03 // KEY CONTEXTUAL RESEARCH

03 //

KEY CONTEXTUAL RESEARCH

03 // KEY CONTEXTUAL RESEARCH

20-Minute Neighbourhoods //

The Victorian Government introduced the concept of 20-minute neighbourhoods in Plan Melbourne 2017-2050. It is a long-term planning strategy that aims to let Melbourne’s residents live locally. According to Plan Melbourne, 20-minute neighbourhoods are “accessible, safe and attractive local areas where people can access most of their everyday needs within a 20-minute walk, cycle or local public transport trip” (DELWP, 2017, p. 10).

Strengths

- Healthier communities, because of reduced car dependence - Choice of transport modes, particularly walking and cycling - More sustainable living, daily travel distances are shorter - Encourage social interaction, because more people are walking - Increased sense of belonging, more interactions with locals

Weaknesses

- No clear definition, definitions vary across the world - No clear funding streams, the policy requires all sorts of funding - No clear action definition, the policy requires a great number of actions to come together in a well planned outcome - Cannot service all residents wants in every neighbourhood

Opportunities

- Community building and social engagement through more interaction - Develop jobs and industries locally - The policy provides more services within 5km travel bubbles

Threats

- Pandemic induced closure of undermine economies and employment - Current development mentality of providing infrastructure after proving demand does not create communities - Living locally could result in hyper localisation of movement patterns and retail patterns undermining current patterns - No clear plan how to generate a wide range of jobs locally

20-minute neighbourhood policies have been developed in a variety of location including Portland City, Germany and the United Kingdom. All examples have a variety of themes in common including walkability, mix of house types, mix of uses and place making. Other common themes include provision of affordable housing, urban renewal and infill and green policies. At 1.5km in length the site needs to be built as a complete 20-minute neighbourhood. Figure 3.0 Overview of 20-minute neighbourhood concept

Figure 3.1 (Top) Inclusive Urban Interactions Figure 3.2 (Bottom) 8-80 Pilot Project in Toronto, Canada

The Inclusive City //

As urban development expands worldwide, cities are under immense pressure to cater for its diverse growing population.Societal changes are taking place where the growing population and globalisation trends are integrating cities multi-fold, cities need to respond to these changing circumstances. Populations are growing and catering to the community is of utmost importance as there is a trend showing that old age population is growing more faster than any other age group (Amabile, Hargrave, Clark, & Simunich, 2019). However, societies are becoming sensitive of how different people function and use spaces within a city and an inclusive city will be a place where everyone feels accepted, safe, and happy.

The factors that govern well being and the subjective nature of happiness are difficult to define and vary across different age groups, genders, and cultures. The Sybil Craig aims to create an inclusive environment for all individuals, which a particular focus on the following: - Affordable Housing - Culturally Sensitive Design - Safety Facilitating Access - Universal Housing - Sustainability and Adaptability

In addition, the development will highlight the 8 to 80 principle for urban design, which states that all build form outcomes should be user friendly for those aged 8 and 80 years old. This ensures the delivery of an environment which is vibrant, healthy, and equitable for people of all ages.

Key Quote //

“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody” (Jacobs, 1961)

Figure 3.3 Changes in driving, walking and public transport use in Australia between January 2020 and July 2020.

COVID-19 //

This year, the world has faced a new challenge; COVID-19. The pandemic has significantly changed the way we live and it has impacted economies and communities severely. Although we won’t know the exact outcomes of the pandemic, it is expected that it will change the future development of cities.

Due to the pandemic. people have been forced to work from home and for a long time, children were not able to go to school or childcare. Finding the right balance between caregiving and work has been hard for people. Other people reported that they were more productive working from home, and it is therefore expected that even after the pandemic people will work from home more than ever (Collins, 2020). People’s homes and neighbourhoods need to adjust to this in order to serve people’s needs. Besides, local green open space has become more important than ever. Giving people the much-needed exercise after day working from home (Plummer, McGrath & Sivarajah, 2020).

Research shows that due to the pandemic, public transport patronage has dropped immensely in Australian cities. Besides the lockdown urging people to stay home, many people do not feel comfortable using public transport with a risk of infection. In Australian cities that have come out of lockdown, car use has gone up to such an extent that it exceeds pre-COVID-19 numbers. This puts pressure on the already congested infrastructure. However, the lockdown has also caused an increase in active modes of transport. People tend to walk more in their local area and bike sales have skyrocketed (Buchanan & Abassi, 2020). Some city councils have addressed this by fast-tracking active infrastructure implementation.

Finally, the pandemic has severely impacted the hospitality and retail industry. Although online shopping has exploded, many local retail stores struggle to survive. It is only a matter of time to find out the damage the pandemic has done to local activity centres. Also the hospitality sector is struggling to survive. Now that there is no need for the many workers of the CBD to travel there, many coffee shops and restaurants have closed their doors (Rachwani, 2020). Some neighbourhood cafes reported that they flourish, now that people working from home are dependent on them (Lasker, 2020).