News & Developments: Bowden TOD

[AG]

This idea isn't new, it sounds exactly like what was done with Subiaco station over in Perth. They put the station underground and made it a focal point in the district.

[Shuz]

Planning starts on green village on Clipsal site at Bowden

GREG KELTON, STATE EDITOR

April 07, 2009 01:54pm

CONSTRUCTION on a new "green village" on the old Clipsal factory site at Bowden is expected to start at the end of next year.

The Government has announced that planning would now start to transform the 10-hectare site, which it bought last year for $52 million, with a consortium drawing up a master plan.

Hassell and Parsons Brinkerhoff have won the tender for the master plan from 21 other bidders.

Infrastructure Minister Patrick Conlon said the new site would be known as "Bowden Village".

"This is one of the most important master planning exercises we will undertake in SA," he said.

Mr Conlon described the Clipsal site as a much sought after location which provided a once-in-a-generation opportunity to develop a sustainable green village on the city's doorstep.

He said the new development would be the "jewel in the crown" of the series of transport-oriented developments the Government had planned for around the metropolitan area.

All the developments are linked to new, upgraded rail and light rail infrastructure.

Mr Conlon said one of the possibilities for the new Clipsal site would be to have the electrified rail line servicing the site go underground through the development.

The master plan study will include a community engagement program with details being released soon.

Mr Conlon said the master planning process would through until October this year.

"We want a plan based around rapid transit with people living and working in an energy and water-efficient development with an affordable range of housing to accommodate a growing population," he said.

[sidler]

Found a great powerpoint show that gives an indication what this area will look like on completion.

I must say it looks pretty damn good. How much of it eventuates is another matter.

You can download the slideshow from the lmc website here:
http://www.lmc.sa.gov.au/home/inner.asp ... 0&subid=47

[AtD]

For those playing at home:



lol @ wind turbines.

[jk1237]

ah is this the thread on the Bowden/Bpton TOD. Cool

[Shuz]

Yes it is. I vote for a motion of support to change the thread title please!

Bowden Transport Orientated Development Masterplan Thread

[mattblack]

Nice little view of Westpack tower at the end of the street Ive been told that there will be a 'minumum of 10 stories on quite a few buildings, and will be quite a contentiuos design' so that is encouraging, drawings are well under way, it is all secret squirrel stuff even within the company. the site that the government was trying to purchase on Port Rd to add to this development has MAJOR contanination issues and is doudtfull to be added to the plan at this stage.

[skyliner]

Very impressed - has an old world charm to it and not just the typical globalization effect to it. A true alternative to the typical developments so often seen.

SA - STATE ON THE MOVE

[Wayno]

Mostly a TOD related article - hope this thread is the best place for it:

http://www.adelaidereview.com.au/proper ... =&ucat=19&

Getting to know TOD

On April 7 Minister Pat Conlon announced the appointment of HASSELL & Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) as consultants for the master-plan of the former Clipsal site at Bowden, declaring the project “a once in a generation opportunity to develop a sustainable green village right on the City’s doorstep”.

Between calling for Expressions of Interest and appointing the team, Bowden Village has become Green Village, at least in the rhetoric. This is not insignificant given that emerging public sentiment toward the rhetoric of sustainability sees ‘Green’ top a recent poll of Words to Be Banished.

Central to the purported green credentials of Bowden Village is transit - hardly surprising given Minister Conlon’s portfolios of Transport and Infrastructure. The project is touted as a ‘Transit Oriented Development’ (TOD), demonstrative of international best practice; ‘a flagship project that integrates sustainable living and working arrangements, energy and water efficiency, renewable energy generation, water harvesting and reuse that will establish a benchmark for future development along Adelaide’s transit corridors’. Such lofty ambitions heaped on the shoulders of one development suggests we are about to hear a lot more about TOD. And if you think the hype will ease post 2010 election, consider the Government’s Directions for Creating a New Plan for Adelaide which projects that in the next 30 years an additional 600,000 residents will need to be accommodated in 250,000 new dwellings, 70% within existing urban areas, with the balance pushing against the suburban fringe.

Research undertaken by Parsons Brinckerhoff, with Curtin University, considers the role of Transit Oriented Development in a comparative study into the economics of urban redevelopment vs suburban fringe development. Their report, Assessing the Costs of Alternate Development Paths in Australian Cities, presents compelling economic advantages in urban redevelopment centred on public transport corridors. Taking into account infrastructure, transport, services, utilities, and health costs, long-term savings amount to in excess of $340 million per 1000 new dwellings. Accommodating the 75,000 new homes destined for the outer metropolitan edge in Transit Oriented Development could save the Government and residents some $6 billion in establishment costs and in excess of $25 billion dollars across a 50 year period. With such savings we might just be able to have the cake and eat it - perhaps a hospital AND a stadium – and could forgive any Government for voraciously championing TOD.

While the Government’s Plan does explicitly identify Transit Oriented Development as the key strategy for dealing with Adelaide’s projected population influx, the foci for future TOD - Noarlunga, Elizabeth, Marion among others - are conspicuously decentralised, with Bowden the only central metropolitan site. Minister Conlon takes this further with the assertion that Bowden Village is the only opportunity for a sustainable village immediately adjacent the City. This is a deflating statement for the believers amongst us. Why are we not aspiring for, and articulating, a vision of ‘sustainable villages’ enveloping the City? Why not the City as sustainable village?

In his presentation at The Adelaide Parklands Symposium in 2006, the late George Seddon suggests reciprocity between the fate of the maligned Parklands and the fate of Adelaide. His argument, built around the scarcity of water, articulates the potentially vital amenity of the Parklands afforded to a dense community living around its edge. Seddon’s City and Parklands are radically different to those we have today, modelled on medium to high density housing, with resilient piazzas and dry parks, rather than quarter acre blocks and quasi-English parkland. Seddon’s provocation being that examining cities such as Tangier, the most geographically and climatically comparable to Adelaide, may help develop a more appropriate built and natural environment, one characterised by compact living and precious public spaces.

But whilst the Ministers’ tour shall no doubt reveal a combination of best practice transit systems and European nostalgia in equal measure, neither guarantees a successful TOD. Whilst precedent might afford some valuable lessons, the success of this development lays no more in deploying the right model than it does in its aforementioned economic advantage. The real potential lies in forging interesting and enjoyable spaces for people that celebrates, or at least facilitates, the nuanced nature of the people and place, and encapsulates the key principles of New Urbanism – the opportunity for an enriched life through diverse, walkable, humanist communities well supported by public transport.

How the idiosyncrasies of Bowden, its residents, its neighbours, and its industrial heritage, are reconciled with a few thousand new dwellings will play out in time, but to rely only on a fortuitous adjacency to the Parklands and the City is not enough.

And whilst never discussed in the same breath, Bowden Village is inextricably linked to proposals such as the North Terrace Railyards, for the sea of content citizens depicted drifting through the illustrations of our very own Federation Square depends less on the event-spectacular and more on a community of residents emotionally and physically connected to their public space. Unlike the oft-cited Central Park of New York, Adelaide’s Parklands envelope the City, creating an oversupply of public open space for the CBD, and in turn amplifying the role a populous outer edge might play in enlivening the Parklands and the City.

Bowden Village is the vital first step, but in isolation runs the risk of being a big white elephant with a tram stop, both disconnected from its local community and pining for the promised vibrancy and amenity of the City. A holistic and somewhat radicalised view of inner-metropolitan Adelaide might provide a necessary critical mass of people for a great City to emerge. Without it our ‘Green Village’ might help guarantee TOD a position on future lists of words to banish.

Matt Davis is Director of Davis + Davis Architects, and Lecturer in Architecture at UniSA, where he is joint coordinator for a Masters of Architecture Studio examining the Clipsal site.

[Wayno]

Another TOD article - also from the Adelaide Review paper:

LAST TRAIN TO TOD

If Minister for Transport, Energy and Infrastructure Patrick Conlon was to have a son, I suspect he might name him Tod, so enthusiastic is he about the much vaunted Transit Oriented Developments he is forecasting are the way of the future for development in Adelaide.

In the lead up to the first TOD proposed for the Clipsal site on the edge of the South parklands, he is soon to head a delegation of around 30 people overseas, including representatives from State and local government and experts in planning and transport, to view successful examples of TODs. The development team for the Bowden site was recently announced (Land Management Corporation, Parsons Brinckerhoff & Hassell) and Mr Conlon clearly wants to make a statement with the site. “We are determined that the first few (TODs) will be examples of excellence,” he said.

The Planning Institute Australia (SA Division) defines this new style of development in their Transit Oriented Development Policy Position Statement thus: “An activity centre containing a broad mixture of land uses; places that promote housing, employment, commercial and community opportunities supported by accessible, frequent, reliable and safe public transport services and other transport modes.”

Current users of some branches of the South Australian public transport system may be forgiven for feeling that there is a long way to go before these lofty ideals can be achieved and in fact would be satisfied merely by feeling confident when they get on a train that they have a reasonable chance of arriving at their desired destination. However, Mr Conlon is not deflected from his goal by reminders of recent hiccups.

“We have an extremely comprehensive plan for the upgrade of rail transport but we also have a view not only to improve public transport, but where should we be going and where the world is going in terms of how people travel and live,” Mr Conlon said.
Although South Australia offers a high quality lifestyle, the Minister pointed out that we cannot continue to spread forever and higher density living without sacrificing quality of life is to be achieved through developing along the rail corridors. However, he does admit that for this style of living to catch on, there will need to be a change in attitude, emerging as we are from an era where the car was king. “There will need to be a paradigm shift, but with increasing fuel costs and carbon emissions, public transport will be necessary to get around. We want to match our transport objectives to the overall plan for South Australia.”

The Government is pinning quite a lot on a public acceptance of the new plans and in a rare slip into the negative from a Minister experienced in talking up the State’s achievements, Mr Conlon said they want Adelaide for once to set the agenda and be the best in the world. A budget of $2 billion has been set aside for the rail upgrade with extra funding from Federal coffers possible in the near future, money that Mr Conlon said the Government remains committed to spending, despite the scary financial times. “There will be no white flag. We have to keep investment going. The Federal government wonít allow us to not go ahead,” he said, adding that the tramline extension to the Clipsal site will be completed by the end of this year.

The attraction of TODs are many, according to the Minister who cited an example in Portland, Oregon where he said the TOD has led to a huge economic flow on for the local community with strong commercial development springing up around, and even above and below, the electric rail line. It is not hard to imagine people lining up for a spot at Bowden, minutes from the CBD and close to a well established network of existing infrastructure, however Mr Conlon did acknowledge that different locations offer different challenges. Areas such as Noarlunga Centre will need a huge investment if they are to offer the services the Planning Institute define as essential to a functioning TOD. “We will need to overcome some past poor planning decisions,” he conceded, but quickly added that SA is better placed than other states. “There are many attractive options that exist within the urban growth boundaries, a bizarre benefit from under-development in the past.”

[AtD]

Very encouraging articles, both of them.

the Minister pointed out that we cannot continue to spread forever and higher density living without sacrificing quality of life is to be achieved through developing along the rail corridors. However, he does admit that for this style of living to catch on, there will need to be a change in attitude, emerging as we are from an era where the car was king. “There will need to be a paradigm shift, but with increasing fuel costs and carbon emissions, public transport will be necessary to get around. We want to match our transport objectives to the overall plan for South Australia.”

Fantastic. It's great to see a government acknowledge that sprawl from Two Wells to Willunga is not unarguably the best solution. This concept is a hundred times more important than anything you can photoshop onto the banks of the Torrens.

This is a very unpopular yet essential message to push. Conlon deserves our full support.

[Queen Anne]

Very encouraging articles, both of them.

the Minister pointed out that we cannot continue to spread forever and higher density living without sacrificing quality of life is to be achieved through developing along the rail corridors. However, he does admit that for this style of living to catch on, there will need to be a change in attitude, emerging as we are from an era where the car was king. “There will need to be a paradigm shift, but with increasing fuel costs and carbon emissions, public transport will be necessary to get around. We want to match our transport objectives to the overall plan for South Australia.”

Fantastic. It's great to see a government acknowledge that sprawl from Two Wells to Willunga is not unarguably the best solution. This concept is a hundred times more important than anything you can photoshop onto the banks of the Torrens.

This is a very unpopular yet essential message to push. Conlon deserves our full support.

I agree that Pat Conlan deserves our support. Regarding his comment that a change in attitude is needed, I think the SA government needs to step up. Months ago, I was having a look at the government's South Australia Central website and in the 'migration to SA' section there was a pop-up that said, in large letters:

'LIVE ON A BIG BLOCK NOT IN ONE'

I just checked and it's still there. What an unhelpful throwaway line. I doubt you'd see words like that on Oregon's government website. Funnily enough, I think Mr Conlan is visiting Portland during May. Hopefully, he will come back with some good material to further promote this cause.

[Norman]

I was reading a few documents on this last night, very interesting I have to say. The plan is to move to 70% urban Infill and just 30% new housing allocations in the median term. We should also see the Bowden Village masterplan in about October this year, with the project going to the minister in February 2010 for consideration.

Here are some documents you may have missed:
Newsletter 1 (May 2009): http://www.lmc.sa.gov.au/bowdenvillage/ ... px?did=465
Directions for the Greater Adelaide Plan (due for release soon): http://www.planning.sa.gov.au/download. ... A1336B4F61
Maps & Images: http://www.lmc.sa.gov.au/bowdenvillage/ ... 4&mainID=2
RFP Masterplan Guidance: http://www.lmc.sa.gov.au/_inc/doc_download.aspx?did=432

[Howie]

Thanks for posting that norm, very interesting stuff.

[Port Adelaide Fan]

Sneak peek of the Bowden redevelopment



RESIDENTIAL apartment buildings up to 13 storeys high, restaurants and a civic square are some features being proposed for the transport-orientated development (TOD) at Bowden.

A three-day workshop or "charette" held last week at the former Clipsal Bowden site has produced the first draft of the much-anticipated green village development.

While the master plan will not be released publicly until September, PB international's GB Arrington said Bowden Village would be on par with the world's best TODs.

"I am excited to have the opportunity to help bring global best practice here to Adelaide and help put something on the table that government and the private sector can implement," he said.

"I think if people are able to build this as planned, this is a TOD that will resonate well with world's best practice."

Mr Arrington, who is one of the consortium's panel of international experts, said the development would be a model for sustainable urban living.

The master plan includes:

OFFICE buildings up to 16 storeys;

A CIVIC square with restaurants and shops open 18 hours a day;

LIGHT rail through the development spurring in from Port Rd;

HIGH density apartment buildings up to 13 storeys in some parts;

PEDESTRIAN and bicycle-friendly streets;

CAPACITY to house up to 3000 people.

"It will be a demonstration place in Adelaide because it will be the first place in the community that is truly urban with a mix of uses – and it will rely less on the car so it is an introduction to the 21st century," Mr Arrington said.

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/stor ... 82,00.html