Kelvin Grove Urban Village is a vibrant town centre offering a soulful, sophisticated and appealing lifestyle with more than 1000 residential units. The design is based on a traditional town design which effectively links residential, education, retail, health, recreation and business and includes a town centre, Main Street and a centre for business. The developments feature high-quality design in various styles to suit residents from modest units through to premium penthouses depending on taste, needs or budgets.

Every Saturday morning held in the heart of the precinct is the village markets. It’s a great start to the weekend with over 90 stallholders selling anything from fresh food to arts and crafts. Adding to this there’s a great variety of street performers and live musicians. The village is in a great location with attractions and facilities such as Roma Street Parklands, Suncorp stadium, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital within 2kms of the precinct. The precinct itself has many chain stores that are easily available for the community such as Woolworths, Nando’s,

ANZ bank, a bookstore, a pharmacy and much more. Major roads like the inner city bypass, kelvin grove road and the south east freeway are also easy access to the village.

The Department of housing and the Queensland University of Technology have already committed $1 billion to deliver a mixed used development. Through this Kelvin grove urban village has positive environmental benefits such as succeeding in basing the village on principles of ecological sustainable development, aiming to balance economic, social and environmental issues for long term sustainability. In addition they have constructed the apartments to reduce the use of carbon energy through the appliances that are built and the way that the apartments are situated.

Although Kelvin Grove Urban Village has many positive benefits there are still some negatives. For example as the village is still growing there is a lot of noisy construction. Furthermore for the amount of people that are in the community of the village there is only one bus route.

Geography Assignment Page 1

The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city.

Which place would you call home?By Sarah Neilsen

West end is one of the most socially, culturally and economically diverse communities in Brisbane.

This rapidly changing community has a vibrant café society profile with an influx of visitors at night and on the weekends due to its close proximity to the Brisbane CBD. Music and art are a bonus part of this suburb due to the nearby vicinity of GOMA, QPAC, the Art Gallery and the Brisbane Convention Centre.

Gallery of Modern Art Brisbane

The Davies Park Markets is an extra activity that is held every Saturday in West End that sells an extensive array of produce that won’t be found anywhere else in Brisbane. As well as featuring clinics and services available to all age groups it’s a great area that contains everything you need. For example the suburb is within close range to The Mater Private Hospital and The Wesley Hospital.

Furthermore, it’s a multi-cultural area where all classes can enjoy not just the people who are wealthy. This is shown day to day through the acceptance of the homeless people. As well as being a refuge for many of Brisbane’s homeless people it’s also been home to indigenous and migrant populations.

Additionally, the suburb promotes public transport to reduce carbon emissions. The City Cats are one of the fastest ways to get around and allow everyone to get to work, university or school and are operating every 12-13 minutes. Buses are also an easy access to get around with the 199 service running every 10 minutes. Furthermore the trees along the side of the paths complement the raging suburb.

With the median unit price in West End at $550,000 the property values are rapidly increasing. Extensive unit developments are also occurring because of the professional people working in the CBD wishing to take advantage.

The positives for West End fortunately out way the negatives; however, there are still aspects that need to be considered. For instance the buildings are weathered forcing more construction to the already growing suburb. There is also a lot of vandalism and litter evident. In addition there is a lot of traffic in West End causing air pollution.

The positives for West End fortunately out way the negatives; however, there are still aspects that need to be considered. For instance the buildings are weathered forcing more construction to the already growing suburb. There is also a lot of vandalism and litter evident. In addition there is a lot of traffic in West End causing air pollution.

The Mater Hospital, Brisbane

Geography Assignment Page 2

Teneriffe has grown into a cosmopolitan hub offering a relaxing lifestyle. This highly desired riverfront suburb is located only 2km from the Brisbane CBD. It is a great and tranquil area to have a coffee followed by a calming walk along the riverside. The boutiques have a selection of dynamic and creative fashion which might be appealing to you. Rested at the top of Teneriffe, with views to all angles of South Brisbane, is Teneriffe Park. If you’re having a family day in Teneriffe and want to escape the city the park includes some facilities such as a playground and a BBQ and has a short circuit walk. If you have children or are just searching for something exciting to do you can also visit the Brisbane Powerhouse which has everything creative, including theatre, music, comedy, festivals and much more.

Furthermore Teneriffe offers a range of housing styled studio apartments to multimillion dollar riverfront homes and apartments. The suburb is a great example of urban renewal. Before it was redeveloped into a residential area linked by the riverside, Teneriffe had historical buildings including the former wool stores and sugar refinery

buildings. These redevelopments were kept until the government decided urban consolidation needed to be considered to house more people. Teneriffe is now a modern European design and has so many wonderful aspects.

In addition Teneriffe is one of the most environmentally friendly suburbs. This is shown through the minimal usage of cars to reduce carbon emission. This has been shown with the new city cycles that can be found in various areas in the suburb and through the use of the city cats. This has also succeeded in minimal congestion providing fresh air. In addition down the side of the main street there are many trees and gardens which provide lots of shade.

On the other hand Teneriffe has a whole heap of negatives. The major one being that the suburb is only suitable to one hierarchy, the wealthy people usually being DINK’s. This is because they can afford to live in the area and don’t have to pay the costs of children with two incomes. It’s also not a multi-cultural area with only Australian people through to restaurants and cafés. Lastly, there are minimal services and clinics which make it difficult if you are in an emergency.

Brisbane Powerhouse, New Farm City Cat Circle along the Brisbane River

Geography Assignment Page 3

The institute of Health and Gardens theatre at QUT Gardens Biomedical Innovation Cultural Precinct

Kelvin Grove Urban Village best exemplifies the principles of: community, self-containment, environment and economic sustainability. Firstly, the village promotes walking, cycling and public transport to reduce the reliance on cars. New trees have been planted along the streets to keep the area green and complement the stands of existing native trees. In addition materials from other buildings have been recycled into street furniture and structures in the park. It therefore creates a model for future developments at less cost to the environment. The village is one of the most multi-cultural precincts and never leaves any one culture

out. It’s got an array of cultures starting from Portuguese cuisine to Indian. And you’ll never get by with nothing because the precinct has everything from wool worth’s to ANZ bank to a beauty therapist. The vibrant community lifestyle has an exceptional display of assets that combine residential, education, retail, recreation and business. The developments feature affordable rental accommodation, high end apartments, student accommodation and small family apartments. Furthermore the economic sustainability is considered with the apartments containing money saving appliances and are structured to improve the sustainability. On the whole it’s a true community lifestyle with the site being custom-made to please the needs of everyone.

Geography Assignment Page 4

Kelvin Grove Urban Village Bird’s The village markets, Kelvin Grove Urban Eye View VillageCook, Mrs. "Kelvin Grove Urban Village." Speech.

"Davies Park Market | West End." Davies Park Market | West End. Web. 17 May 2012.

<http://www.daviesparkmarket.com.au/index.php?id=3>.

"Effecting Social Change in the 'smart City': The West End Connect Community Project." QUT

EPrints. Web. 17 May 2012. <http://eprints.qut.edu.au/3564/>.

Gerlach, Anne-Marie, and Rebecca Nicholas. "Chapter 7." Essential Geography for Queensland 3.

Melbourne, Vic: Macmillan Education Australia, 2009. Print.

"Newstead and Teneriffe Redevelopments." - Brisbane City Council. Web. 17 May 2012.

<http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/planning-building/current-planning-projects/

neighbourhood-planning/neighbourhood-plans-in-your-area/newstead-and-teneriffe/

newstead-and-teneriffe/index.htm>.

"Newstead and Teneriffe Waterfront Neighbourhood Plan." - Brisbane City Council. Web. 17 May

2012. <http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/planning-building/current-planning-projects/

neighbourhood-planning/neighbourhood-plans-in-your-area/newstead-and-teneriffe/

index.htm>.

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"Sustainability." Department of Communities (Queensland Government). Web. 17 May 2012.

<http://www.communities.qld.gov.au/housing/partnership-initiatives/kelvin-grove-urban-

village/sustainability>.

"Traffic and Parking Control Areas." - Brisbane City Council. Web. 17 May 2012.

<http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/traffic-transport/parking-permits/traffic-parking-control-

areas/index.htm>.

"The Village Market Community Directory." Village Markets. Web. 17 May 2012.

<http://www.peterhackworthgroup.com.au/village/dir_clothing.html>.

"West End CityCat Terminal Upgrade." - Brisbane City Council. Web. 17 May 2012.

<http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/traffic-transport/public-transport/citycat-ferry-services/

citycat-terminal-reconstruction/west-end-citycat-terminal/index.htm>.

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