Dr Yazid Ninsalam, Head of Landscape Architecture at RMIT, spoke at the Southbank Residents’ Association AGM on September 1 about the urban planning opportunities and challenges facing Southbank as the country’s most densely populated postcode.
Dr Ninsalam said landscape architecture would play a crucial role in improving liveability within Southbank as the precinct’s population continues to grow.
“In 2015, Southbank had over 19,000 residents, and by 2035 it’s projected to double to 45,000. This makes Southbank one of the densest precincts within the context of Australia itself,” Dr Ninsalam said.
According to Dr Ninsalam, a major challenge facing Southbank is the way in which the sheer amount of development happening in the area may impact residents’ and visitors’ visual experience of the suburb, which he described through the concept of a “visual bowl”.
“The visual bowl is a 3D bowl of space around a person and is defined by what they can see in all directions,” he said.
“For example, in Southbank the bowl is dominated by tower walls and sharp skyline cuts that might make you feel like you’re in a canyon more than a plaza.”
He said the sky ratio – that is, the amount of sky that’s visible from a given point – isn’t the only factor which impacts a person’s experience of an urban landscape.
The amount of space that is meaningfully engaged with on a ground level and utilising areas to offer visual complexity are also important.
“We live in a new type of urban landscape, a landscape that’s surrounded by skyscrapers,” he said.
Dr Ninsalam said that due to the scale of high-rise development in Southbank, it was these factors outside of the sky ratio that would be key to improving the “visual bowl” for the people of Southbank.
One project that he believes is a promising development which would improve this “visual complexity” is the Kings Way northern undercroft and City Rd Park project.
The draft design for the project, which was endorsed by the City of Melbourne in May this year, plans to reallocate 5000 square metres of public space under the Kings Way overpass on the northern side of City Rd.
The northern undercroft concept includes plans for a multipurpose recreation space with two half-court basketball courts, a bouldering wall and a skateable plaza area.
At City Rd Park, there are plans for more greenery, seating and an off-road bike path.
Dr Ninsalam called the project an “amazing opportunity for landscape to exist within this dense urban environment.”
“I think this is a really amazing way for us to rethink the way in which we want to occupy spaces which are deemed to be difficult to access,” he said.
He also noted the successes of the Southbank Boulevard project, particularly the Rocks on Wheels public art playground.
“It also allowed us to be able to reallocate 15,000 square metres of public space, and that’s [nearly] the size of the MCG. And it is amazing for us to be able to reclaim that space in the context of a very dense urban environment,” he said.
Dr Ninsalam also expressed enthusiasm about the landscape architects at ASPECT Studios playing a key role within the design team for the NGV’s upcoming contemporary art gallery, The Fox.
“The opportunities for Southbank are fantastic. At the same time, the City of Melbourne’s development activity model also demonstrates that there is a lot of work, a lot of buildings that are being developed on site,” Dr Ninsalam said.
It is also key to be able to kind of look at the ground and how we might be able to explore and unpack possibilities.
“It’s really important to acknowledge how the quality of the built environment and built landscape that we have impacts the way in which we live,” he added.
He described cities as a form of nature in and of themselves, with interconnecting biomes and urban systems.
“If we look at Southbank in itself, some might say Southbank is a precinct of many worlds. You have your waterfront, you have your Arts Centre, you have your residential area. It is in a way fragmented, but also united in essence.”
“Looking at various biome systems and urban systems which interconnect I think is important for us to be able to understand that when we improve a particular region, it will have cascading impacts through the rest of the area. I think this is a really important way of looking at how we might be able to engage the future of Southbank.” •
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