Network City: Retrofitting the Perth Metropolitan Region to Facilitate Sustainable Travel

Abstract

‘Network City’, the latest 25-year planning strategy for metropolitan Perth, Western Australia, is designed to realise the integration of land use and transport networks within established and new areas. This article examines the influence of urban form on travel patterns and the case for sustainable travel outcomes in order to set in context the ‘Network City’ concept. The concept is described, and then the article focuses on the operational detail needed to progress towards fuller integration between the transport network and the city it serves. This includes analysis of urban structure in the context of the factors that influence efficient use of public transport: including residential density, intensity of activity and the hierarchy of activity centres. The implications for road planning are discussed where land use–transport integration is the core objective rather than simply traffic efficiency. If sustainable travel is to be facilitated there is a need to change both the operation of public transport and the urban structure and these changes are mutually supportive.

Keywords:

• Urban form
• urban structure
• sustainable travels
• land use transport integration
• spatial planning
• regional planning

Acknowledgements

The author acknowledges with thanks the support given while developing this concept over several years. A visit in 2000 provided the opportunity to examine the Cape Town metropolitan strategy and the planners at the University of Cape Town and Cape Metropolitan Council are thanked for sharing their insights. The author's study leave hosts in 2003 at the University of Amsterdam provided a useful critique of the concept, placed it in the Dutch context, and Luca Bertolini convinced the author of the contribution of the concept in retrofit situations. Two colleagues: Patric de Villiers for his support and Peter Lawrence for his guidance in modelling the concept. Developing the concept into an adopted metropolitan planning strategy for Perth was made possible through the support of the community and 100 folk (planners, environmentalist, transport planners, developers, etc.) who tested and debated the ideas over the last year.