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Melbourne city centre
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Melbourne also known as the Melbourne city centre (referred to as The City or The CBD (Central Business District) or more recently in planning parlance, The CAD, or Central Activities District) is a locality surrounded by metropolitan Melbourne which comprises the original settlement, the central business district, parkland and other built-up areas. It is the oldest part of Greater or metropolitan Melbourne and includes many of the city's important institutions and landmarks, such as the Supreme Court, State Library, Museum, National Gallery, Federation Square, Flinders Street Station and the Royal Botanic Gardens.
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Encyclopedia
Melbourne also known as the Melbourne city centre (referred to as The City or The CBD (Central Business District) or more recently in planning parlance, The CAD, or Central Activities District) is a locality surrounded by metropolitan Melbourne which comprises the original settlement, the central business district, parkland and other built-up areas. It is the oldest part of Greater or metropolitan Melbourne and includes many of the city's important institutions and landmarks, such as the Supreme Court, State Library, Museum, National Gallery, Federation Square, Flinders Street Station and the Royal Botanic Gardens. The city centre is located in the local government areas of the City of Melbourne and small parts of it are in City of Port Phillip. At the 2006 Census, Melbourne CBD had a population of 20,361.
Although the city centre is one of the most developed areas of Melbourne, demographically it is one of the less densely populated, due to its core being commercial. Demographically, the residents of Melbourne city centre have almost always been purely of the middle class and is now home to a higher than average number of young urban professionals and businesspeople who are highly educated. The area is increasingly growing in both population and affluence. Almost all of these people live in apartment buildings.
Although the area is described as the centre, it is not actually the demographic centre of Melbourne at all, due to an urban sprawl to the south east, the demographic centre being located at Bourne St, Glen Iris.
It does however represent the financial centre of Melbourne, with the vast majority of corporate headquarters located within the locality, although more recently demand for more office space has seen some of the larger businesses, such as the National Australia Bank, ANZ Bank and AXA Asia Pacific move their headquarters from the CBD to adjacent urban renewal areas of Docklands and Southbank.
History
Melbourne's central grid patterned layout, known as the Hoddle grid, was first laid out in 1837. From the 1870s to 1920s, the central part of Melbourne was home to mostly medical professionals who had established practices along Collins Street and Spring Street and before the 1960s, only a handful of permanent residents lived in the Spring Street area and St Kilda Road. The area was largely unpopular for residents and council policies did not permit development of apartment style housing in the area.
St Kilda Road was annexed in the 1960s and given the postcode of Melbourne 3004 to stimulate office development along the strip and reduce pressure on overdevelopment of the Hoddle Grid. The result was the demolition of many of the street's grand mansions.
Things changed somewhat due to the Kennett government's Postcode 3000 planning policy in the 1990s, which provided incentives for living in the central area.
Although the city centre now includes St Kilda Road, it competes for office space with Southbank, Docklands and the major outer suburban centres such as Box Hill, Glen Waverley and increasingly South Yarra.
Geography
The city centre is bordered by Spencer Street to the west and extends north as far as Grattan Street which borders Carlton. The border extends along La Trobe Street, William Street, Peel Street, Grattan Street, taking in the Queen Victoria Market, Berkeley Street, Victoria Street. To the east it is bordered by Spring Street, however the area extends east to take in parts of Wellington Parade, Brunton Avenue, Punt Road and the Yarra River. It borders South Yarra to the south east at Anderson Street, Domain Road, Domain Street, Arnold Street, Fawkner Park, Commercial Road, High Street. It also borders both St Kilda along St Kilda Road and Albert Park along Queens Road, Lakeside Drive and South Melbourne along Albert Road, Kings Way, Palmerston Crescent, Wells Place and finally Southbank along St Kilda Road and the south side of Flinders Street (Northbank) which includes Flinders Street Station and the Melbourne Aquarium.
Although these are the borders on official maps, there are several places just outside of this area that function as part of the Central Activities District. This includes Melbourne Docklands and Docklands Stadium and the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Jolimont.
Demographics
Melbourne has one of the fastest growing residential populations in Australia. Residents of the city centre are of mixed social status. On one hand, living in the centre of the city offers proximity to work and the best access to public transport. On the other hand, there are many strata titled studio apartments that have no carparks and limited space. As a result there is a mix of students and young urban professionals living in the locality of Melbourne.
Transport
The Melbourne City Centre is the transport hub of the city.
Trams run down the main streets Flinders, Collins, Bourke and Latrobe as well as Spencer Street, Market Street, Elizabeth Street, Swanston Street, Spring Street, Swan Street and St Kilda Road. There are several large accessibility tram superstops located in Flinders Street, Collins Street, Swanston Street and Bourke Street mall.
The city is serviced by five railway stations as part of the Melbourne Underground Rail Loop : Flinders Street (the busiest), Southern Cross (Spencer Street) also an interstate terminal and three underground stations - Parliament, Melbourne Central and Flagstaff (not open on weekends) stations.
There are major taxi termini in the CBD.
Major bicycle trails lead to the CBD and a main bicycle path down Swanston Street.
Ferries dock along the northbank of the Yarra at Federation Wharf and the turning basin at the Aquatic Centre. There is also a water taxi service to Melbourne and Olympic Parks.
Culture and sport
Most professional sporting clubs represent Melbourne the city (e.g. Melbourne Victory, Melbourne Storm). An exception is the Melbourne Cricket Club and Melbourne Football Club (its offshoot) both based at the Melbourne Cricket Ground which was built in Jolimont, adjacent to the city but a locality of the suburb of East Melbourne. Both were the first clubs of their respective sports and established in a time when the city's population was still very small and limited to a handful of inner suburbs. As a result, the Melbourne Cricket Club has a fairly exclusive membership, whilst the Melbourne Football Club, although bearing the name Melbourne, is associated by the supporters of other suburban clubs as representing the central suburb and perceive its supporters to represent the locality and not the entire city. As a result, despite its rich tradition and early success, it is one of the least supported clubs in the VFL/AFL. The lack of identity resulted in a push for the Melbourne Hawks, which was stopped by intervention from Joseph Gutnick and the majority of the Hawthorn Football Club members. It has had intense rivalries with younger clubs from the adjacent inner suburbs such as the Collingwood Football Club and early inter-town rival Geelong Football Club. The Melbourne Football Club has recently made efforts to shed its suburban tag and be embraced by the whole metropolitan area. In line with this, the club recently employed strategies such as establishing Team Melbourne, (a group of sporting teams which bear the name "Melbourne"), and a strategy for promoting the brand as representing the city in China through club supporter Lord Major John So.
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