Directions & Actions

Chapter 3

03

Sustain

Include

Live

Prosper

Connect

Complementary Priority Areas

Include

Protection and enhancing of the cultural setting to cater to diverse inhabitants.

Live

Connect Sustain

Conflicting Priority Areas

Church Street Spine has been identified as a key priority to grow local businesses as well as to provide housing.

Live Prosper Sustain

The success of mitigating floods depends on the adaptive reuse of Parramatta River Banks which has been identified for High economic growth.

Fig. 68: Pipeline Trail Masterplan, Source: (City of Hamilton, 2015)

Fig. 69: Rose Kennedy Greenway Project, Source: (HR&A ADVISORS, INC., 2010)

Fig. 70: Cheong Gye Cheon Restoration Project, Source: (Lee, 2006)

Fig. 71: Bethemplein Water Square (De Urbanisten Water Square Benthemplein , 2013)

Fig. 72: Comox Helmcken Greenway, Source: (Ngo, 2018)

Fig. 73: Wuhan Sponge City, Source: (Jing, 2019)

Fig. 75: Market Square, Source: (City of Guelph, 2020)

As identified in our SWOT, the most threatening issue is flooding and heat island effect. To cater to this problem, a buffer zone is created (20m-30m) from the banks of the river between Marsden St and Macarthur Street. The existing wetlands and parks are upgraded to improve the flood resilience.

Wetlands such as Baludarri Wetlands on the east edge (Marked under Action 2.4). The buffer zone is divided into pockets for different public use such as providing space for a multicultural centre, water sensitive urban spaces, cultural arts centres and water retention urban design strategies. Parks such as Doyle Playground could potentially be redesigned to serve a dual purpose of holding off water during rains and also to control the flow of the water across the entire area. Several such pockets of water catchment have been identified in the low-lying areas of the site to make use of the redundant open spaces. Moreover, the provisioning of water bodies across the site will help in the reduction of absorbant heat as well. The Female Factory precinct is proposed to be the anchor for both the strategic options. The integration between the eastern and western edge of the cultural anchor will serve as a direct link through linear park strategies.

The existing parks are further upgraded with more amenities such as communal gathering spaces and certain edges are activated to ensure it serves as a link between different parks. The streets to be redesigned are also intended to serve a dual purpose of improving the walkablity as well reducing the heat island effect. Additionally, the water ducts can be developed along the main spines of environmental development.

Fig. 76:The form of the Cultural centre is inspired from Oslo Opera House due to its close proximity to water body, Source: Scandification

Fig. 77: In order to revitalise the streets, some cultural elements and streets could be developed like in the example of Afghan Bazaar in Melbourne, Australia, Source: Landscape Australla

Fig. 78:A gathering and performace space for aboriginal people, Source: aasarchitecture

Fig. 80:Adaptive re-use developments could be adopted similar to Joynton Avenue Precinct. Source: Architecture AU

Fig. 81:Riverfront development similar to Yangpu Riverfront Section Phase II can be developed during Central river city redevelopment. Source: Xiaohui Jin Fig. 79: Walkways developed could be similar to the Providence pedestrian bridge in the United states. Source : dezeen

Fig. 82: Adaptive re-use developments could be adopted similar to the Union of Architects building in Bucharest, Romania. Source: Bigstock

Currently, for the City of Parramatta some of the major documents for protection of heritage includes Conservation agreements based on the Conservation Act 1999 and a technical report highlighting development in Parramatta City and the impact on Old Government house and national heritage listed values. Burra charter is also considered while developing the heritage items. According to the Burra charter, the cultural significance is the sum of qualities or values that a place has, which includes the five values – aesthetic, historic, scientific, social and spiritual. In order to develop policies for heritage related sites, we need to employ The Burra Charter Process, which includes understanding the place, assessing the cultural significance, identifying all the factors and issues, developing policies, preparing a management plan, implementing the management plan and monitoring the results and finally, reviewing the plan.

Due to the importance of the Burra charter process for developing policies, there is a need for developing management strategies for all the heritage listed items. Similarly, the North Parramatta and Sorrel Conservation sites requires adaptive reuse strategies. According to the Burra charter, heritage can include both tangible and intangible aspects, hence there is also a need to develop management strategies for aboriginal heritage. In order to Reclaim land and celebrate Westhead’s rich indigenous and colonial heritage, gathering ground will be proposed in the Parramatta Park. There are a wide range of dances, songs, music, body ornamentation as part of the aboriginal celebrations, many of these traditions are quite prevalent in the Arnhem lands and central Australia. The Darug people has a strong cultural attachment to the ‘Blacks Town” (currently, modern suburb of Colebee) in Blacktown LGA. Many of the Darug people’s traditions are similar to the Aboriginal cultures in Arnhem land and Central Australia, with a strong emphasis on the river for food.

The cultural centre has to be resilient during floods, hence the built form should be viable near rivers and flood prone areas. Some of the examples of buildings built near the river or water bodies include the Oslo Opera House, Zhuhai Jinwan Civic Art Centre in China, Yunyang Riverfront visitor centre in Chongqing and Astrup Fearnly Museet in Oslo. In order to revitalise the streets, some cultural elements can be introduced in the streets for wayfinding and demarcation of space like in the example of Afghan Bazaar in Melbourne, Australia (Please see appendix).

Along the river, there are soft protect strategies introduced along with walkways, the walkways developed could be similar to the Providence pedestrian bridge in the United states or the entire area could be developed similar to the Yanpu Riverfront South Section Phase II in China.

All the actions are based on four priorities. Three of the priorities are spatial in nature, while the fourth priority is policy based. Due to the high concentration of people born outside Australia within the site (please refer to the appendix), one of the major actions is to propose a multicultural center. There are other cultural related developments such as the development of streets based on cultural elements (please refer to the appendix ) like in the example of Afghan Bazaar in Melbourne. The cultural centre will be situated at a strategic location, there will be streets developed from the light rail station and the railway station towards the cultural center. Moreover, due to the development of the ferry system, connectivity via the ferry system is of prime importance. Plazas and walkways are developed along the riverfront to provide ease of access and connectivity.

Aboriginal people have strong connection to the country, both land and water(sea-country). During the development phases, there will be a strong focus of development of the river with soft protect strategies and reclamation of land to enhance the connection to the country. Traditions and Ceremonies form the foundation of Aboriginal cultures, in order to recognise their cultures and traditions, a gathering ground has been proposed at the Park, which is based on the Gathering circle at sprit garden, Canada.

The site consists of various heritage conservation areas like the North Parramatta and Sorrell Street. In order to develop these areas and other heritage related items, there is a requirement of developing adaptive reuse strategies and conservation management strategies. There is also a requirement for developing various interpretation strategies based on the existing city of Parramatta’s conservation agreements (Please refer to the notes in the Action Plans).

Fig. 83: Chicago Loop: Increasing ecnomic growth along transport corridors, Source: Brittanica (2021)

Fig. 84:Canary Wharf Strategies - Collectivise the Private Sector, -Rebalance the Economy, - Prioritise Digital Skills, - Embrace Financial Inclusion, - Take Action on Diversity, Integrate Innovation, - Compete Internationally, Source: (Londonist,2021)

Fig. 85:Redevelopment of riverfront sites- ensures that the river and its edges remain at the heart of Brisbane’s economy. Source: (Brisbane City, 2013)

Fig. 86: City of Melbourne Tourisn Action Plan- Destination Management Plan Source: (City of Melbourne)

Fig. 87:Rotterdam Innovation Precinct: Rotterdam Innovation District is an international precinct, west of the city centre and designated it along with Rotterdam Central Distric, Source: (Stadhavens Rotterdam,2015)

Fig. 88:Economic Development Plan, 2017 Leveraging growing global connections, Source: (City Of Parramatta).

Fig. 89:The Global Silicon Valley- Growing Start-up culture connecting to major cities of U.S, Source: (Moe 2017)

Some of the established as well as upcoming CBDs have been taken into consideration for benchmarking. Harbour CBD and Brisbane CBD provide essential information in terms of Australian context, numbers and leading job industries. International Case studies like Chicago and Vancouver help in understanding the expansion of CBD especially around Transport corridors. Canary wharf being the second CBD is an important example to understand the strategic directions for a competitive, new economic district. The strategies for growth of retail, entertainment and tourist economy have been borrowed from the Brisbane and Melbourne city plans. Rotterdam and Silicon-valley provide best practices for establishment and growth of Innovation precincts.

The Action plans are laid out for the four major priorities. The first and main priority is to build a stronger and bigger economic core and increase overall productivity of the site. In order to achieve that, the existing core is proposed to expand along the major transport corridors and church street spine. The areas around Westmead health and education precinct will be developed into an innovation corridor that provides opportunities for research, startups and technological businesses. New Infotech park has been proposed on the Victoria road corridor. The creative industries have been placed close to river and parks for inspiration. The professional, financial and retail is majorly distributed in the commercial core and Church street corridor for high accessibility, as they form part of high employment industries. The freight and logistics jobs are located near the A28 and A40 highways along with the new Biotech Park.

As tourism sector is a high contributor of economy in Australia, the Parramatta CBD will focus on becoming a destination not just for working and living but also tourism. The Night-Time DCP and Destination Management plan will ensure more people to visit Parramatta and spend more money. This will also make sure that Paramatta will be taken seriously by the local and global market and attract more investment and development. The growth of CBD has been proposed to expand in the directions of major upcoming strategic centres like Epping, Castle hill, Rhodes and the GPOP corridor. The ethnic diversity of Parramatta open gates to many emerging International Markets, especially in India and China.

Fig. 90: Keyworkers accommodation at 60 Richmond Street, Toronto. Incorporates affordable housing in proximity to the workplace and innovative design, Source: (Photography)

Fig. 91: Nightingale Housing, Melbourne exemplifies affordable community housing with a sustainable living approach, Source: (Clarke)

Fig. 92: A co-housing in Jernstoberiet, Denmark depicts the social perks of having shared spaces., Source: (Alvin)

Fig. 94: Affordable Housing Schemes in London make provision for 50% of all new dwellings to be affordable housing, Source: (Walker)

Fig. 95: Bella Vista Public School, Source: (NSW Department of Education- School Infrastructure, 2019) Fig. 93: Affordable Housing Project in Copenhagen exemplifies an economic and innovative approach to affordability, Source: (Hjortshøj)

Fig. 96: Active street edges along the tramlines on Bourke Street Melbourne, Source: (TheInvisibleTourist)

The evolution of the Actions stem from certain exemplary models and approaches. Firstly, the case of 60 Richmond Housing Cooperative, Toronto showcases a model that encompassed 85 affordable housing units for people from the hospitality industry. It is a mixed-use building that has a restaurant that employs most of its residents. Furthermore, its climate-sensitive design optimises thermal conditions and is therefore a portrayal of an innovative, ecological, and economic way of addressing the crisis of affordability. Secondly, Denmark’s initiatives on providing cohousing models for aged inhabitants was studied to understand what type of housing facilities would enhance their social experiences and facilitate a healthy lifestyle while also providing a sense of belonging. Thirdly, London’s current Affordability strategy was used as an exemplary benchmark for affordable housing practise as the current percentage of this category of housing stock is as high as 45% with recent provision of 50% of all new developments to be for affordable housing. This is a skyrocketing difference from the existing planning provisions under the GSRP’s norm of only 5-10% and the proposed spike of 15-30% aims to achieve a more holistic housing growth that stands at par with other metropolitan cities like London. Besides these, some other actions include providing for increased inter-block accessibility to improve walkability and providing for a new public school in North-Parramatta to carter to the surplus of population that will reside there.

With an overarching objective to increase housing diversity and secure more public amenities, four main directions were outlined. While the first three directions focused on managing housing supply, diversity, density mix and affordability, the last one aims at incorporating social infrastructure and improving the spatial quality of the urban fabric. Some of the key actions include the provision of keyworkers housing and increase the number of smaller size units to accommodate students and young employees. Another action is to provide a higher percentage of affordable housing and social housing.

Additionally, the strategic location and proximity to the health precinct displays great potential to support cohousing models for the Aged and dependent population. Furthermore, providing student accommodation in proximity to major educational institutes will prove beneficial for students. Since the last of the four priority focuses on the enhancement of urban living conditions, the actions under this priority focus on tackling the imbalances between housing growth and supporting amenities and the creation of a strong visual character. It is proposed that local centres should be developed that would entail easily accessible shopping and recreational activities that will perform the dual function of providing easy accessibility to daily amenities and of signifying local destinations for the residents.

Moreover, the active edges can be extended beyond existing main roads and can be amplified along the edges fronting the upcoming light-rail development. Together, these identified priorities and the subsequent actions align with the Liveability goals listed under the GSC’s Central District Plan.

Fig. 97: A study in Perth, Australia, graphically illustrates how street layout can facilitate or militate against access to the local railway station. The theoretical pedestrian catchment area of Warwick railway station is shown on the maps as a circular 800m ‘ped-shed’ representing easy walking distance, Source: (Sloman, 2011)

Fig. 98: Boqueirao busway in Curitiba integrated system after capacity expansion in 2010, Source: (Hidalgo, 2016)

Fig. 99: Melbourne has the second highest ratio of public transport usage among Australian capital cities due to its complete transport system integrating train, tram and bus services that all combined, offer a 24 hours public transport service to its citizens. Source: (Melbourne, 2021)

Fig. 101: Mexico City’s citywide bike sharing program, Source: (Carey, 2016)

Fig. 102: Bicycle bridge in Copenhagen, Source: (Xie, 2019) Fig. 100: Separate bicycle lane and sidewalks, Vancouver, Source: (Krueger, 2016)

Fig. 103:Venice is the largest car-free city in Europe. The traditional, rowing boat called Gondola is the main mode of transportation in Venice, Source: (Venice, 2019)