Canberra report card: An architect's view on the city's planning and design

It was said of Richard Branson in his school report ‘He will either go to prison or become a millionaire’ and of Albert Einstein ‘he will never amount to anything’.

For many years I had the idea that there is an untapped opportunity for collecting funds for charity by producing a coffee table offering; a book of school reports from famous people. I have floated the concept to a few household names including an ex-governor general but nobody has taken me up on the offer yet.

Along these lines, this week’s column is contrived as an end-of-term report for Canberra’s first term of 100 or so years.

The Lake

Canberra must try harder with its Lake; the city has turned its shoulder on its most valuable resource. If one were an alien floating above Canberra in a spaceship, one would think that Dickson was the new centre of gravity. In one of his Canberra Theatre talks, author Bill Bryson reminisced about trying to buy a coffee on edge of the lake before his performance. He got comprehensively lost in the untrammelled zone of the West Basin and had to be rescued. The lake is a man-made artefact and underused. Please bring back the City to the Lake Project and politely ask the NCA to return ownership of the lake to people who actually live here.

Civic

The candidate is showing little effort in this subject and is close to the bottom of the class. There is something of a sad vacuum at the heart of Canberra; a post-apocalyptical movie set populated by foreclosed shops, and spookily depopulated, windblown avenues. Perhaps more serious work on a new convention centre and a shiny new stadium are required next term?

Density and liveability

We are one of the least dense cities in the world and rapidly crashing into our borders. Melbourne was ranked by The Economist as the most liveable city in the world seven years in a row up to 2017. Although a highly debated topic, a growing number of economists continue to extol the benefits of greater density as a panacea for sustainability, innovation, job creation and affordable housing. Harvard’s Edward Glaeser (Triumph of the City) points out that “tall buildings enable the human interactions that are at the heart of economic innovation, and of progress itself.” Although the government plans to have 70 per cent of all new developments in existing areas it’s hard to see how the framework for it exists within the current Territory Plan. Canberra only has 38 per cent of the density of Melbourne and if it is to become the truly ‘cool little capital’ it some serious navel gazing about the density issue is required.

Light rail

To mix my metaphors I have always thought the light rail is akin to a white elephant. At about $8000 per household (for the current line only) the cost is thought of in personal finance terms as similar to living in a government flat and buying a Ferrari to tow your caravan. Looked at as mostly a political deal to stay in power, it may not be the best use of limited funds. Over coffee, a former chief minister referred to it as ‘fiscal suicide’. The arrival of driverless cars is a tsunami looming over the horizon and will surely swamp the need for our inflexible iron horse before we can blink.

Consultation

We need to talk about Walter. Our Chief Minister has mentioned in the past that “Walter Burley Griffin is dead”. The current debate about the future of Canberra has been largely hijacked by the SASAs (Self Appointed Superannuants). As with Brexit, there is an argument that the gens X, Y, Z should have at least a 1.5 votes in any issue about the future of the city as they will be stuck with the decisions for much, much longer. They are sorely missing from the conversation. We need to create a framework where the Marjories and Cyrils don’t simply appoint themselves as spokespersons for the whole community and then wield their big stick in the public debate. A more democratic and representative slice through our demographic needs to be the metric for future community consultation.

This is a two-party series by Tony Trobe. Tony Trobe is director of TT Architecture specialising in the design of sustainable residential architecture. If there a design issue you would like to discuss, email tonytrobe@ttarchitecture.com.au