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.

Public Spaces, Private Spaces

I took the opportunity to travel around to other suburbs in Sydney during the semester break. I am writing this post in a café in Rozelle while waiting for my friends to arrive to conduct a site visit. Opposite the road where I was sitting, there is a school, the Rozelle Public School. During the weekends, the school compound is being used as a weekend market. This got me thinking on the definition of public spaces and private spaces. It is probably because I was reading on Nolli’s Plan last week.

The public spaces in Rozelle would be made up of the café spots along the shopping strip in either side of Darling Street. I would define cafes as public space as it is a place where people meet and interact despite not located outdoor. In fact, I feel that cafes has now become the dominant “public space” as oppose to the usual public squares and marketplace that used to be the definition of a public space. It is a sad phenomenon that people are now so drawn to the café culture where it has elevated the status of cafes to public space, at least as defined by me. It is also ironic to condemn the café culture while seating in one but the truth is I find that the more dominant places like Starbucks become, the less likely public squares are likely to be able to attract and gather people.

Looking across the road, the marketplace is definitely a public space for the people in Rozelle. However, during the weekdays, it is not open to the public. It is interesting that the school shifts from weekends to weekdays in its role of a public or private space. Another thing that comes to mind is that the definition of a public space may differ from kids and adults. The cafes are generally considered as public spaces for adults but the kids studying in Rozelle Public School are all younger than the age of 12 since it is a primary school. Do the definition of public space in the cafes along Darling Street extend to the kids? I believe that it would not. On the other hand, the open compounds around the school areas are the public spaces from the kids’ point of view whereas for the adults, the area is out of bounds during school hours.

The post-office next to the school reminds me of a discussion I had with my friends a while back. Post-offices and libraries are examples of public buildings which has been around for a long time to provide communication and books. However, the growing importance of internet in our daily lives and the speed of which internet allows for communication and access to knowledge may change the role of public buildings such as post-offices and libraries. Email has for the most part replaced hand-written letters and the transfer of documents. The online resources and innovation such as kindle and ebooks may slowly replace the need to go to a library to access any information. The internet itself is a source of unlimited information. The growing trend of online shopping may also slowly replace the need to have a shopping mall. The growth and the reliance on the internet may one day replace the need of public buildings and public spaces. It is a frightening thought that in the future, there may not be any public buildings left. Perhaps the Nolli Plan of the future will only be a diagram consisting of black boxes. Or perhaps (and hopefully) not.

The Lion City

My last post touches on the growth of a city and town and the effect on the reliance on one agent of resource to support the growth. One of the country that always kept me thinking on the rapid growth of development despite having little to no natural resources is Singapore. Singapore was once part of Malaysia and when they were expelled from the country in 1965, the then Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew broke down in tears as the newly formed country of Singapore faces uncertainty in the future. Fast forward to 2014 and Singapore is now the most developed country in the South East Asian region.

The rapid rise of Singapore as a developed nation owes much to the fast-acting and planning during the initial years of its formation to overcome its short-comings. The lack of natural resources was overcome with development in other sectors such as entrepot trading and manufacturing to maintain its economy. Singapore is a prime example of a modern-day city that relies on trading and manufacturing to overcome the lack of natural resources. The diversified economy of Singapore is a strategy implemented as a vital source for growth despite its size as a country.

The recent development of Marina Bay Sands in Singapore is also a strategy to reduce the outgoing of capital to its neighbouring country of Malaysia. Before, Singaporeans travel extensively to Malaysia for the casino in Genting Highland and this has benefited Malaysia in more ways than one. The effect of this can be seen in the land ownership in the town of Malacca where the heritage-listed shop lots along Heeran Street in Malacca are owned mostly by Singaporeans. Located in between Singapore and Genting Highlands, Malacca was a convenient stop-over for Singaporeans. However, since the opening of Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, the tourist industry in Malacca and Genting Highlands slowed down significantly.

Marina Bay developments are built on reclaimed land to overcome the land shortage issue in the country. This was not the first time that Singapore resorted to reclaimed land to cater for new developments and probably won’t be the last. There are other measures taken to overcome the shortage of buildable lands in the country. One of it is the public housing policy that is pro-density living introduced by the Housing and Development Board (HDB). High-rise HDB flats are a common sight in Singapore and it houses more than 80% of its population. I find that the HDB flats area good strategy to overcome the shortage of land for residential units while able to prevent slums and squatter housings.

The public transportation system is also build around the idea of dense population in the small country. To minimize land congestion on the ground level, the main public transportation system, the MRT, are located below ground in the city center. As a result, there are many shopping malls that is located underground to link to the train stations below ground. Travelling around the city center in Singapore, I find that people spent more time below ground than they do on street levels discounting the time where they are in the office or at home.

What Makes a City?

I looked back to my class notes from a couple of weeks ago and I found that I have written down a question that was posed during the class: What makes a city? I remember that one of the key point mentioned in class was that a city do not hold a single role, rather it has multiple functions that made it self-sustaining. One of my peer gave the example of Detroit where the city used to be the center of the automobile industry. Once that was taken away due to alternative places to develop the automobile industry, Detroit was soon on the decline.

I never had the opportunity to visit Detroit and to experience first-hand on the current status of Detroit. However, I had the opportunity to visit other towns in Australia and Malaysia that was once a significant area of growth in the country but suffered massive decline due to the fall of the industry in which the town is known for.

Bendigo in Victoria was once a significant boomtown in Australia due to the gold rush era in the mid to late 19^th Century. However, the population soon decline as the gold mining operations were reduced. However, Bendigo was able to recover from the growth slump by using the rich historical culture and turning it into a tourist attraction. In addition, it has ventured from a mining town to a commercial precinct that relies on commerce and education sector on top of tourism as the main industries.

Another town that suffered a growth slump similar to Bendigo and Detroit is one I visited in Pahang, Malaysia called Sungai Lembing. It was one of the major producer of tin and the town benefited from having the largest and deepest tin mine in the world during its heyday. It was once one of the richest town in Malaysia. The fortune of the town change significantly once the price of tin dropped in the mid 1980s and Sungai Lembing was on a sharp decline ever since. Today, it is a quiet and forgotten town despite locating just 42km away from Kuantan, the capital town in Pahang.

The growth of the city or town depends heavily on the fate of the major industries it is known for. The more diversified the city is the lower the chance of the city suffering from growth decline if one of the industry were to collapse. On the other hand, if the city or town relies heavily on a single major industry to support the growth as in the case in Sungai Lembing, chances are that the fate of the town will decline as soon as the industry were to collapse. 

User-Generated Urbanism

The urban designers and planners can attempt to design and plan for a city or a place that is performing effectively and has high level of livability and comfort. However, there are always area for improvement and in my personal experience from Better Cities and from Phil Stubbs’ talk on Better Block, I have learned that the community can sometimes provide better insight on what a place need as they are the ones who are using the space and experiencing the day to day changes.

I found this link that talks about User-Generated Urbanism

The idea of crowd-sourcing in architecture and urban planning is beginning to take shape as more and more organization like Better Block and Better Cities begin to form. However, it is not a concept which is widely discussed in the built environment community. I felt that the people in the planning and architecture field feels the need for them to be responsible for the design for the people and the public should remain as passive participants as users in the place designed for them. This could probably be down to egoism. In the field of architecture, it is widely accepted that architects are egoistic beings and every good architecture should have ego. This could be the result of the modernist era school of thought where the older generation architects are taught to be master-builders in the mould of Frank Lloyd Wright, who famously rearrange the furniture of houses he visits as he feels he knows better as a designer compared to the layman. He could be right to think so but the times has change and the character of Howard Roark may no longer work in a world where open-source and community-based society reign supreme over individuality.

I recall an architect from Thailand called Patama Roonrakwit who I had the pleasure of meeting and attending one of her talks. She conduct her practice as an architect in the role of facilitator in a user-generated design in the community. During her talk, she was bombarded with questions which doubted her role and definition as an architect due to her unconventional methods of design. The feedback given that day on her methods made me realize that the building community is not ready to accept an open source design method that involves the users and clients. It also made me realize that Patama could pave way for a new form or architectural practice that actively engage the community to take part in the process of design which is not wrong either. Below is a video link of an interview with Patama which truly inspired me.

Patama Roonrakwit Interview

Megacity and Citizen’s Needs

I found this clip on Youtube when I was looking for inspiration for my design studio project and thought it is suitable for a post here. The clip is a trailer for a documentary called “The Human Scale”.

What caught my attention was that it talks about Jan Gehl and his vision and philosophy on city planning. Gehl Architects are one of my favourite reference whenever I deal with design studio on an urban scale. I hold a personal believe that architecture and urban planning should center on the need of the people using the space instead of being driven by financial capital of the developer. Perhaps this is why I am interested in organization such as Better Cities and I usually participate in their events in Malaysia especially those which brings together communities and ask them what their preference in terms of improving their neighbourhood are.

The happiness of the people are always the determining factor of a successful city planning. Then why not make them the core studies when we are doing an analysis on urban planning. It is important that we understand how people use and react to the space around them especially in the urban context. Their needs differs from one culture to another and designers and planners need to identify the cultural identity of a place and the demographics of the place in order to cater to the need of the people in their projects. I find that the most effective way to do so is to map the demographics, social and cultural patterns and the zoning and building typology of the site in varying scale. I model this method from the practice of Gehl Architects’ Public Space Public Life where I think they did an excellent job in breaking down the analysis of a place to different components and presented it in the forms of maps and data. However, the data presented has very little to do with planning policy and regulation. Rather, the focus is on human behavior and this is what I find interesting with their analysis.