SPRINGVALE: an urban design case study

Case study briefing notes for What's good urban design? an ecoversity workshop at the George Hotel, Fitzroy Street, St Kilda, Thursday March 14, 1996, co-hosted by Imagine The Future Inc, the City of Port Phillip, Australian Conservation Foundation and Urban Design Forum as the Victorian response to the Prime Minister's Urban Design Task Force Report, 1994. Sponsored by the Federal Department of Housing and Regional Development.

More a bout Springvale.

PAST

Pre-European environment
- Eucalypt forests with trees 40 feet in diameter, deep creeks, open grass lands, wetlands and prolific bird life recorded by William Hovell in 1827 History
- clan territory of the Bunerong people of the Kulin nation
- land claimed by British squatters in 1830s first farming and market garden subdivisions in 1850s
- first significant public building, the Spring Vale Hotel built in 1850s in 'a small valley of springs'
- Shire office completed on Springvale Road in 1859
- forests logged for fire wood and building timber
- wetlands drained and tea tree forests cleared from 1870s
- land boom followed railway in 1880s - Italian, Greek, Turkish and German immigrants settled in first half of C20
- migrant hostel established in 1950s making Springvale the first introduction to Australian society for many new arrivals from every part of the world

PRESENT

Community profile
- more than 52 nationalities represented and 46 percent of population born outside Australia
- significant cultural economic, social and generational diversity
- high level of social tolerance and interaction in community affairs Social comforts
- basic strip shopping centre along busy major arterial road
- extraordinarily vital mix of ethnic Vietnamese, Chinese Vietnamese, Cambodian retail businesses on main shopping strip which arepotentially a national treasure and cultural tourism destination though not yet recognised as such
- library, schools, health care centres, places of worship, town hall, child care centre neighbourhood houses, service organisations, parks and recreational facilities only accessible by car for most people community information recorded on audio tape in Cambodian, Chinese and Vietnamese for people illiterate in their own languages
- large parklands and sporting grounds with significant remnant bushland

Built environment
- typical depressing Australian outer suburb public housing estates conspicuous
- strip shopping centre along main arterial road

Industry
- diverse industrial base including food, electronics, clothing, furniture manufacturing and metal crafting
- signifcant wealth generated by Asian retail sector
- traditional blue collar jobs for local workers disappearing

Transport
- all the social and ecological problems associated with heavy car dependence (eg a typical 4 cylinder car releases 0.25kg of greenhouse gases for each km it is driven or 1 tonne every 4,000 km in normal traffic - congestion can increase this by one third)
- regular peak hour train and bus services but too few at night and on weekends
- some safe tracks for bicycles

Energy
- all electricity from the state grid or gas P no solar or wind generation
- very few if any solar hot water heaters some collection of methane from old rubbish dumps

Air
- motor vehicles, industry, fuel burning and other activities released 86,000 tonnes of pollutants over Greater Dandenong in 1995 (EPA figures).
- 84 or 72,000 tonnes of these emissions were from motor vehicles

Water
- chlorinated city supply from Yarra catchment
- no recycling of sewage or grey water
- run-off and storm water contaminated by fallout from industrial and vehicle emissions, dog faeces, heavy metals from roads, and litter before it flows into local waterways
- natural process no longer absorb or filter run off because many waterways are barreled and most soil is covered in impervious concrete, bitumen or brick concerns about underground water being contaminated from rubbish dumps
- water consumption generally very inefficient
- old Metropolitan Board of Works sewage farm at Dandenong a significant bird habitat

Food
- some home gardeners but most food distributed through local shops and supermarkets
- diverse range of food available with excellent, low priced Asian and Middle Eastern cuisine in particular

'Waste' management
- curb side separation of glass, plastics and papers with collection 3-4 times per week (?)
- no local sewage recycling
- limited recycling of other organic waste
- sewage piped to Currum secondary treatment plant and effluent discharged into Port Phillip Bay
- some harvesting of methane from garbage dumps
- new recycling industries emerging in Offensive Industries Zone in neighbouring Dandenong, including the manufacture of compost from food waste

Per capita impact on biosphere - much too high

FUTURES CHALLENGES

- maintaining social harmony
- reflecting local cultural needs and identities through the built form
- maintaining good retail mix
- adapting to new technologies
- all the issues associated with ecological and social sustainability

Briefing notes prepared for Imagine The Future Inc by Merrill Findlay. Copyright ITF, 1996