Moving Toward a Twenty-Four Hour CBD.

Kyle McDermott – s2842830

6/9/2015

AbstractThis article is focused on the concept of the ’24 Hour City’, more specifically this article aims to

address and pin point what the major aspects are that aid in the creation and facilitation of a

successful ’24 Hour City’. This article aims to transfer this knowledge and use it as a form of

criteria to assess the Southport CBD to identify the aspects that are hindering its progression

towards a successful ’24 Hour City’. Addressing factors such as: land uses, accommodation

availability and transportation, this article determines the strengths of the existing CBD and

draws attention to the weaknesses.

Introduction

Cities are complex multi-dimensional beings that are changing and expanding every day (Batty 2008,

p. 769). The aim of this article is to determine what is meant by the ’24 Hour City’ concept, and what

are the major aspects that aid in the creation and facilitation of a successful ’24 Hour City’. The

following stage will comprise of an analysis of the Central Business District (CBD) of the City of Gold

Coast. The final stage will comprise a thorough analysis of the Southport PDA Development

Document to determine how it aims to rectify the aspects within the CBD that are hindering its

progression into a ’24 Hour CBD’.

Section 1: The Twenty-four Hour City Concept.

Cities are influenced by a mix of environmental, social and economic factors both internally and

externally (Godschalk 2003, p. 136). Modern western CBD’s have been found to conform to a tight

opening and closing hour schedule from between 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday(Work Week Time

Frame WWTF) (Stevenson 2013, p. 79). This section of the article will analyse and discuss the

concepts and techniques in the literature about how to facilitate a ’24 hour city’.

The ‘24 Hour City’ is a term used within the literature to describe a city or CBD that is vibrant, with a

wealth and diversity of differing land uses (Roberts & Turner 2005, p. 171). The ‘24 Hour City’ is

generally created by encouraging after hour’s entertainment land uses such as; bars, pubs and

nightclubs through: “The de-regulation of ‘restrictive’ urban planning and licensing regimes”

(Hadfield 2015, p. 606). Similarly, Stevenson (2013, p. 79), (Guimaraes 2013, p. 52), and (Roberts &

Turner 2005, p. 171), found that to facilitate a successful ’24 Hour City’, city officials will encourage

uses such as; Mixed use developments, nightclubs, late night retail centres, a variety of housing

options including; hostels, student accommodation and middle-class accommodation, artist

studious, late night theatres openings, late night art gallery openings and after hours retail shopping

to foster a diversity of people moving within the city at different times of the day.

Stevenson (2013, p. 80) notes the importance of transportation in creating a ’24 hour city’: “Having a

range of different transportation modes is regarded as pivotal because transport enables people to

get home easily after a night out”. As a result of increased economic and social interactions within

the city after hours, there are perceived and associated problems including; alcohol fuelled violence,

public urination, litter and vandalism (Brands, Schwanen, & Van Aalst 2012, p.440). Roberts (2009, p.

488) supports this statement and reports that criminologists are criticising planners for facilitating

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and allowing these develops to take place within city centres;”Planning has encouraged a reckless

growth in alcohol-related entertainment, with dire consequences for crime and disorder”.

This article is not suggesting that ’24 Hour Cities’ are unsafe zones, it is merely suggesting that these

spaces are “difficult to plan”(Lovatt & O’Connor 1995, p. 132), and require; “careful and

comprehensive control” (Gillman 2004), to reduce the perception of crime thereby increasing the

likelihood of people entering the city (Stevenson 2013, p. 79). Gillman (2004) did however find that:

“local authorities surveyed felt that the growth in evening and night-time economies brings vitality

to their areas”. The facilitation of ’24 Hour Cities’ enables the opportunity for people to interact

within the built environment after normal business hours. According to Stevenson (2013, p. 79) to

create a successful ’24 hour city’, people and the presence of people are important factors; “People

feel safer and indeed are safer when there are others present either on the street or living close by”.

The Queensland Government (2007) similarly addresses this topic in their Crime Prevention Through

Environment Design (CPTED) document by stating; “Crimes against people and property are less

likely to occur if other people are around”. This section ascertains the key components/factors in

facilitating/ improving the likelihood of creating a ’24 hour city’, these include: a diversity in retail

options, diversity in accommodation options, and a mix of transportation modes.

Section 2: The Southport CBD: A Review.

The City of Gold Coast (2014) has created a Streetscape Design Guideline for the Southport Priority

Development Area (PDA); this document categorizes all streets within the Southport PDA into three

types; CBD Core, Subtropical, and Garden Residential (See Figure 1). A spatial analysis of the streets

classified as CBD Core map out a distinct precinct that inhibits the centre of the CBD; this article will

refer to this section as the CBD Core Precinct (See Figure 2). This section of the article aims to

provide a synopsis of the CBD Core Precinct to provide; a brief description of the land uses within this

area, to map and analyse ground floor closing hour periods of businesses, analyse the diversity of

accommodation options, and determine how accessible this precinct is via the use of public and

private transport.

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The CBD Core Precinct provides

residents and visitors with a range

of local, national and international

known brands such as; Subway,

Chemist Warehouse, Office Works,

Australia Post Centre and a BMW

distribution centre. The conduction

of a walking tour through

Southport’s CBD Core Precinct was

essential in the creation of both

Figure 3 and Figure 4. Figure 3 and

Figure 4 map the closing hour

periods of ground floor

retail/commercial destinations

along streets classified within the

CBD Core Precinct; business hours

were obtained via direct contact

with businesses. Figure 3 and 4

have been utilized to show which

areas within the CBD Core Precinct

are open beyond the WWTF, and which

areas are susceptible to becoming

abandoned outside of the WWTF.

An analysis of Figure 3 found that there were

two primary areas that provided

commercial/ retail land uses that were open

beyond 11pm at night on both Tuesday and

Saturday nights (refer to Figure 3). The

majority of the ground floor commercial/

retail land uses within this analysis were

found to close between the hours of 12pm-

6pm on Tuesdays, and were either closed or

closed between 12pm-6pm on Saturdays.

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Figure 1: Southport Streetscape Character Types (City of Gold Coast 2014).

Figure 2: CBD Core Preinct (City of Gold Coast 2014).

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Figure 3: Closing Hour Analysis: Part A. (Author).

NB: ‘Not applicaable’ refers to parking lots, vacant buildings, shops closed, shops with empty tenancy.

*

NB: ‘Not applicable’ refers to parking lots, vacant buildings, shops closed for construction, shops with empty tenancy.

Figure 4 depicts a number of commercial/ retail land uses that closed after 11pm on a Saturday, with

a concentration of these within the southern end of Davenport Street (refer to Figure 4). Between

the corner of Nerang Street and Scarborough Street and the corner of Nerang Street and Davenport

Street, was found to contain a concentration of commercial/ retail land uses that closed after 6pm

on a Saturday night (refer to Figure 4).

Apart from a large mixed use development that boarders Scarborough Street, Garden Street and

Lawson Street (See Figure 5), there is minimal to no forms of residential accommodation choice

within this precinct. In terms of facilitating a diversity of accommodation types, this should be noted

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Figure 4: Closing Hour Analysis: Part B. (Author).

as a constraint to moving towards a ‘24 hour CBD’, of which the importance of housing has been

discussed in the previous section.

Within the CBD Core precinct there are two forms of public transport systems; including two (2) bus

stops north of the intersection of Scarborough Street and Nerang Street (See Figure 5), and one (1)

Light Rail (G:Link) station west of the intersection of Scarborough Street and Nerang Street (See

Figure 5). The construction and implementation of the Gold Coast Light Rail (G:Link) infrastructure,

saw the removal of approximately one hundred and eighty (180) metered private vehicle car parking

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Figure 5: Transportation and Residential within CBD Core Precinct (Author).

spots along Nerang Street and Scarborough Street within the CBD Core Precinct. This reduced ability

to park private motor vehicles may deter people from visiting the CBD as; “88 percent of trips on the

Gold Coast are made in cars” (City of Gold Coast , p.2). This reduction may reduce the ease of

parking within the heart of the CBD, however within the CBD Core Precinct there are two major car

parking lots that are free of charge after 5pm; Athonal Paterson Car Park and Mal Burke Car Park

(See Figure 5) (City of Gold Coast 2015). Referring to Figure 5 it is clear that Nerang Street and

Scarborough Street appear to split the CBD Core Precinct into two sub precincts; each sub precinct

contains a free (after 5pm) private motor vehicle car park with in excess of 160 car parks.

Figure 3 and Figure 4 aimed to provide an overview of the closing hour period of ground floor

commercial/ retail land uses within streets depicted in Figure 2. Figures 3 and 4 depict the minor

number of land uses that closed after 11pm, and highlighted the sheer magnitude of land uses that

closed before 6pm on both Tuesday and Saturday nights. This section found that the variety of

housing options within the CBD Core Precinct was low, with only one comprehensive mixed

development site within the precincts boundaries. The importance of providing a diversity of

housing options enables a variety of people such as university students, young families and elderly

people; to live and use the CBD in a variety of ways and differing times. With a major public

transport system running right through the middle of this precinct and two major private motor

vehicle parking facilities within each sub precinct, accessibility to this area outside of WWTF is viable

on all modes of transport.

Section 3: Southport: What’s Next?

Section one looked at fundamental aspects that are required/increase the likelihood of creating a

’24 hour city’. This section will briefly address the current issues within the Southport CBD Core

Precinct that are hindering its progression into a ’24 hour CBD’. Furthermore, the objective of this

section is determine whether the Southport Priority Development Area (PDA) Development Scheme

(2014) has provided a comprehensive plan to shape Southport into a ’24 hour CBD’; where possible

providing recommendations to satisfying this objective.

In October of 2013, Southport was declared as a Priority Development Area (PDA) which aims to:

“Support economic development through knowledge-based employment, regional government

administration, medical, retail and commercial uses” (Department of State Development and

Infrastructure Planning 2013). The Southport PDA was granted approval by the state government on

5th of September 2014, thereby superseding the Southport Priority Development Area Interim Land

Use Plan (2013) (Department of Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning 2015). The

Southport PDA accumulates 195.7 hectares of land and is categorised into four precincts;

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“• the Central Business District (CBD)

that will deliver the definitive centre of

commerce for the Gold Coast

• the PDA Residential Neighbourhood

that will support the CBD with a cluster

of high residential densities

• the PDA Garden Residential

Neighbourhood that, while also

providing residential uses, will deliver

greater amenity and reinforce existing

garden character

• the PDA Open Space that will provide

high quality outdoor areas” (City of

Gold Coast 2014, p. 9).

To ensure this article stays within the

same frame of analysis, the Central

Business District (CBD) precinct of the

Southport PDA will be explored as it

encompasses the entirety of the “Core

CBD Precinct” which is illustrated in

Figure 6. The Southport PDA provides a

vision for the CBD that assimilates with

the ideologies of a successful ’24 hour

city’: “The Precinct will thrive 24 hours

a day, 7 days a week and be a hub of

innovative business, economic activity, entertainment and leisure”. City of Gold Coast (2014, p. 23)

The idea of the ’24 hour CBD’ and its relationship to extended/ later hour entertainment and

shopping opportunities have been addressed throughout the article. Referring to Section 2 of this

article it was found that there was a serious lack of ground floor land uses that closed after 9pm on

both Tuesdays and Saturdays. After analysing section 3.5.1 of the Southport PDA, it was found that

there was broad yet comprehensive plan to modify the existing precinct; “It will be a vibrant district

with a concentrated and innovative mix of land uses, providing diverse work and lifestyle

opportunities”, “focus high-end retail uses on the existing main streets of Scarborough and Nerang

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Key:

Figure 6: Southport PDA Overlay Map (Department of State Development and Infrastructure Planning 2013).

Streets”, and “reinforce and build upon Chinatown with associated uses and activities” (The City of

Gold Coast 2014, p. 23). These statements exemplify how this precinct will be transformed into an

area with a diversity of land uses, thereby attracting a range of visitors to the precinct at different

times of the day.

The Southport PDA aims to “Contribute to a diverse mix of residential and non residential CBD uses”,

(The City of Gold Coast 2014, p. 23), this provides a broad vision of the desired land uses within this

precinct; navigating back to section 3.4.2, the PDA provides a “criteria [that will] apply to all PDA

assessable development in the PDA” (The City of Gold Coast 2014, p. 23), stating that there will be: “

A mix of dwelling sizes and types”. This stipulates that the PDA is encouraging diversity in the types

of accommodation and will aim to cater for the variety of people addressed in prior sections.

As addressed in previous sections, public transport plays a significant role in moving people in and

out of the CBD; facilitating a efficient ’24 hour CBD’. The Southport PDA reflects this view by stating:

“Public transport connectivity of the PDA to the rest of the Gold Coast will allow people to reach the

CBD and leave their car at home” (The City of Gold Coast 2014, p. 23).

Conclusion

This article aimed to address three major topics: the concept and creation of a ’24 Hour City’,

provide an analysis of the Southport CBD, and how the Southport PDA (2014) aimed to facilitate a

successful ’24 Hour CBD’ in the City of Gold Coast. This article found that three aspects of city design

contribute to the creation of a ’24 Hour City’ these include: a diversity in commercial and retail

options, diversity in accommodation options, and a mix of transportation modes. The Southport CBD

was found to have a number of aspects that were hindering its progression towards a successful ’24

Hour City’ these include: a lack of residential accommodation choice and low levels of late night

closing commercial and retail business on the ground floor. Through analysis, the Southport PDA

(2014) was found to provide distinct vision and plan to counteract both the issues addressed within

the prior section. The major finding from this article was identifying the areas within the CBD that

close between of 12pm – 6pm on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

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