Hoddle Grid

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Hoddle Grid

The Hoddle Grid is the layout of the streets

Road

A road is an identifiable Road number, way or Trail between Location . Roads are typically smoothed, Pavement , or otherwise prepared to allow easy travel; though they need not be, and historically many roads were simply recognizable routes without any formal construction or Maintenance, repair and operations....
in the centre of the central business district

Central business district

A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In Australia, China , Republic of Ireland, Kenya, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore and South Africa, the phrase is commonly used, and is often colloquially abbreviated to "CBD"....
of Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the more common name for the geographic region and Census in Australia of the Greater Melbourne metropolitan area. It is the second List of cities in Australia by population in Australia, with a population of approximately 3.8 million and serves as the List of Australian capital cities of Victoria ....
.

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Encyclopedia

The Hoddle Grid is the layout of the streets

Road

Central business district

Melbourne

Robert Hoddle

Robert Hoddle was a surveyor of Port Phillip in the 1830s, and the creator of the Hoddle Grid, the innovative street grid system on which inner city Melbourne, Australia is based....
, the Grid was laid out in 1837, and later extended. It covers the area from Flinders St to Queen Victoria Market, and from Spencer St to Spring St.

History

While the survey plan has proved, in time, to be far-sighted for public utility, serving Melbourne to this day, at the time Hoddle's instructions from Governor Gipps

George Gipps

Sir George Gipps was Governor of the colony of New South Wales, Australia, for eight years, between 1838 and 1846. His governorship was during a period of great change for New South Wales and Australia, as well as for New Zealand, which was administered as part of New South Wales for much of this period....
were more prosaic. Land allotments for sale at public auction were to be produced as quickly as possible to deliver to the market. Gipps also insisted that all towns laid out during his term of office should have no public squares included within their boundaries, being convinced that they only encouraged democracy.

The wide main streets were also to accommodate the large number of bullock carts

Bullock cart

The bullock cart is a common means of transportation used traditionally since ancient times in many parts of the world. They are still used today where modern vehicles are too expensive or the infrastructure does not favor them....
that would ride through the centre of town preventing them from holding up horse drawn traffic when making right turns.

In the 1860s, surveys extended the district, incorporating the region of similarly laid out streets bounded by Victoria Street, Dudley Street and the Queen Victoria Market.

Specifications

All major streets are one and half chain

Chain (unit)

A chain is a Units of measurement of length; it measures 66 foot or 22 yard or 100 Link . There are 10 chains in a furlong, and 80 chains in one statute mile....
s (99 ft or 30 m) in width, while all blocks are exactly 10 chains square (10 acre

Acre

The acre is a Units of measurement of area in a number of different systems, including the Imperial unit#Measures of area and United States customary units#Units of area systems....
s, 201 m × 201 m). It is one mile (1.6 km) long by half a mile wide (0.80 km). The grid's longest axis is oriented 70 degrees clockwise from true north, to align better with the course of the Yarra River

Yarra River

The Yarra River, originally known as Birrarung, is a river in central Victoria , Australia. The lower stretches of the river is where the city of Melbourne, Victoria was established in 1835 and today Greater Melbourne dominates and influences the landscape of its lower reaches....
. The majority of Melbourne is oriented at 8 degrees clockwise from true north - noting that magnetic north was 8° 3' E in 1900, increasing to 11° 42' E in 2009.

East-west streets

Parallel

Parallel (geometry)

Parallelism is a term in geometry and in everyday life that refers to a property in Euclidean space of two or more line s or plane , or a combination of these....
to the Yarra River

Yarra River

Flinders Street
Flinders Street, Melbourne

Flinders Street is a notable street in Melbourne, Victoria , Australia. Running roughly parallel to the Yarra River, Flinders Street forms the southern edge of the Hoddle Grid....
(southernmost)
Flinders Lane
Flinders Lane, Melbourne

Flinders Lane is a minor road in the Melbourne central business district of Melbourne, Victoria , Australia. The street runs parallel to and to the north of Flinders Street, Melbourne and as a narrow one way lane takes on the name of the wider main street....
¹
Collins Street
Collins Street, Melbourne

Collins Street is a major street in the Melbourne, Australia Melbourne CBD and runs approximately east to west.It is notable as Melbourne's best known street, is often regarded as Australia's premier street, with some of the country's finest Victorian era buildings....
Little Collins Street
Little Collins Street, Melbourne

Little Collins Street is a minor road in the Melbourne central business district of Melbourne, Victoria , Australia.The street runs parallel to and to the north of Collins Street and as a narrow one way lane takes on the name of the wider main street....
²
Bourke Street
Bourke Street, Melbourne

Bourke Street is a major road in the Melbourne central business district of Melbourne, Victoria , Australia. Bourke Street is named for Sir Richard Bourke, the Governor of New South Wales in 1837, when the Hoddle Grid was drawn up....
, incorporating Bourke Street Mall
Little Bourke Street
Little Bourke Street, Melbourne

Little Bourke Street , a street in the Melbourne central business district of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, runs roughly from east to west within the Hoddle Grid....
³
Lonsdale Street
Lonsdale Street, Melbourne

Lonsdale Street is located in the centre of Melbourne central business district, Victoria, Australia, Australia, part of the Hoddle Grid, it runs roughly east-west....
Little Lonsdale Street
Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne

Little Lonsdale Street is located in the centre of Melbourne central business district, Victoria, Australia, Australia. A part of the Hoddle Grid, it runs roughly east-west....
⁴
La Trobe Street
La Trobe Street, Melbourne

La Trobe Street is a major street in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria , Australia. It runs roughly from east to west and forms the northern boundary of the CBD ....
(also written LaTrobe) (northernmost of the original district)
Little La Trobe Street⁵
Mackenzie Street⁶
A'Beckett Street⁷
Franklin Street
Therry Street (northernmost, borders Queen Victoria Market)

¹ One-way westbound, except two-way between Market and Spencer Streets
² One-way westbound, except two-way between King and Spencer Streets
³ One-way westbound
⁴ One-way eastbound
⁵ Runs only between Swanston and Elizabeth Streets
⁶ Runs only between Exhibition and Russell Streets
⁷ Runs only between Swanston and William Streets

North-south streets

Perpendicular

In geometry, two line or plane , are considered perpendicular to each other if they form congruence adjacent angles angles . The term may be used as a noun or adjective....
to the Yarra River:

Spring Street
Spring Street, Melbourne

Spring Street is a major street in the Melbourne central business district of Melbourne, Victoria , Australia. It runs roughly north-south, and is the easternmost street in the Hoddle Grid....
(easternmost)
Exhibition Street
Exhibition Street, Melbourne

Exhibition Street is a major street in the Melbourne central business district of Melbourne, Australia. The street is street name after the World Heritage Site Royal Exhibition Building, which is located in the Carlton Gardens....
Russell Street
Russell Street, Melbourne

Russell Street is a north-south street in the Melbourne central business district of Melbourne, Australia, part of the Hoddle Grid laid out in 1837....
Swanston Street
Swanston Street, Melbourne

Swanston Street is a major thoroughfare in the centre of Melbourne, Australia. It is the main street of Melbourne and is part of the Hoddle Grid, the layout of major streets that makes up the central business district, which was laid out in 1837 by Robert Hoddle....
Elizabeth Street
Elizabeth Street, Melbourne

Elizabeth Street is one of the main north-south streets in the Melbourne central business district of Melbourne, Australia, part of the Hoddle Grid laid out in 1837....
Queen Street
Queen Street, Melbourne

Queen Street is a street in the Melbourne central business district, forming part of the famous Hoddle Grid. It runs roughly from north to south....
Market Street
Market Street, Melbourne

Market Street is one of the north-south streets in the Melbourne central business district of Melbourne, Australia, part of the Hoddle Grid laid out in 1837....
¹
William Street
William Street, Melbourne

William Street is a major street in the Melbourne central business district of Melbourne, Victoria , Australia. It runs roughly north-south from Flinders Street, Melbourne to Victoria Street, Melbourne, and is located in the western half of the Hoddle Grid....
King Street
King Street, Melbourne

King Street is a main street in the Melbourne central business district.King St begins at the intersection of Hawke St and Victoria St in West Melbourne and continues through the Melbourne CBD turning into Kings Way at the Flinders St intersection....
Spencer Street
Spencer Street, Melbourne

Spencer Street is a major street in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria , Australia. It is named for John Spencer, 3rd Earl Spencer, Chancellor of the Exchequer under William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom....
(westernmost)

¹ Runs only between Flinders and Collins Streets, and is the single major deviation from the Grid.

Melbourne's lanes and arcades

Although not part of Hoddle's original plans, Melbourne has a number of significant lanes for which the city has become notable. The lanes have evolved from the early days of the Hoddle Grid out of necessity as accessways from the minor streets, many themselves known by the name of "lane".

Many of these lanes are used for commercial purposes, some have become covered arcades. Some lanes have been lost to the consolidation of urban blocks and developments such as Rialto Towers

Rialto Towers

The Rialto Towers is the second-tallest reinforced concrete building and the tallest office building in the Southern Hemisphere, when measured to its roof ....
. Others have become enclaves of historic buildings spared from consolidation of blocks facing the major streets, appearing as hidden trails that burrow their way through the city.

Among Melbourne's more significant lanes is Bank Place

Bank Place, Melbourne

Bank Place is a street in Melbourne, Victoria. It is a short, narrow laneway, running south from Little Collins Street, Melbourne between Queen Street, Melbourne and William Street, Melbourne in the Melbourne central business district of Melbourne....
, a small enclave of heritage listed buildings including Mitre Tavern. Block Place

Block Place, Melbourne

Block Place is a street in Melbourne, Victoria. It is a short, narrow partially covered laneway, running south from Little Collins Street, Melbourne between Swanston Street, Melbourne and Elizabeth Street, Melbourne in the Melbourne central business district of Melbourne....
, Degraves Street

Degraves Street, Melbourne

Degraves Street is a street in Melbourne, Victoria. It is named after Charles and William Degraves, pioneer merchants who settled in Melbourne from Hobart, Tasmania in 1849....
and Centre Place

Centre Place, Melbourne

Centre Place is a busy laneway and arcade in the Melbourne central business district, Australia. It runs between Flinders Lane, Melbourne and Collins Street, Melbourne....
are popular for their funky cafe culture. Hardware Lane

Hardware Lane, Melbourne

Hardware Lane is a small lane in the Melbourne central business district, Australia.It runs roughly north-south between Bourke Street, Melbourne and Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne....
and McKillop Street

McKillop Street, Melbourne

McKillop Street is a street in Melbourne, Victoria. It is a short, quiet and narrow open Lane, running between Bourke Street, Melbourne and Little Collins Street, Melbourne between Queen Street, Melbourne and Elizabeth Street, Melbourne in the Melbourne central business district of Melbourne....
towards the financial district are popular with office workers, and Punch Lane is one of the more popular lanes at the Eastern end of the city. ACDC Lane

ACDC Lane, Melbourne

ACDC Lane is a street in Melbourne, Victoria. It is a short, narrow laneway, running south from Flinders Lane between Exhibition Street, Melbourne and Russell Street, Melbourne in the Melbourne central business district of Melbourne....
was recently named after the popular rock band AC/DC

AC/DC

AC/DC are an Australian rock music rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by brothers Malcolm Young and Angus Young. Although the band are commonly classified as hard rock, and considered pioneers of heavy metal music, they have always classified their music as "rock and roll"....
. Others are known for their outstanding examples of modern mural, graffiti

Graffiti

Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property. Graffiti is sometimes regarded as a form of art and other times regarded as unsightly damage or unwanted....
and stencil

Stencil

A stencil is a wikt:template used to drawing or painting identical Letter , symbols, shapes, or patterns every time it is used. Stencil technique in visual art is also referred to as pochoir....
art. The Melbourne City Council has commissioned several quirky art installations in a few of the lanes.

Collectively they have become a major tourist attraction to the city and been used as a model for new urban developments such as the Queen Victoria Village

Queen Victoria Village

Queen Victoria Village, generally known as QV Village or just QV, is a precinct in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria , Australia....
, Federation Square

Federation Square

Federation Square is a cultural precinct in the city of Melbourne, Australia. It comprises a series of buildings containing a public broadcaster, art galleries, a museum, cinemas, exhibition spaces, auditoria, restaurants, bars and shops around two major public spaces, one covered , the other open to the sky, and composed of two spaces that...
and the re-development of Melbourne Central

Melbourne Central Shopping Centre

Melbourne Central is a large Retailer, office, and public transport hub in the city of Melbourne, Australia. The complex includes the Melbourne Central Shopping Centre, which was refurbished in 2005 by architects Ashton Raggatt McDougall; the Melbourne Central railway station ; and the 211 m high skyscraper with its distinctive black colo...
as well as commercial developments in established heritage laneways.

Melbourne also features many covered arcade

Arcade (architecture)

An arcade is a passage or walkway covered over by a succession of arches or Vault supported by columns. In a Gothic architecture cathedral the arcade is the lowest part of the wall of the nave, supporting the triforium and the clerestory....
s. Some began their life as lanes, others began as new shopping malls.

Although the popularity of arcades in Melbourne waned in the 1950s, they experienced a revival in the late 1980s. Many of Melbourne's more popular arcades did not survive during these decades, however. Queens Walk on the corner of Collins and Swanston Streets is one such example. It was demolished in the 1970s to make way for the Melbourne City Square.

Significant arcades include Royal Arcade

Royal Arcade, Melbourne

Royal Arcade is a heritage shopping Arcade in the Melbourne central business district of Melbourne, Victoria. Originally constructed in 1869, the arcade connects Little Collins Street, Melbourne to the Bourke Street, Melbourne, with a perpendicular passage running to Elizabeth Street, Melbourne in the west....
, one of Melbourne's earliest Victorian arcades, which is heritage registered, Block Arcade

Block Arcade, Melbourne

Block Arcade is a heritage shopping Arcade in Melbourne, Victoria. Melbourne's Golden Mile heritage walk runs through the arcade.It forms a short, narrow laneway, connecting Collins Street, Melbourne to Little Collins Street, Melbourne in the Melbourne central business district of Melbourne....
, a major arcade which coined the Melbourne phrase "doing the Block". Centreway Arcade in the heritage Centreway building connects to several of the lanes in the centre of the city, whilst Campbell Arcade which connects to Degraves Street

Degraves Street, Melbourne

Degraves Street is a street in Melbourne, Victoria. It is named after Charles and William Degraves, pioneer merchants who settled in Melbourne from Hobart, Tasmania in 1849....
is Melbourne's most significant 1950s arcade. Other heritage arcades of note include Howey Place

Howey Place, Melbourne

Howey Place, formerly known as "Cole's Walk" is a shopping Arcade in Melbourne, Victoria. It is a short, narrow covered Lane, running south from Little Collins Street, Melbourne between Swanston Street, Melbourne and Elizabeth Street, Melbourne in the Melbourne central business district of Melbourne....
and, Cathedral Arcade

Cathedral Arcade, Melbourne

Cathedral Arcade is a heritage shopping Arcade in Melbourne, Victoria.It forms a short, narrow laneway, connecting Swanston Street, Melbourne to Flinders Lane, Melbourne in the Melbourne central business district of Melbourne....
. In 2005, Melbourne GPO

General Post Office, Melbourne

The Melbourne General Post Office or GPO, is a landmark building in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Australia on the corner of Elizabeth Street, Melbourne and Bourke Street, Melbourne in the heart of the Melbourne CBD....
's heritage postal hall was converted into shops and became a new addition to the arcades of the city.