30-Minute City by Center for Advanced Urbanism

30-MINUTE CITY: Polycentric Urbanism in the Moreton Bay Region, Queensland Australia

FALL 2019

Alan Berger Rafi Segal Jonah Susskind

30-MINUTE CITY: Polycentric Urbanism in the Moreton Bay Region, Queensland Australia

FALL 2019

Alan Berger Rafi Segal Jonah Susskind

Studio Instructors Alan Berger Rafi Segal Jonah Susskind

Teaching Assistant Joude El-Mabsout

Students

Xio Alvarez Dries Carmeliet Kecheng Huang Eakapob Huangthanapan Ryuhei Ichikura Wu Li Alberto Meouchi Olivia Serra Siyuan Sheng Qianqian Wan Ziyuan Zhu

Mid-Term Review Critics Lorena Bello Gomez Rami El-Samahy Alessandra Fabri Marie Law Adams Dennis Pieprz Roi Salgueiro Barrio Dorothy Tang Emily Wettstein

Final Review Critics Ross Elliott Kathryn Firth Helen Kongsgaard Rob Lane Nico Larko Greg Lindsay Miho Mazereeuw Ariel Noyman Adele Santos Susanne Schindler

External Collaborators

Moreton Bay Regional Council University of the Sunshine Coast

Thinking Further from the Core

The Site, The Strategy

Preliminary Research Mapping Regional Systems

New Centers

Identifying Polycentric Nodes

Featured Projects

Master Planned Communities for the 21st Century 101

Optimizing Growth

Spatial Reciprocity in the Driverless Age 104

Cover Image: Aerial View suburban development along the Bruce Highway in Queensland, Australia. [Source: Google Earth]

Introduction

Contributors

Introduction: Thinking Further From the Core Today, as we face the mounting pressures of accelerated urbanization, climate risk, and technological uncertainty, we find new imperatives for planners and designers of the built environment to look beyond our urban cores, out toward the edges of our metropolitan regions, where opportunities for radical (sub)urban transformation may be most profound. It is here, throughout these low to middensity realms, where the intensification of land use comes into direct contact (and therefore conflict) with living regional landscapes. It is here, outside of mass transit systems, where personal vehicular transport is the most ubiquitous mode of travel. It is here, where 70 percent of the global population lives. It is here, therefore, where new technological innovations may in fact have the greatest capacity to transform and redistribute existing land uses, maximize ecological functions, and shrink carbon footprints. In the near future, with the proliferation of emergent technologies such as ‘level five’ autonomous mobility systems and ‘smart’ streets and infrastructure, new urbanistic visions will have to contend with the persistent legacies of the 19th and 20th century suburban project, and bring them into alignment with modern demands for equity, resilience, and sustainability. This studio embraces the reality of low-density communities, and their continued proliferation throughout the world as a vital contemporary condition to work within. We have asked the class to consider low-density environments not as a problem to solve, but as a condition to optimize through the integration of emergent technology with existing regional landscape systems and through visionary design thinking.

Suburbs outside of Brisbane Image Source: aerialadvantage.com.au

The Site: Moreton Bay Region, Queensland

The Strategy: The 30-Minute City

The Moreton Bay Region is a 2,000 square kilometer cluster of suburban communities located just north of Brisbane Australia. Home to about half a million people, it is one of the fastest growing regions in the country - expected to considerably outpace national projections - potentially doubling its population by mid-century. The rapid development in the region, which has been well underway for the past few decades, has most recently been spurred by an influx of health, tech, education, and financial sector investments along with growing affordability challenges in housing markets closer to Brisbane.

In 2008, The Moreton Bay Regional Council (or the MBRC) was established to help oversee the regions ongoing suburban intensification with the goal of making the region more independent from Brisbane. This means that instead of trying to expand the existing trunk line or add new transit infrastructure focused on commuting into the city for work, the MBRC has decided to focus on optimizing the next wave of suburban expansion in a way that produces new forms of regional autonomy.

The Region is organized as a series of bedroom communities anchored along a major north-south transportation corridor which serves as the only real connection between Brisbane, the primary regional employment hub, and the Sunshine Coast, the primary regional recreation area. To the east of this corridor, the coastline - a patchwork of beaches, estuaries, inlets, and islands - provides both habitat for an array of wildlife as well as recreational amenities for local communities. To the west of the corridor, the landscape slopes up into the mountains where small scale agriculture plots and cultural heritage sites are accessible via smaller, rural roadways.

One of the focal points for the council is the concept of â&#x20AC;&#x153;The 30-Minute Cityâ&#x20AC;?. Envisioned as an urban center where everyone can get from home to work, school, and all other critical destinations within a half-hour, the 30-Minute City provides both an intellectual and a spatial framework for urban planners and designers. When coupled with the aspirations of autonomous technological transitions, the concept may be even more generative if distributed across not just a single suburban community, but an entire suburban region. This studio takes the 30-Minute City idea, and attempts to scale it up to create proposals for a polycentric 30-minute urban region. This means thinking through complex mobility, energy, and infrastructure challenges, at a multitude of scales to design a holistic, integrated, and legible network of suburban nodes - each with its own distinct land uses, resources, and identities

Moreton Bay Region, Queensland, Australia. [Source: Google Earth]

Preliminary Research: Mapping Regional Systems Urban regions are open systems, replete with social, environmental, and material inputs, outputs, and externalities. This studio begins with a careful analysis of regional landscape systems, transportation networks, material and waste flows, and historical development patterns - which together form the unique context of the Moreton Bay Region. Using data sets culled and constructed by students at the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC), the studio worked in groups to evaluate critical processes at the regional scale, illuminating connections between geospatial phenomena, and revealing key challenges and opportunities for land use planning, suburban development, institutional investment, and mobility improvement in the region. Through this exercise, each group was asked to produce a projective spatial analysis, addressing key relationships between the following research topics: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Land use planning Area demographics Population density Regional economy Transportation networks Energy infrastructure Housing availability/affordability Commute times Environmental risks Information and communication Water management Agriculture Recreation and conservation Security Waste

Left: Density of the Australian Population 1885. [Source: antiquemapsandprints.com] Right: Brisbane and Moreton Elevation Map 1885. [Source: antiquemapsandprints.com]

Detail: Mapping spatial relationships between urban density, household income, and commuting patterns in Moreton Bay Olivia Serra

Detail: Regional park system and recreational popularity in Moreton Bay Eakapob Huangthanapan

Detail: Unemployment rates and commercial nodes in Moreton Bay Dries Carmeliet

Detail: Residential density and waste spaces in Moreton Bay Qianqian Wan

Water Infrastructure

Demography Density [inhabitants per km2]

Water Infrastructure Water Reserve Water Infrastructure

Demography Density [inhabitants per km2] 0 - 204 Demography Density [inhabitants per km2]

Water Reserve Bulkwater - Dam + Reservoir Water Infrastructure Water Reserve Bulkwater - Dam Plant + Reservoir Water Treatment + Reservoir Water Reserve Bulkwater - Dam + Reservoir Water Treatment Plant + Reservoir Recycled Water Plant + Reservoir Bulkwater - Dam + Reservoir Water Treatment Plant + Reservoir Recycled Water Plant + Reservoir Water Main - Trunk Water Treatment Plant + Reservoir Recycled Water Plant + Reservoir Water Main - Trunk Reticulation Recycled Water Plant + Reservoir Water Main - Trunk Water Main - Reticulation Recycled Water - Trunk Line Water Water Main Main -- Trunk Reticulation

0 - 204 205 -Density 407 Demography [inhabitants per km2] 0 - 204 205 408 -- 407 594 0 - 204 205 - 407 408 - 594 595 - 936 205 - 407 408 - 594 595 936 937 -- 1809 408 - 594 595 - 936 937 - 1809 595 - 936 937 - 1809 Agriculture 937 - 1809

Recycled Water - Trunk Line Water Main - Reticulation Recycled Water - Trunk Line Recycled Water - Trunk Line Other Infrastructure Other Infrastructure Moreton Bay Boundary Other Infrastructure MoretonWater Bay Boundary Ground / Creeks Other Infrastructure Moreton Bay Boundary Ground Water / Creeks Tramline Moreton Bay Boundary Ground Water / Creeks TramlineRoad Primary Ground Water / Creeks Tramline Primary Road Secondary + Tertiary Road Tramline Primary Road SecondaryBoundary + Tertiary Road Township Primary Road Secondary + Tertiary Road Township Boundary Secondary + Tertiary Road Township Boundary Detail: Regional infrastructures and urban density in Moreton Bay Wu Li

Township Boundary

Agriculture Farming Area >= 50% Agriculture Farming Area Area <50% >= 50% Farming Agriculture Farming Area >= 50% Farming Area <50% Farming Area >= 50% Farming Area <50% Centre precinct walking zone Farming Area <50% Centre precinct walking zone 400 m Centre precinct walking zone 400 m 800 m walking zone Centre precinct 400 m 800 m 400 m 800 m Bay 800 Area m Water Body Bay Area Water Body High-Risk Zone to Hydraulic Hazards Bay Area Water Body High-Risk Zone to Hydraulic Hazards Bay Area Water Body High-Risk Zone to Hydraulic Hazards High-Risk Zone to Hydraulic Hazards

Water Infrastructure

Demogr

Water Reserve Water Infrastructure Bulkwater - Dam + Reservoir

Demogr

Water Reserve Plant + Reservoir Water Treatment BulkwaterWater - DamPlant + Reservoir Recycled + Reservoir Water Treatment Plant + Reservoir Main - Trunk Water Main - Reticulation Recycled Water Plant + Reservoir Recycled Water - Trunk Line Water Main - Trunk

Agricult

Water Main - Reticulation Recycled Water - Trunk Line

Agricult

Other Infrastructure Moreton Bay Boundary

Centre p

Other Infrastructure Ground Water / Creeks Tramline Bay Boundary Moreton Ground Water Primary Road / Creeks Tramline + Tertiary Road Secondary Primary Road Township Boundary Secondary + Tertiary Road Township Boundary

Centre p

Details: Open space and private development in Moreton Bay Paige Xio Alvarez

New Centers: Identifying Polycentric Nodes The Moreton Bay Region is comprised of several individual municipalities and distinct communities, each with their own unique centers of economic and recreational gravity. Based on the results of an intensive planning and design charrette hosted at MITâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Norman B. Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism, which included faculty and students from the School of Architecture and Planning as well as members of the Moreton Bay Regional Council, three generalized â&#x20AC;&#x153;sitesâ&#x20AC;? were identified as potential nodes within a polycentric planning framework. These three nodes were offered as starting points for students, who worked in teams to develop urban design proposals at three scales, which could be understood as part of a larger cohesive strategy aimed at transitioning the region away from the economic gravity of Brisbane, toward new levels of autonomy and identity.

Caboolture District

These nodes - Caboolture to the north, Strathpine-Brendale to the south, and North Lakes between them were not defined through a singular or prescriptive criteria, but were used instead as generalized areas, each with its own character profile, and set of potential design drivers. The Caboolture District is a major producer of both timber and highvalue agricultural crops. It is also home to a major regional hospital and other health care facilities, along with an airport, and a budding tourist economy.

North Lakes District

The North Lakes District is heavily residential, though it is bisected by the regional highway and a spine of light industrial and commercial resources. Surrounded by sensitive marine and estuarine habitat and riparian floodplains, this area is also home to several significant shopping centers and stand-alone retail outlets. The Strathpine-Brendale District is the site of a new university campus for the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC), where ground has already been broken, and thousands of students will soon be commuting to class. This is also the location of a major junction between the regional rail line and the highway corridor.

Strathpine-Brendale District

Featured Projects: Optimizing Suburbia Working in groups, students developed planning and design proposals at three distinct scales: macro (region), mezzo (city), and micro (district). Each project focuses on one of the three suburban districts within the broader Moreton Bay Region with a focus on optimizing the future of suburban land uses through the incorporation of emergent driverless mobility technologies. “The 30-Minute City” and “Autonomous Mobility” were identified as primary design drivers for the studio. The basic idea behind the 30-Minute City concept is that urban planners and designers should work to produce urban centers where everyone can get from home to work, school, and all other critical destinations within a half-hour. Taking the concept further, students were asked to take the premise of the 30-minute city as a design challenge, and scale it up to create proposals for a polycentric 30-minute urban region. Furthermore, the studio is organized around a scenario where the Moreton Bay Region has complete adoption of level 5 networked autonomous mobility systems. If we acknowledge that suburban form today is very much a product of the 20th century automobile – its speeds, geometries, surface requirements, etc., then the question is, what are the opportunities to re-imagine suburban form given the potential for radical changes in terms of vehicle safety, ownership, infrastructure, etc. which experts have described as fundamental shifts coming from the AV industry. To date, most of the research and innovation within this sector has been focused on reducing risk, relieving congestion, and conserving energy within dense urban centers. This studio focuses instead on the suburbs, beyond established mass-transit systems and rigid utilities networks, where personal vehicular transport is the most ubiquitous mode of travel and the primary driver for new development. It is here, in the suburbs, where new technological innovations may in fact have the greatest potential to transform and redistribute existing land use designations, maximize ecological functions, and shrink carbon footprints.

New pedestrian corridor. Sunshine Coast, Australia Photos: Jonah Susskind

Polypolis: Re-centering suburbia Paige Xiomara Alvarez, Wuyahuang Li, Luis Alberto Meouchi Velez, Qianqian Wan

Polypolis explores the Caboolture region of Moreton Bay as a prototypical suburban landscape. While its current suburban development is not calibrated to landscape systems nor human health, the lighter infrastructure of the AV future offers an opportunity to reorient regional development. Rather than drawing a single line of connection between city and suburb, polypolis suggests an interconnected network of smaller, tiered “centers” scattered throughout the landscape. The project uses three existing industries – agriculture, healthcare, and recreation, as characters or design stereotypes, to suggest what new suburban living might look like. Using a shared system of centers and both personal mobility and autonomous transit systems, the characters reflect different attitudes and priorities in the low-density residential landscape of near-future suburbia. Land uses that were once held separate are woven together to meet different productive, ecological, and human needs within the physical landscape of the region.

Above: Both agriculture and AEV mobility systems re-shape the suburban landscape.

Conceptual Framework Instead of exclusively using distance as a metric to design for multi-modal transportation, our project proposes a series of time scales as a tool for localizing our proposed interventions. As a part of our holistic planning and design framework, we looked not only at AVâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, but at a broader cross-section of mobility options - including smaller autonomous personal mobility modes and larger regional railways. Each of these various mobility options are associated with not only different distances, but also different temporal factors like wait times and trip duration. With this in mind, our group began by thinking about the future of suburban planning based on the various temporal capacities of different travel modes. The proposal aims to localize and potentialize existing economies and institutions to create new suburban uses and dynamics and, therefore, loosen the dependence on southern areas and the main transportation corridor.

Regional concept diagram showing proposed â&#x20AC;&#x153;centersâ&#x20AC;? and associated travel sheds

Above: Travel modes and travel times diagram Below: Existing north-south regional connection and proposed (schematic) multi-directional connections

Conceptual Framework Three primary economic drivers were established based on an analysis of existing markets and employment data. Between healthcare, agriculture, and recreation, our team identified health and wellness as a conceptual framework for steering the design process and unifying the nodeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cultural identity within the region. The project aims to redistribute these three economies throughout the district to produce a heterogeneous and decentralized health and wellness network that optimizes co-location to produce novel social value.

$738,343M AUD economic output (2.9%)

1,907 jobs

Crops & Revenues

$805,106M

$67,670M

AUD economic output (2.4%)

AUD economic output (0.2%)

6,549

364

jobs

Hospital Beds by Type

A private room at Caboolture Hospital

Visitors by Type

Above: Strawberry fields in Caboolture Below: The Glass House Mountains north of Caboolture

Healthcare Campuses The first typological project focuses on healthcare as one of the leading industries in the Caboolture District. The proposal takes the program of a traditional hospital and atomizes it across a more heterogeneous suburban landscape in order to produce multiple community amenities that are each strategically colocated along riparian corridors, tying scenic spaces to wellness regimes more broadly. By connecting neighborhood fabric to the medical campus via theses landscape corridors, the project highlights the potential application of various “last mile” mobility options and pedestrian access infrastructures. The proposed design scenario incorporates a wide array of different mobility options: pedestrian circulation is colocated with canopy for shade and comfort. Personal Mobility lanes offer seamless connections within the neighborhood via smallbattery “last mile” devices, and larger arterial roadways connect to the surrounding regional AV system through strategically located pick-up/drop-off stations.

Above: Diagrammatic site map showing locations of riparian corridors and proposed building sites. Below: Satellite image of same location. [Source: Google Earth]

Left: Diagram showing riparian corridors, stitched together through proposed circulation routes. Right: Exploded axonometric diagram showing proposed hydrology, circulation, green-space, and residential layers.

Proposed medical campus plan integrated into a residential neighborhood.

2 1 3

3 5

Central Health Hub

Above: 1) Tier 2 hospital complex. 2) Drop-off zone. 3) Neighborhood connector park. 4) Single-family housing. 5) Multi-family housing. Below: 1) AEV highway and rail corridor. 2) AEV charging lot. 3) Wellness center. 4) Single-family housing. 5) Multi-family housing.

Robin twisted his ankle this morning at his front steps while watching the RuPaulâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Drag Race - Season 25 on his iPhone Triple X. How odd that the car is no longer the Number 1 cause of road injuries. As Robin looks out the window, he sees suburban households and parks residing seamlessly next to the hospital. Long gone are the endless parking lots of the old days!

Later that day, Robin is permitted to go home. The doctor orders Robin a taxi, and he has to pay no mind to the road traffic. Instead, he gets back to his binge-viewing habit.

Above: Medical facilities, currently surrounded by parking lots, become engulfed by recreational open space.

Above: By separating AEV mobility corridors from other modes, the suburban landscape offers diverse ways of getting around.

Agriculture The second typological project focuses on a greenfield site towards the north of Caboolture. The project reveals how new suburban development can happen in forested areas adjacent to existing agricultural production sites. Traditionally, suburban development in such landscapes tend to segregate land uses from one another. Agriculture areas are pushed out from the city while forests are completely cut over, leading to soil erosion and deforested areas. Suburban housing is often developed on its own, away from jobs and social centers. Collective buildings are also built on their own, separated from suburban areas. One of the most radical outcomes of the AV future may be the reduction of road space and impermeable surfaces. This development typology seeks to merge and connect all these uses together - forests, housing, collective buildings and agriculture Housing developments and agricultural areas are located together, creating a novel wellness landscape of local production and consumption.

Above: Diagrammatic site map showing locations of proposed housing and various agricultural production systems. Below: Satellite image of same location. Source: Google Earth

Top Left: Exploded axonometric diagram showing proposed circulation, agricultural, and residential layers. Top Right: Diagram showing various combinations of landscape production and housing. Bottom: Diagrammatic sections showing various combinations of landscape production and housing.

1 2

Integrated suburban agriculture.

Barry works on an agricultural research facility just five minutes away from his house. He recently had a knee surgery in the Caboolture hospital and now heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s waiting for his kid to arrive from a grass-skiing practice to go with him to the rehabilitation center. But before he goes, he would like to enjoy the view of strawberry blossoming.

His driverless taxi is arriving in no time as he goes out to greet his kid, back from school. What a change in the agricultural landscape from 20 years ago! The autonomous tractors are working along the fields, seeding and harvesting seamlessly next door.

Above: On one hand, agricultural production is an economic driver with high development potential in the region. On the other hand, it brings a novel identity to the landscape.

Above: Both agriculture and AEV mobility systems re-shape the suburban landscape.

Low Density Living The third typological project looks at the particularly low density suburban developments that can be found throughout the district, especially in the southern part of Caboolture. This project takes the form of the cul-de-sac, which has been historically maligned by urbanists, and proposes an AEV integrated version of this ubiquitous suburban feature that pushes back on their â&#x20AC;&#x153;dead endâ&#x20AC;? qualities by reconnecting them to adjacent communities, and to the broader regional landscape. In this project, we see broader ideas of social health and wellness being driven by designed connections to community and nature. Dwellings are arranged around large public spaces much larger and more communal than the traditional cul-de-sac, which are typically limited in radius to the necessities of emergency service vehicles. This new scale exaggerates the opportunities for public space and reshapes the landscape of recreation by creating thematic community clusters.

Car-based + Social Enclave

Each neighborhood contains distinct recreational activities for common use. They also serve as the pick-up/drop-off points for both the residents, and people ready to explore the collective backyard recreational areas. In this way, the stereotypical suburban form is reimagined as a nexus for broader regional engagement.

Private Mobility System + Commons

Above: Diagrammatic site map showing locations of proposed housing clusters connected by one-way looping AEV roadways and pedestrian networks. Below: Satellite image of same location. [Source: Google Earth]

Autonomous Vehicle + Social Commons

Above: Diagram showing schematic proposal for AEV integrated cul-de-sac typologies.

3 5

1 4

â&#x20AC;&#x153;From cul-de-sacs to connected clusters.â&#x20AC;?

Above: 1) Rendez-vous 2) Grass-skiing field 3) AEV charging station 4) Private mobility beacon + info kiosk 5) Australian football field Below: 1) Bird-watching tower 2) Bird-watching pavilion 3) AEV charging station 4) Private mobility beacon + info kiosk 5) Pond

Nicole overslept. The routine ride at 7am was cancelled and now she has to order another driverless car. It is coming in 7 minutes sharp, but Nicole cannot get rid of the old habits of anxiously looking out from her windows to the cul-de-sac. It seems like she is expecting more than a ride but she cannot remember exactly what.

It is 5 pm. Nicole just got home from work. Rather than turn on the TV, she prefers to watch her neighbors from her rear window through the blinds. People are picnicking around the ponds and running along the private mobility tracks. As she partakes in more people watching, a delivery bot rolls up to her front door. Of course Nicole has been expecting her dry-cleaning the whole day!

Above: Recreational spaces, always an informal part of the cul-de-sac, are enhanced and emphasized in the proposed developments

Above: Housing plots are playfully aligned with the surrounding landscape, creating exciting moments of encounter between neighbors

Autonomous Waterfront Suburbanism in the North Lakes District Dries Carmeliet, Kecheng Huang, Ziyuan Zhu

Autonomous Waterfront Suburbanism takes the North Lakes Region as both a collection of neighborhoods as well as a collection of marine and riparian landscapes, which have been historically at odds with one another, but through the adoption of new development patterns, could support each other more holistically. This project takes on not only the design of a future suburban fabric, but also a future suburban lifestyle.

North Lakes: A waterfront recreation lifestyle

Conceptual Framework Australia is famous for its iconic coastlines. While this might evoke pictures of white, sandy beaches like those of the Sunshine Coast, Eastern Australia is also rich in estuaries and wetlands. These estuaries are crucial for supporting dynamic ecosystems and biodiversity, but wetlands and estuaries have become increasingly threatened by both development and climate change.

King Johns Creek

North Lakes is a relatively small segment of suburban fabric within the greater Moreton Bay Region. It is bounded by various water bodies including lakes, rivers, saltwater creeks, and tidal inlets. Each of these typologies have been used to develop strategies for suburban development that can continue to support ecological diversity, and in doing so, produce new forms of living with aquatic landscapes.

Caboolture River

Burpengary Creek

NORTH

Lake Kurwongbah

Saltwater Creek

LAKES DISTRICT Lake Samsonvale Kedron Bay North Pine River

Top: Lake Kurwongbah. Photo: Barry Hart Middle: Kendron Bay. Photo: Skylar Christensen Bottom: Saltwater Creek. Photo: Roy Chambers

Above: Water bodies as boundaries of the proposed North Lakes District

Conceptual Framework The neighborhoods of North Lakes are strikingly uniform. Lots tend to be about 600 m2 and houses have an average floor area of 400 m2. The density is about 1.7 households per acre. The only clusters of multi-family residences are located near the arterial roadways.

Lot size

The suburbs here are heavily dominated by the car and its associated impervious surfaces. A typical street consists of a two-way road with two additional parking lanes, totaling up to 8 meters in width. The dominance of the car in the landscape, and car travel in and out of the community make it difficult to experience any of the landscape amenities that surround the district.

600-1000 m²

< 600 m²

> 1000 m²

58% impervious

Above: Typical suburban lot size and layout: North Lakes

Above: Lot sizes in North Lakes

Conceptual Framework Three transitions are in motion that will fundamentally change the nature of the suburbs in this region. 1. The effects of climate change include droughts, flash floods, and increased bushfires. Our design strategy responds to these challenges by inviting the riparian landscape deeper into the suburbs. The project proposes spaces of co-habitation that both animals and people can benefit from. 2. Personal mobility is changing rapidly. Given the complete adoption of level 5 autonomous mobility systems, the project presents a scenario where the car does not play a leading role in suburban life. 3. Energy generation and storage are already in transition. While the total energy consumption will diminish as we phase out fossil fuels, our electricity usage will rise. This project proposes the implementation of a distributed grid, linked to AEV charging stations throughout the district. These three transitions are intimately linked. The freed-up space that will come from autonomous vehicles may enable the riparian landscape to provide more amenities to this suburban community. At the same time, the energy transition can power the autonomous mobility systems, and the climate transition can inform the strategic deployment of microgrids.

+38% more permeable

Above: Proposed retrofit of a typical suburban lot in North Lakes

Above: Autonomous Waterfront Suburbanism in North Lakes

Design Strategies This project is organized around 3 distinct case-study areas, chosen for their unique topographic and ecological gradients. These topographical qualities invite 3 distinct strategies for the implementation of AV infrastructure.

Kedron Bay

Strategy 1: Canopy Corridors Today, the car is ever-present in the suburbs. Wide streets, driveways and garages place the car front and center of our minds. A complete transition to autonomous vehicles could drastically reduce the amount of paved surfaces. A smart scheme of loops allows the riparian landscape to permeate the suburbs. The core of the suburb becomes a green artery that connects the residential fabric to the aquatic landscape. These could become spaces for animal and human co-habitation. By providing deep shade, localized cooling and water retention, the canopy corridor fits into a broader strategy of climate adaptation and mitigation. Strategy 2: Sociable Mobility Movement through the suburbs today leaves little room for ad-hoc social interactions. The transition to autonomous vehicles invites us to rethink personal mobility as a social driver. In the future, not only autonomous cars, but also smaller vehicles, like electric skate boards, bicycles and Segways could find their way into the suburbs. The arteries of each neighborhood will gradually transform, becoming social corridors. The mild climate in Queensland is perfectly suited to staying longer in the open air and enjoying more time in public space. Strategy 3: Mobile Microgrids As we phase out fossil fuels and adopt electric vehicles, our electricity needs will rise. Instead of reinforcing the existing unified grid, we propose a series of microgrids. Because these microgrids balance local production and consumption of energy, they are less vulnerable to central power shortages. The energy generation becomes a more stable and reliable network. Eastern Australia is perfectly suited for photo-voltaic panels. These are deployed on parking structures, as well as on community rooftops. Thus the suburbs become more self-reliant, while greatly reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of the current energy generation.

Saltwater Creek

Lake Kurwongbah

Above: Typical sections for Kedron Bay, Saltwater Creek, and Lake Kurwongbah

Strategy 01: Canopy Corridors

EXISTING CONDITION

PROPOSED CONDITION

Above: Existing conditions: Kedron Bay

Above: AV Future Scenario with Green Corridors and integrated landscape amenities

parking on driveways

two-way street, 8m

Canopy Corridor

neighborhood amenities and utilities

parking space with solar roof

dropoff

water retention

URBAN COHABITATION two-way street, 8m

parking on driveways

Canopy Corridor

dropoff

bike sharing

parking space with solar roof

amenities solar rooftops

WATERFRONT AMENITIES Above: Existing conditions: Kedron Bay

Above: AV Future Scenario with Green Corridors and integrated landscape amenities

linear park

one-way street, 3.5m

Top (thumbnail): Existing condition birdâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eye view of Kedron Bay neighborhood Full Spread: AV Future Scenario with Green Corridors and integrated landscape amenities

Strategy 02: Sociable Mobility

EXISTING CONDITION

PROPOSED CONDITION

Above: Existing conditions: Saltwater Creek

Above: AV Future Scenario Saltwater Creek

existing house

fence between houses

amenities

two-way road, 8m

public park

new house

large back yard

waterfront park

SOCIAL CORRIDORS existing house

two-way street, 6m

inaccessible waterfront

front yard garden

WATERFRONT LEISURE Above: Existing conditions: Saltwater Creek

Above: AV Future Scenario: Saltwater Creek

recreational spaces

pavilion

drop-off pavilion

multifamily house with community spaces

Top (thumbnail): Existing condition birdâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eye view of Saltwater Creek neighborhood Full Spread: AV Future Scenario: Saltwater Creek

Strategy 03: Mobile Microgrids

EXISTING CONDITION

PROPOSED CONDITION

Above: Existing conditions: Lake Kurwongbah

Above: AV Future Scenario Lake Kurwongbah

Highway

Railway

New Parking Lots with Solar Panels

Canopy Corridor

New House with Self-reliant Solar Energy System

Two-story Single-family House

One-story Single-family House

ENERGY CORRIDORS One-story

Canopy Corridor Two-story

SOLAR SHADE STRUCTURES Above: Existing conditions: Lake Kurwongbah

Above: AV Future Scenario: Lake Kurwongbah

Neigborhood Facilities with Solar Panels

New House with Self-reliant Solar Energy System

Waterfront Amenities

Top (thumbnail): Existing condition birdâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eye view of Lake Kurwongbah neighborhood Full Spread: Birdâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eye view of an energy hub connecting the surrounding neighborhoods

Above: Social interactions through personal mobility

Above: Render of an energy hub powering a community party

From Line to Loop Towards a Multi-Nodal Regional Ecosystem Eakapob Huangthanapan, Ryuhei Ichikura, Olivia Serra, Siyuan Sheng With its geographical proximity to Brisbane, the Strathpine-Brendale District serves as the potential gateway to the Moreton Bay Region as a whole. This project begins by identifying opportunities for restructuring the regional transit corridors which pass through the district in order to reimagine it as a site for integrating new mobility systems along with a regionally significant university campus, centralized by a large-scale public park.

Above: Conceptual collage

Conceptual Framework The Strathpine-Brendale District is bounded by two north-south transportation corridors - one serving regional commuters and the other serving local commuters. The basic conceptual premise of this project is a proposed connection between the two existing corridors. This simple realignment from a line to a loop helps to improve connectivity from east to west, opening up development opportunities for the district with a focus on technology and education sectors. The project is organized across a series of sites along the proposed mobility loop. These sites were selected using isochrones set to a 5-minute driving radius and a 5-minute walking radius as a way to centralized utility clusters designed to contain AV charging stations and other key mobility resources. Additionally, these sites were selected for their ability to strategically offer connections to the large continuous green space at the center of the district.

Above: Schematic diagrams showing isochrone studies and greenway connections

Above: Schematic plan showing proposed loop roads

Conceptual Framework UTILITY TO AMENITY

The project unfolds through a series of transects, along which different thematic design frameworks are organized. Additionally, three of these transects were then used to develop design proposals for various mixeduse developments: 1) the innovation campus, 2) commercial fingers, and 3) residential fields.

As the central principal throughout the project, this idea underscores the use of the transect as a primary connection between the utility elements in the scheme like AEV charging stations, and the amenity elements which are generally characterized by the large central landscape feature.

PROGRAMATIC COVERGENCE While suburbia is typically organized by relatively homogeneous land-uses, we expect the loop to bring more convergence of program into the proposed development areas.

RECLAIMING THE BASIN The central basin is rich with natural resources and recreational amenities. The project aims to connect this area more directly to the neighboring communities.

Above: Regional plan showing key design proposal sites.

Above: Diagrams showing three primary design frameworks

Transect 01: Innovation Campus

Academic Anchor

Research

Residential

Commercial

Retail

Above: Innovation campus plan

Above: Conceptual renderings showing three spatial typologies along the central spine of the innovation campus

Above: The Market

Above: The Park Object

Below: The Square

Below: The Park

Transect 02: Commercial Fingers

Top: Sectional diagram showing proposed mixed-use occupation strategy Middle: Land-use plan Bottom: Illustrative plan

Above: Conceptual images showing a day in the life of the proposed neighborhood.

Above: Axonometric illustrations of open space matrix and proposed AEV roadway layout

Transect 03: Residential Fields

Above: Site plan showing existing suburban neighborhood bounded by transit infrastructure

Top: Site plan showing proposed optimized neighborhood layout with integrated transit infrastructure. Bottom: Diagram showing insertion of buildings into terraced slope.

Above: Schematic plan showing residential gradient scheme Below and opposite: Variations on the future courtyard

Optimizing Growth: Spatial Reciprocity in the Driverless Age Today, most suburban morphologies and spatial characteristics are still byproducts of 20th century forms of automobility. Their relative distance from the urban core tends to render them accessible exclusively by car. Their curvilinear street alignments are designed to enhance the visual experience of the neighborhood as seen through a moving window. Their cul-de-sacs, driveways, and garage entrances combine to produce a residential infrastructure for homes to “plug into” reinforcing the primacy of the vehicle as the ultimate design driver for today’s low to medium density communities. Frederick Law Olmsted, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Le Corbusier all helped fortify the status of the car as a baseline unit of measurement in even the most creative expressions of suburban living, helping to cement the spatial reciprocity between automobility and domesticity.

Today, the automobile industry is being disrupted by new technologies. Rideshare apps offer a new interface between our homes and our destinations, freeing us from the responsibilities of car ownership, maintenance, and liability. Remote sensing, LiDAR, machine learning, and IoT integration are making promises of a radically new driverless age. Nevertheless, the design community has been relatively slow to engage with questions about the impacts of these shifts in tomorrow’s suburban communities. If we acknowledge that regional mobility models have fueled the production of the 20th century metropolitan form (for better or worse), than the question is, how will today’s urbanists envision a more sustainable 21st century model? This studio begins to ask some important preliminary questions about how emergent forms of mobility, in combination with changing consumer preferences and cultural ideologies, may begin to offer new platforms for suburban design engagement.

Top Left: Automobiles on the Hollywood Freeway crossing the top level of the interchange in 1953. [Source: Caltrans] Top Right: Typical 20th century suburban morphology [Source: citizensjournal.us] Bottom Left: A driverless vehicle leaves its charging depot just before the morning commute. [Rendering by Jonah Susskind] Bottom Right: An optimized mixed use suburban neighborhood. [Rendering by Jonah Susskind]

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Contributors

This studio would like to acknowledge the following people, organizations, and institutions for their generous support and feedback throughout the course of the semester.

Greg Chemello Ross Elliott Amy Grey Scott Hambleton Nicholas Stevens Moreton Bay Regional Council University of the Sunshine Coast MIT Norman B. Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism

MIT students and reviewers at mid-term Photo: Jonah Susskind

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