australia, is designed to realise the integration of land use and transport networks within established and new areas. This paper examines the influence of urban form on travel patterns and the case for sustainable travel outcomes in order to set in context the 'Network City' concept. The concept is described, and then the paper focuses on the operational detail needed to progress towards fuller integration between the transport network and the city it serves. This includes analysis of urban structure in the context of the factors that influence efficient use of public transport: including residential density, intensity of activity, and the hierarchy of activity centres. The implications for road planning are discussed where land use-transport integration is the core objective rather than simply traffic efficiency. If sustainable travel is to be facilitated there is a need to change both the operation of public transport and the urban structure and these changes are mutually supportive.

The challenge of attaining a sustainable urban morphology for South East Queensland

“…Should it fulfil its ambitions the future structure of the SEQ region will be characterized by a compact, self-contained and interconnected urban pattern of activity centres. In short, the potential structure will adhere to the notion of polycentric nodes of concentrated activity (Curtis, 2006). The specific form of this desired spatial shift is neatly described by Forster (2006) when referring to the uniform nature of Australia's metropolitan planning strategies, as consisting of: high density housing around centres and transport corridors, and infill and densification throughout the current inner and middle suburbs [and] residents will live closer to their work in largely self-contained suburban labour sheds.…”

“…Curtis (2006) hints at why this might be the case when suggesting that in Perth the focus of strategic planning efforts since the 1950s has been on automobility, leading to sprawling, low-density, car-dependent urban patterns.…”

“…Whilst Curtis (2006) heralds the sustainable benefits of a transport corridor and activity centre focus in the new metro-regional strategy for Perth (based primarily upon the implementation capacity and resourcing capabilities of the Western Australian State government), Birrell et al (2005) highlight the limitations of similar strategies in the Melbourne 2030 metropolitan plan (VDI, 2002). The latter authors reference the work of Han (2005), who points out that in countries like Singapore, whose land use and infrastructure controls are much more powerful than those in Australia, research suggests that despite the policy thrust for such, no clustering around regional centres was discernable in the 1990s.…”

Twenty-Five Years of Urban Policy and Research, 1982–2006

“…Four papers deal with aspects of physical planning, including the seemingly endless debate over urban consolidation (Randolph, 2006;Skinner, 2006). Transport issues, both environmental (Curtis, 2006) and social (Buchanan & Barnett, 2006;Dodson et al, 2006) are represented and overlap with general discussion of environmental sustainability (Davison, 2006). The recent search for an international focus has resulted in six papers from authors based outside Australia (three from the UK, two from Singapore and one from New Zealand).…”

The Changing Discourse of City Plans: Rationalities of Planning in Perth, 1955–2010

“…The scale of each centre and its associated designation requires further analysis to determine its place in the hierarchy of centres. (14) Moreover, the framing of the spatial plan in 'network' terms is purposeful, its aims expressed in instrumentalist language as to 'optimize' land use and transport integration (14; Curtis, 2006). It is unlikely, therefore, that it represents a true epistemological shift (cf.…”