One step ahead... planning for accessible centres and connected stations
Interesting ‘Main Street’ shopping strips are great features of Melbourne. Places like Brunswick Street, Sydney Road and Acland Street are famous examples, but most established suburbs have their own traditional shopping streets at the heart of the community. While these vibrant, local shopping streets have stood the test of time, they now face significant threats from online retailing, as well as continuing competition from shopping malls.
In One step ahead… Planning for Accessible Centres and Connected Stations, urban access consultant Dr David Mepham explores practical ways for local councils to create attractive, accessible, connected Main Streets.
This report covers a range of urban access issues, including sections on:
- Planning and urban design for attractive, walkable centres
- Ensuring an animated and accessible Main Street experience with better footpath dining, place making, active edges and easy/safe crossing
- Rethinking side street and laneways to create engaging and connected places with safe, easy access to nearby stations and car parking
- Best practice planning, design and use of new technology for smarter car parking management
- Six Melbourne case studies of suburban centres and train stations – what works, what doesn’t and how to improve.
David's work has been featured in The Parking Professional, magazine of the International Parking & Mobility Institute, based in the USA. Read the story here