Article: The eggs-act shape of Brisbane's future

[ozbob]

From the Brisbanetimes click here!

The eggs-act shape of Brisbane's future

The eggs-act shape of Brisbane's future
TONY MOORE
October 24, 2009 - 5:30AM

The Brisbane of the future will be more "omelette" than "poached egg", according to Southbank CEO Malcolm Snow, amid predictions our population will grow to four million by 2049.

Federal Treasury yesterday predicted Brisbane's population would grow by 106 per cent to four million in the next four decades.

But where are all these people going to go, and how will a Brisbane of four million people look?

"A good visual analogy pops into my mind. Less like a poached egg and more like an omelette," Mr Snow summarised.

"We are moving from this city which has this rich `middle bit' - where the yellow yolk represents the CBD with this bland white bit around the edge - to a city which hopefully has planning policies that State and City are pursuing where will really end up with a much richer, more interesting urban fabric."

Hence the Brisbane omelette.

Mr Snow is on the Urban Futures Board for managing Brisbane's growth and before joining the South Bank Corporation was Head of Design for the City of Melbourne.

Under Mr Snow's ideal future, Brisbane's facilities would be provided throughout the city and not just concentrated in the heart.

"We are going to see a transformation in place to drive urban consolidation," Mr Snow said.

"We want a denser city and lots of cities around the new world are trying to do that.

"But we can no longer sustain an urban form, when you reach four million people, that is having people coming into the centre to work and coming out of the centre."

For Mr Snow - who was of the inaugural recipients of the Australian Award for Urban Design - Brisbane needs to provide more choices outside the CBD.

"More choices in the way we work and in the way we live."

Currently the State Government's own Planning and Forecasting Unit estimates Brisbane's population will reach just 1,275,460 by 2031, however Professor Henry's estimate was for Greater Brisbane which includes the growing cities of Ipswich, Logan and Redlands as well as Moreton Bay.

Planners refer to it as "Greater Brisbane" because it takes into account the cross-pollination of services in and out of the Brisbane city area.

"The government has long recognised the pressures we face from population growth, particularly in the south-east corner of the state," Mr Fraser said.

"That's why weve put in place the SEQ Regional Plan and we're investing in an $18.2 billion infrastructure program, the nation's biggest."

Do you see the urgency of the need for our rail upgrades?

[O_128]

As we speak we should be creating a SEQIP that is aimed at 2050 complte with prjections of a population fo 4 million not in 50 years when it is overdue.

[#Metro]

Hmm. Logan and Redlands don't seem to have CBDs as such.
Moreton Bay? Is he talking those islands or bayside?

I think Redcliffe is potentially CBD II as its road layout is a grid and (maybe) access by rail would be forthcoming.

[longboi]

@tramtrain

I'd say he would mean Moreton Bay Region (Caboolture, Pine Rivers and Redcliffe).