Speaking ahead of a University of Melbourne public forum on the implications of “Melbourne @ 5 million” on Thursday December 3, Professor Low says “more” people does not necessarily mean ”better”.

“Melbourne at five million is nearing the population of the core of London, Paris or New York.  Imagine London without its Underground, Paris without its Metro, New York without its Subway: it’d be transport chaos.  Right now that looks like Melbourne's future by 2030.  ”

Professor Low, Director of the Centre of the Governance and Management of Urban Transport (GAMUT) at the University of Melbourne, says the recent adjustments to the Melbourne 2030 plan provides the State Government – as well as stakeholders and residents – with a unique opportunity.

“Imagine a future of integrated transport: rapid trams to all shopping centres, pedestrian shopping streets, buses timetabled to meet trains, frequent and reliable modern trains with simple timetables, a completed network of bike paths connecting with rail stations, land use patterns geared to demand for accessibility, accessible housing that's also affordable.  That's the future the government wants and the public wants'.

“This can be done. Let's think what we want for Melbourne in twenty years time, and then think of every step that needs to be taken to get there.”

The public forum, million: Transport and Planning Implications, brings together leading academics and industry representatives to debate shaping Melbourne’s future. The forum is being organised by GAMUT and provides an opportunity for the public to engage with experts and community leaders.

Professor Rob Adams (Director of Design and Culture, City of Melbourne), University of Melbourne Professors Kim Dovey and Kevin O’Connor as well as Associate Professor Michael Buxton (Environment and Planning Program, RMIT) are among leading experts, practitioners and community leaders who will discuss the transport and planning implications of “Melbourne @ 5 million”, as well as the State Government’s adjustment to the Melbourne 2030 plan. 

“In Victoria the Government typically follows the land market, which is structured by the way land owners, speculators, developers and builders traditionally work. Urban sprawl is the inevitable result.  The Government then responds by building motorways to provide mobility,” Professor Low says.

“That way will not work in the 21st Century with its pressing challenges of global warming and peak oil.  Do we want to join in planning the future of our metropolis?  What does real planning actually mean?  It is surely more than a bunch of projects connected by nice rhetoric and some glossy pictures.

EVENT DETAILS:
‘Melbourne @ 5 million: Transport and Planning Implications’
2pm to 5.40pm, Thursday, December 3
Architecture Building Room 103 (eZone)
Parkville Campus
University of Melbourne