No_5_February_1962 — Page 57

WITH MY TONGUE IN MY CHEEK

by Professor W.C. Gregory, B. Arch., ART.BA.

SOME LESSONS FROM AUSTRALIA

HAVING recently returned from

a five week visit to Australia, one is now naturally an expert on that country and being "in the trade” as it were, one is now naturally an expert on all matters of architecture and building there.

Be that at it may, even a short visit is sufficient to bring home some lessons: some so obvious that it is a wonder that they have to be learnt at all.

One of the first impressions gain- ed when flying in low over the suburbs of the first large city visited, be it Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide or Brisbane. is the vast suburban sprawl planned to a road pattern. W ithout any sense of civic design or regard for social amenity. There is a predeliction for one house (more often a bungalow) to a plot. and these march in serried rows the landscape.

across

recover from

Britain will never the evil results of similar develop- ment, which occurred mainly between the two world wars, so it is strange to find a developing country with such great vitality and potential making the same mistake. The two talks, given recently in Hong Kong by Mr. Robert Shaw, Senior Plan- ning Officer of Ministry of Housing and Local Government, gave Hong Kong listeners an insight into the principles that planners are putting into practice and very forcibly show- ed the benefits that result from good planning.

One idea is the acceptance of the motor-car (Australians are a high- percentage-car-owning-race) but in its right place: that is on the planned motor-road. not in areas which are

essentially pedestrian in use, such as in shopping centres.

A corollary of this is the inward look, that is, that development should back on to motor-ways and not front on, which for some obscure reason has always been a popular orienta- tion. and to limit the points of access to the main road to the minimum. These ideas are not followed in Australia, every house fronts a road. and before long the major cities will be resorting to "Hammersmith Fly- overs" and other devices to overcome slow-moving traffic and traffic jams.

However the principle of one house, one plot. generally allows space for the car to be parked off the road and most houses have a

garage.

It may be argued that the Austra- lian does not require a great deal of amenity in residential areas, open spaces. recreational areas, nearby schools, hospitals and clinics, since distances in the cities are as yet re- latively short, and that his ideal is to hitch a power boat behind his car and be off to the beaches, creeks and island-dotted coasts, at every oppor tunity.

Again, be that as it may, the need for shopping centres sited in relation to a planned development is most obvious. This need is now realized and private enterprise has stepped in, in one or two areas, where they have been able to buy land, and have started building the type of centre

the form of which has now been set by North America.

In these circumstances, it can only be fortuitious if they become sited in the right place; if in the wrong place

THE HONG KONG & FAR EAST BUILDER-VOLUME 16, NUMBER 5

such a focus can draw round itself possibly unwanted or inappropriate development. The establishment of shopping centres by these methods, though meritorious, is plainly a mat ter of good business and whilst good business should go hand in hand with good planning, one without the other is not likely to succeed to any

extent.

It is a relatively new feature in town planning, to encourage private enterprise to make itself responsible for development of this kind. that is for the complete development of an important and large section of a plan as opposed to individual sites--such as the shopping and commercial centre complex of say a new town. Good planning with reasonable con- trol, will ensure not only the success of the project as a business venture, but also as a public amenity.

Generally speaking, it would seem that social progress in Australia is being retarded by the lack of phy- sical planning. Planners are being trained and planning offices exist. but hands are tied by the lack of effective legislation. particularly at State level, where it is most needed.

We in Hong Kong should not allow ourselves to be equally short- sighted. Comprehensive planing le- gislation is badly needed here, in order that among other matters plan- ning techniques may be applied to the development of existing urban preas, In essence, under our present planning laws, proper planning can only be carried out in what are relatively small new areas, such as we have seen in the proposals for the old Dockyard and new reclamations. (Turn to Page 72)

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