'Hobart 2010 Public Spaces & Public Life - A city with people in mind'
The development of an Inner City Development Plan follows on from a wide-ranging community consultation in 2005 which culminated in the formation and adoption of Hobart's 2025 vision statements and 20 year strategic framework.
The Hobart City Council has long-recognised the vital role that the inner city plays in delivery of the people's Vision. It requires a plan to give effect to that Vision as it may be applied to the public spaces and public life experienced within the inner city of Hobart.
The Council wishes to see the city returned to the people and to do this, an Inner City Development Plan is needed to manage the continued evolution of the inner city as a people place and to guide future investment in public and private infrastructure.
In 2009, the Council commissioned internationally recognised urban planner and architect Jan Gehl and his team at Gehl Architects, to undertake a Public Spaces and Public Life Study of central Hobart.
The study is now completed and forms stage one of Hobart's Inner City Development Plan (ICDP).
The Gehl Architects Report is titled Hobart 2010 Public Spaces and Public Life - a city with people in mind, and looks at the overall future of the city, with a focus on improving how people move around and enjoy the inner heart of our city and its links to outer areas.
The Gehl Report details a number of recommendations under four theme areas of:
• Landscape - identifying and connecting the city's distinctive landscape features
• Movement - ensuring a fine city for people
• City Life - developing a more diverse and liveable city centre
• Visual Environment - ensuring visual delights
The Gehl Report is very wide-ranging and all-encompassing and will take some time for the Council to digest all the major recommendations.
The Report has not been endorsed by the Council and it is noted that some of the recommendations may require further analysis and some may require a continuing regional approach.
A comprehensive consultation program was undertaken over an eight week period from 28 March to 22 May 2011 to obtain feedback and community views on the recommendations documented in the Report. The results of the community consultation are available here.
The Council would like to thank all participants who provided feedback on the Gehl Architects Report Hobart 2010 Public Spaces and Public Life - a city with people in mind.
Community feedback was one of many inputs used by the Council in developing an Inner City Action Plan, based on the Gehl Report, for the progressive implementation of key programs and projects.
An Inner City Action Plan was endorsed by the Council at its meeting on the 12th December 2011 as the basis for future planning within Hobart's inner city and is now available here.
The Inner City Action Plan represents the first phase of projects developed from the recommendations in Hobart 2010 Public Spaces and Public Life - a city with people in mind.