Fin

My previous post seems to end the digital journal on a light note but I guess the final entry should be on a reflection of what I have learned about cities, planning and public spaces.

First of all I begin writing this blog with thought of exploring radical ideas on the future of city planning. However, as I proceed with writing this blog, my attention turned to something that is more realistic and deals with current issues of urban planning. I guess what I have learned from my experience of writing this blog is that urban planning is not just about the urban form. It also deals with planning policies, the people, the role of citizens in urban planning, the effect of infrastructure on city planning and economic flows. As an architecture student, I enter this course with the primary objective of learning about urban forms but I end up learning more about other aspects in urban planning and the city in more ways than I could have imagined.

Writing this blog also reminded me of the problems of urban planning back in my home country of Malaysia as well as my passion for user-generated urbanism which I wrote about quite a lot in this blog. Additionally, I was able to uncover a few urban planning issues right here in Sydney. I also realized that I am interested in studying the virtual cities found in movies and compare it to cities in the real world.

I believe that the knowledge and experience I have gained through writing this blog as well as taking this course will provide a wider range of knowledge for my journey in becoming an architect. I may have left out some learning outcomes but I am sure that over time, I will come to realize that my future experience will continue to remind me the lessons I have learned through this course and assignment.

New York New York

I have written quite a few posts on different cities but the city that I would love to visit most has to be New York. The thought of New York came to my mind while I am working on my studio assignment listening to some music. The song “New York Minute” by Don Henley and “New York, New York” performed by Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly and Jules Munshin for the musical “On The Town” played back to back on my music library. While I never had the chance to visit New York yet, the lyrics from these songs provide some hints of what New York might offer even after all the so many years since the release of both songs. Both the songs depicts New York as a fast paced city where “Everything can change, in a New York minute” and that the city has plenty of things to do. I sure wish that this is true when I finally visit New York.

In addition to the “New York, New York” Sinatra also performed another song of the same title.

There are plenty of other songs that is dedicated to a particular city such as:

Density, Sprawl and Float

I find this week’s class and readings to be very interesting. As an architecture student, I have always held the belief that the compact and dense living in urban areas is a sustainable method of living. While The Compact City Fallacy is a good read, I must admit that my knowledge of sustainable living in terms of density is fairly limited and it is difficult for me to fully agree with either side of an argument. Instead of posting an analysis with limited knowledge on the subject area, I thought I could post some examples of hyper-density living which I find interesting as case studies of extreme density that makes the living condition unsafe and perhaps not sustainable.

The Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong

Rocinha, the largest Favela in Brazil

While the Kowloon Walled City and the Favelas are not the best residential types, I find that sometimes the economic conditions or the natural environment of the city forces the emergence of high density housing. For example, the HDB flats in Singapore is direct consequent of the shortage of land in the country. This made me think of examples that could solve the issue of shortage of land. Below are videos of some examples of how it could be done. Float!

Top 10 Trends Towards Floating Cities

Floating Frontiers: Drift and Drive

Sydney vs Melbourne

During the semester break, some of my friends from Melbourne came to Sydney for a visit. While they were here, they pointed out several differences between the city of Melbourne and Sydney. I had the chance to stay in both cities during my studies in Australia and most of my friends would ask if I prefer Sydney over Melbourne. It is easy to compare the two cities as it is very different.

First of all, Melbourne was planned based on the grid layout whereas Sydney is more of an organic city mostly due to its topography. This has significant effect on the two cities as Melbourne is inevitably more structured and organized in its layout. As a result, the public transport system in the CBD is far superior to that in Sydney.

The grid planning also makes name of the streets in Melbourne easier to remember for me. I was only there for a year but I still remember the names of every street in Melbourne but still having trouble with the names of streets in Sydney. The streets in Melbourne also have very distinct identity to it. For example, Spencer Street is the transportation hub with Southern Cross station spanning the most part of the street. Colins Street is home to boutiques of high fashion, Little Bourke Street is Chinatown, Lygon Street is the food street and Swanston Street is the main street where most international students spend their time on perhaps because it links Melbourne University and RMIT University to most of the student residential and major shopping complexes such as QV and Melbourne Central. On the other hand, George Street in Sydney acts as the main spine of the city but I fail to elaborate more on the role it plays in the CBD to my visiting friends. In addition, the other streets around Sydney also lacks a distinctive identity to it other than Oxford Street.

While the structured layout and clear identity in the streets of Melbourne makes it easy to navigate and identify, it also makes it less interesting as you know what to expect if you are to meet someone in an allocated street. In Sydney however, it is more interesting as you can wander around every street while still having different options in terms of activity. Sydney feels like an interesting maze where every corner could offer something unpredictable whereas in Melbourne, the clear mental maps makes every turn of a corner predictable. Generally, I feel that the speed of lifestyle is much faster in Sydney as compared to Melbourne.

The urban fabric of Melbourne ranges from all types of colours and styles of architecture whereas in Sydney, as my friends put it, is old and bland. Despite the less picturesque environment, I find Sydney strangely comforting. This is perhaps the messiness and the hustle and bustle reminds me of Kuala Lumpur. When asked to compare the two cities of Melbourne and Sydney in a nutshell, I always compare Melbourne to me more alike to a European city and Sydney to an Asian city. It is a fact that Melbourne is a more scenic city but I am more accustomed to the hustle and bustle of Sydney.

The one aspect of Sydney that my friends seems to be amazed with is the weather. They are all drawn to the clear blue skies and moderate temperature of Sydney. I must admit that the climate is a huge factor I decided to move from Melbourne to Sydney. While having the discussion of climate and weather of a city with my friends, it reminded me on William Cronon’s reading on Chicago where the natural topography and landscape plays an important role in the development of a city. Speaking from personal experience, I believe that the natural environment is also affects the city in terms of drawing in tourists and attracting potential migrants to the city.

Blocking the Casbah

The situation in Cahill Expressway reminded me of a project by Le Corbusier. The segregating form of Cahill Expressway is very much similar to Corbusier’s masterplan in Algiers where he uses road infrastructure as a separating component in his masterplan. While the planners for Sydney did not intend to have Cahill Expressway to split the CBD into different components, Corbusier did so intentionally in Algiers.

Le Corbusier's masterplan in Algiers

Corbusier’s masterplan in Algiers consisted of three main elements as shown in the diagram below: a new business district on the Cape of Algiers (at the tip of the Casbah) consisting of cargo ports (blue), an elevated highway arcing connecting suburban blocks containing fourteen residential levels beneath it towards the industrial zones (yellow) and a curvilinear residential block with road on top of the blocks of residential (red).

The viaduct highway connects the residential zones to the industrial zones bypassing the Casbah beneath it. The curvilinear residential blocks acts as a wall that separates the Casbah and the business districts. This is done consciously by Le Corbusier to marginalize the Casbah.

Planners often think of road infrastructure as a means to connect different points. However, we should also be aware that these huge structures could also act as a segregating component for better or worse.

Cahill Expressway

Following my previous post on Railway Square, I thought that I would post on another area of the CBD where I have been visiting quite a lot lately after my observation studies in Town Hall. I usually walk towards Circular Quay for the evening view and sometimes I walk from the Botanical Gardens to Observatory Hill along Cahill Expressway.

During my walks, I realized that the Cahill Expressway has split the zoning of this area into four different parts: The Northern part of Sydney CBD which terminates at the Circular Quay Station, the promenade area ranging from Sydney Opera House to the MCA in the opposite side of Circular Quay Station, The Rock and Observatory Hill. We usually identify road infrastructures as a means to connect from one point to another but the Cahill Expressway acts also as a segregating component in Sydney. It is not to different from the examples given in my earlier posts regarding KL Sentral and Mid Valley City in Malaysia where the road infrastructure acts as a “wall” that segregates two different parts of development. I have never really thought of Cahill Expressway in any other way except that it destroys the view from the CBD toward the Sydney Opera House. Below is a diagram I did to indicate the form of Cahill Expressway and how it acts as a segregating agent.

While walking from Botanical Gardens towards Observatory Hill, I always find it annoying as I have to get down from Cahill Expressway to The Rock before navigating my way through the laneways towards Observatory Hill. It is not a smooth flow of travel and this again shows how Cahill Expressway has divided the city into different parts. It is a shame considering that it has the potential of connecting the two green areas of Sydney which is the Botanical Gardens and Observatory Hill. While Botanical Gardens is a busy tourist attraction, the Observatory Hill is a hidden gem of Sydney. I believe that if the route towards Observatory Hill have an easier access, the place would be filled with tourists. Even tourists that travels to The Rock are oblivious to the existence of Observatory Hill behind the wall of concrete formed by the Cahill Expressway.

Though it is a hassle to travel from Botanical Gardens towards Observatory Hill, I realized that it is much easier to travel by foot as compared to the cyclists. While there are bicycle tracks along Cahill Expressway, the track leads cyclists from Botanical Gardens to North Sydney along Harbour Bridge. Cyclist will need to stop cycling and carry their bicycle at one point if they were to cut across and get to Observatory Hill. While watching cyclist carrying their bikes, it reminded me of the conversation during the walking tour of seamlessness in the city to cater for cyclist and skaters. The Cahill Expressway has made cycling and skating around the area to be very inconvenient. Below is some diagrams I did to highlight the some of the points I have mentioned. 

Railway Square Observation

I have been travelling a lot to the CBD lately to do my city observation assignment in Town Hall. I usually travel to Central before moving North towards Town Hall along George Street. During my stay in Railway Square, I have observed a few things that I thought could be interesting to post on as an exercise for my city observation assignment.

The Railway Square precinct is an area with a rich history and a well-defined function as a transportation hub. Railway Square acts as a gateway into the CBD and this is represented in the built fabric of the precinct. As a result the buildings are relative low rise and step up towards the city. Wide streets and an expanse of open area at the main intersection create a funnel effect as you enter the CBD which feels much more confined.

I find that there are some shortcomings in the area in terms of pedestrian amenity in conjunction with high traffic movements and low pedestrian priority. A clear trend of very short lengths of time being spent in the area by visitors has given the precinct the identity of a thoroughfare rather than a destination that people want to stay in.

The transport orientated nature of the infrastructure in the precinct functions sufficiently for current usage but with increasing patronage of public transport and the potential for the introduction of light rail through the precinct in the future it is evident that existing infrastructure will not be able to cope.

Analysis of the demographics and consideration of numbers of commuters visiting the area has revealed several issues which need to be addressed. High levels of shared student accommodation and high unemployment in the area contributes to the definition as a growing region of lower socio economic development. These levels are directly related to the close proximity of large scale educational facilities and have shaped the usage of the precinct.

A high density of heritage buildings adds a unique sense of history to the area. Sandstone and bricks are visible cues to the past and form a rich pallete of textures which are placed alongside recent developments of glass and steel. This juxtaposition of materials and design styles helps to integrate the spaces and buildings with one another and forms a single character for the whole precinct.

Some parts of precinct have grown in scale to accommodate a growing student population and to capitalize on the close proximity to transport connections. However, consistently similar sized buildings reduces the impact of any single building as a landmark. This consistency has created an uninterrupted wall of buildings around a central space. The central space is interrupted by an architectural intervention of glass and steel. The railway square bus interchange is the heart of the precinct and facilitates the major transport and pedestrian movements of the area.

An underground link creates a link from Central station across Lee and George Streets to the bus interchange, the TAFE building and onwards towards Darling Harbour. This vertical layering of amenity allows for separation of modes of transport increasing safety and creating a unique pedestrian experience.

There is very little street furniture in the area provoking people to resort to resting on stairways and contributes to the identity of the area as a thoroughfare rather than a destination.

Generally speaking, the precinct is characterized by tertiary educational uses with UTS, TAFE and the transportation terminal. The area is bookended by hotels located on the northern and southern ends of the site. The buildings of educational use are located on the western side of George Street with retail on the ground floor. The office buildings are clustered near the entrance to Central Station to the East.

The precinct is an overlapping space of many different uses but there is a change of dominant function throughout different times of day and different days of the week. Central Station and the Railway Square bus interchange dominate the usage of area especially at the peak times of the day; between 8 - 10 am in the morning and 5 - 6pm in the afternoon. Generally, working days are busier than weekends. In the morning and evening, transportation usages dominated this area, however at noon, retail and plazas become more dominant.