Case Study Reflection Four: Gunghalin Town Centre

Gunghalin town centre is one of the newest urban developments in Canberra. The town centre has a population of over 47,000 and offers a unique form of urbanity to the Canberra urban fabric. The Town Centre, despite offering a distinct neighborhood feeling to it, is confronted with many issues. These problems include transport infrastructure, employment opportunities, and population density.

Located on the north side of Canberra, Gunghalin district offers a set of adjoining residential and industrial suburbs that reverberates around the Gunghalin town centre (Mitchell being the main industrial zone). The main town centre precinct was developed in a grid-shaped pattern to allow commercial activity as well as mixed use zoning. The town centre offers a range of surrounding low/medium-density housing which allows families to move into the precinct. With rapid population growth, the town centre does not have the infrastructure to meet the demands of this growth. The first problem attributes to the lack of public transport. The Action bus service lacks service numbers whilst having longer running time and long distances to cover. This affects those who live within or around the centre and commute to the city via public transportation. The solution to this is to broaden the bus network through the BRT (Bus Rapid Transport) by running more bus times and increasing weekend services and also through the development of a tram network (which is being processed by Capital Metro) linking the town centre with the city. It will ease the strain put on bus services by providing a sustainable transport which will increase the viability of the town centre. Another issue is employment. The town centre lacks in employment opportunities which is the result of inaccessibility and residents preferring to commute to the city as main destination of employment. I believe that for employment levels in the district to grow an emphasis on medium-high density commercial infrastructure needs to be highly considered in the long term. This should also apply to residential development. These recommendations will increase the commercial and residential density of the town centre, bringing in more employment and further increasing the need of transport infrastructure. The main street of the town centre (Hibberson Street) lacks a beautiful frontage therefore deterring business opportunities resulting increasing the strain on the viability of the town centre (and of course unemployment). This is due to the heavy traffic that runs both directions of the street. I believe that if a tram was to run along this street it will create a strong vibe that will attract restaurants and cafes (Melbourne has demonstrated this very well).

Overall, the group that presented this topic believed that Gunghalin town centre was planned well. Well, in my final analysis, time will tell considering that the development is still in 'progress' until around 2020. In the mean time, the population will provide the answer to whether this town centre was indeed planned accordingly.


Gunghalin town centre along Hibberson St. Image source: canberrayourfuture.com.au/

References

ACT Government (2010) Gunghalin Town Centre Planning Report, Canberra: ACT Planning and Land Authority.

Sky Chan, Billy Brown, Joseph Sutton and Jason Dayaratne (2014) Gunghalin Planning, Available at: http://skychan.wix.com/gungahlintownplan (Accessed: 10 May 2014).