Studio 4/02

Studio 2: High Speed Rail Corridor as Green Infrastructure

Christopher Newman

Studio Description

The City of Wyndham and the City of Greater Geelong are two of the fastest growing LGAs in Australia, with population growth and economic activity being two of the main drivers shaping this region. The changes currently in play, place ecological and infrastructure systems under extreme pressure leaving existing ecology, and infrastructure fragmented and dysfunctional. Green infrastructure planning is positioned to provide solutions to these problems. This studio explores green infrastructure planning across multiple scales within the region of the West Metropolitan Melbourne & the Greater City of Geelong. A myopic view within current planning practice is heavily weighted to economics at significant cost to the environment. New developments planned at site level have become inadequate to achieve a holistic solution for protection of the environment and the health of local residents. This studio engages with broader landscapes, seeking to mitigate the effects of myopic planning and anthropogenic climate change with a unified system of ecosystem services.

Studio Outcomes

The proposed HSR corridor as green infrastructure is an opportunity to carefully apply landscape planning theory and strategies as a planned network of natural and semi-natural areas which will contribute to establishing equilibrium between nature and human settlements, while still accounting for a major piece of transport infrastructure with high cultural desire. The studio’ special focus is application of GIS spatial analyses to facilitate evidence-based design across scales. At the regional scale, students will establish green infrastructure planning goals for the HSR corridor. Then, based on these planning goal, a sensitive HSR corridor spanning the region will be determined, informed by GIS-based spatial analysis. Students will also perform design testing at a selected suburb and site scales to demonstrate how their regional green infrastructure visions can be achieved at the local scale. The design outcomes include development of a sustainable and liveable community within complex conditions of infrastructure, ecologies, and demographics.

Studio Leader

Christopher Newman is a Landscape Architect with 11 years professional experience. He holds a Masters in Landscape Architecture, a Bachelor of Horticulture from Melbourne University as well as practical experience in Landscape Construction and Horticulture. Chris has been active as a tutor and studio leader at Melbourne University since 2009, with continued involvement in Landscape planning working alongside Dr Siqing Chen teaching the GIS elective subject and Lanscape Studio 4: Strategies.

Readings & References

• Belanger, P. (2016). Landscape as Infrastructure: A Base Primer. Routledge, London.
• Strang, G.L. (1996). Infrastructure as Landscape [Infrastructure as Landscape, Landscape as Infrastructure]. Places, 10(3)

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