Southbank, Victoria
Encyclopedia
Southbank is an inner city
Inner city
The inner city is the central area of a major city or metropolis. In the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland, the term is often applied to the lower-income residential districts in the city centre and nearby areas...

 suburb of Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 located direct south of the Yarra River
Yarra River
The Yarra River, originally Birrarung, is a river in east-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stretches of the river is where the city of Melbourne was established in 1835 and today Greater Melbourne dominates and influences the landscape of its lower reaches...

 opposite Melbourne's Hoddle Grid
Hoddle Grid
The Hoddle Grid is the layout of the streets in the centre of the central business district of Melbourne. Named after its designer, Robert Hoddle, the Grid was laid out in 1837, and later extended...

. The northernmost area is considered part of the Central Business District
Central business district
A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...

 and Central Activities District of the city. Its Local Government Area are the Cities of Melbourne
City of Melbourne
The City of Melbourne is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia, located in the central city area of Melbourne. The city has an area of 36 square kilometres and has an estimated population of 93,105 people. The city's motto is "Vires acquirit eundo" which means "She gathers strength as she...

 and Port Phillip
City of Port Phillip
The City of Port Phillip is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia. It is located on the northern shores of Port Phillip, south of Melbourne's central business district. It has an area of 20.62 km² and has an estimated population of 96,110 people....

. At the 2006 Census, Southbank had a population of 9,364.

Bordered to the north by the Yarra River
Yarra River
The Yarra River, originally Birrarung, is a river in east-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stretches of the river is where the city of Melbourne was established in 1835 and today Greater Melbourne dominates and influences the landscape of its lower reaches...

, and to the east by St Kilda Road, Southbank's southern and western borders are bounded by Dorcas Street, Kings Way, West Gate Freeway
West Gate Freeway
West Gate Freeway is a freeway in Melbourne, Australia, linking Geelong to Melbourne CBD and beyond. It is also a link between Melbourne and the west and linking industrial and residential areas west of the Yarra River with the city and port areas. The iconic West Gate Bridge is a part of the...

 and Montague Street.

Southbank was formerly an industrial area and part of South Melbourne
South Melbourne, Victoria
South Melbourne is an inner city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km south from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area are the Cities of Port Phillip and Melbourne...

. It was transformed into a densely populated district of high rise apartment and office buildings beginning in the early 1990s as part of an urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...

 program. With the exceptions of the cultural precinct along St Kilda Road, few buildings built before this time were spared by redevelopment.

Today Southbank is dominated by high-rise development. It is one of the primary business centres in Greater Melbourne, being the headquarters of Foster's
Foster's Group
Foster's Group is a beer group with interests in brewing and soft drinks. Foster's Group is the brewer of the Foster's Lager. Foster's Group Limited is a publicly-listed company on the Australian Securities Exchange and is based in Melbourne, Victoria...

, Treasury Wine Estates
Treasury Wine Estates
Treasury Wine Estates is an Australian-based global winemaking and distribution business. Headquartered in Southbank, Melbourne, Victoria, and until a demerger in May 2011 was the wine division of international brewing company Foster's Group.-History:...

, Crown Limited
Crown Limited
Crown Limited is one of Australia's largest gaming and entertainment groups. At June 2010, Crown Limited had a market capitalisation of just over A$6 billion and accounted for 27.53% of the S&P/ASX 200 Hotels Restaurants & Leisure Industry Group....

, Alumina
Alumina Limited
Alumina Limited is a public company listed on the Australian and New York Stock Exchanges. It was formed in 2003 in a demerger from Western Mining Corporation, and is one of the largest companies on the ASX....

, Incitec Pivot, the Herald Sun
Herald Sun
The Herald Sun is a morning tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia. It is published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Limited, itself a subsidiary of News Corporation. It is available for purchase throughout Melbourne, Regional Victoria, Tasmania, the Australian Capital...

as well as regional offices of many major corporations in a cluster of towers with over 340,000 square metres of office
Office
An office is generally a room or other area in which people work, but may also denote a position within an organization with specific duties attached to it ; the latter is in fact an earlier usage, office as place originally referring to the location of one's duty. When used as an adjective, the...

 space in 2008. It is also one of the most densely populated areas of Melbourne with a large cluster of apartment towers including Australia's tallest tower measured to its highest floor, the Eureka Tower
Eureka Tower
Eureka Tower is a skyscraper located in the Southbank precinct of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Construction began in August 2002 and the exterior completed on 1 June 2006. The plaza was finished in June 2006 and the building was officially opened on 11 October 2006...

.

Southbank Promenade and Southgate Arts and Leisure Precinct on the southern bank of the Yarra River
Yarra River
The Yarra River, originally Birrarung, is a river in east-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stretches of the river is where the city of Melbourne was established in 1835 and today Greater Melbourne dominates and influences the landscape of its lower reaches...

 extending to Crown Casino
Crown Casino
Crown Casino and Entertainment Complex is a large casino and entertainment precinct located on the south bank of the Yarra River, in Melbourne, Australia. Crown Casino is a unit of Crown Limited....

 is one of Melbourne's major entertainment precincts. Southgate's landmark Ophelia sculpture by Deborah Halpern
Deborah Halpern
Deborah Halpern is an artist working in Victoria Australia, notable for her prominent and popular works of public art. Halpern is a sculptor, mosaic artist and ceramic artist...

 has been used to represent Melbourne in tourism campaigns.

History

Before European settlement, the area now called South Melbourne was a series of low lying swamps inhabited by Aboriginal tribes.

From European settlement the area which is now Southbank consisted of some old factories, warehouses and wharves mostly built between the 1860s-1920s when the area was part of the first port of Melbourne. It had a few old bridges, the first being the first Princes Bridge
Princes Bridge, Melbourne
Princes Bridge, originally Prince's Bridge, is an important bridge in central Melbourne, Australia that spans the Yarra River. It is built on the site of one of the oldest river crossings in Australia. The bridge connects Swanston Street on the north bank of the Yarra River to St Kilda Road on the...

 and later the Sandridge Bridge which was formerly part of the Port Melbourne railway line
Port Melbourne railway line, Melbourne
The Port Melbourne railway line is a former suburban railway in Melbourne, Australia. The line was the first significant railway in Australia and was opened by the Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company to carry passengers arriving in Victoria at Station Pier, and to alleviate the high cost of...

 from 1888 to 1987, and the Arts centre precinct which opened in the 1980s on a former parkland which was once used as an amusement park and featured the Southgate Fountain.

The suburb was the subject of urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...

 in the early 1990s aimed at stimulating development in a period when Melbourne was experiencing an economic downturn.

Denton Corker Marshall
Denton Corker Marshall
Denton Corker Marshall is a major award-winning Australian architecture practice established in Melbourne in 1972. It was founded by architects John Denton, Bill Corker, and Barrie Marshall...

 designed and oversaw the original Southbank Promenade in 1990 which paved the way for development of apartments.

Southgate, Sheraton towers and new tall office buildings for The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd
The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd
The Herald and Weekly Times Limited is a newspaper publishing company based in Melbourne, Australia. It is owned and operated by Rupert Murdoch's News Limited, who purchased HWT in 1987.-Newspapers:...

 and IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...

 were built along with an award winning pedestrian footbridge at about the same time in late 1992, and combined with a new Sunday arts and crafts market, attracted local and tourist visitors to the area. At the eastern end of the area is the Victorian Arts Centre. Since then, the pylon underneath the award winning Southbank Pedestrian Bridge has been utilised and is now home to Ponyfish Island.

Further buildings including the Esso
Esso
Esso is an international trade name for ExxonMobil and its related companies. Pronounced , it is derived from the initials of the pre-1911 Standard Oil, and as such became the focus of much litigation and regulatory restriction in the United States. In 1972, it was largely replaced in the U.S. by...

 headquarters were built between 1992 and 1995. Development expanded along the Yarra westward with the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre ("Jeff's Shed") in 1996 and Crown Casino
Crown Casino
Crown Casino and Entertainment Complex is a large casino and entertainment precinct located on the south bank of the Yarra River, in Melbourne, Australia. Crown Casino is a unit of Crown Limited....

 in 1997, stimulating the first residential towers. In 2001, the boutique "Melburnian" apartments, designed by Bates Smart
Bates Smart
Bates Smart is Australia's second oldest architectural firm, established in 1853 by Joseph Reed as the practice Reed and Barnes. JPE Design Studio in Adelaide founded in 1851 by Daniel Garlick is the oldest continuing architectural practice in Australia....

 were one of the first to be aimed at the owner occupier market and included the most expensive penthouse sold in Melbourne at the time. Clarendon Towers also attracted the owner occupiers. Beginning with Southbank Towers in 2001 and the Centurion in 2002, Central Equity began a swathe of apartment towers and at the same time the neighbouring Yarra's Edge precinct of the new Melbourne Docklands began to kick off.

The arts precinct was extended with the construction of the award winning buildings for the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art
Australian Centre for Contemporary Art
The Australian Centre For Contemporary Art is a contemporary art gallery in Melbourne, Australia. The gallery is located on Sturt Street in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, in the inner suburb of Southbank....

 in 2002 and the Victorian College of the Arts
Victorian College of the Arts
The Faculty of the VCA and Music is a faculty of the University of Melbourne, in Victoria . VCAM is located near the Melbourne central business district, on two campuses, one - the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music - on the Parkville campus of the University of Melbourne, and the other - the...

 school of drama. At around the same time a new headquarters for the State Emergency Service
State Emergency Service
A State Emergency Service is an Australian volunteer organisation that provides emergency help during and after declared disasters. The SES is also the primary or secondary agency for emergencies, such as storm damage,flood damage, building damage, traffic hazards and road crash rescue...

 was built.

Central Equity continued construction of several blocks of apartment buildings on much of the Southbank land which it had acquired including Riverside Place, The Summit, Melbourne Tower and City Tower. Most of them are aimed at the rental market and managed by Melbourne Inner City Management (MICM) a division of Central Equity.

With a boom in apartment building and the success of the Melburnian, the areas closer to the river began to attract developers. The 91 floor Eureka Tower
Eureka Tower
Eureka Tower is a skyscraper located in the Southbank precinct of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Construction began in August 2002 and the exterior completed on 1 June 2006. The plaza was finished in June 2006 and the building was officially opened on 11 October 2006...

 was begun in 2002, aimed at being the tallest residential tower in the world and was completed in 2006.

As part of the initial construction of Southgate, St Johns Lutheran Church relocated from the land that is now the site of the Herald Sun building a few metres up City Rd to 20 City Rd, and serves the Southbank community as a church and spiritual centre. The Church can be accessed either from City Rd or from the Southgate Shopping complex.

The Queensbridge Precinct began development in 2005 with Freshwater Place
Freshwater Place
Freshwater Place is a high-rise complex in the Southbank district of Melbourne, Australia. The complex consists of a 62 floor residential skyscraper and PricewaterhouseCoopers Tower, a 36 storey office building. The building stands at 205m....

. A plaza linked to the north bank and Flinders Street Station
Flinders Street Station
Flinders Street Station is the central railway station of the suburban railway network of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is on the corner of Flinders and Swanston Streets next to the Yarra River in the heart of the city, stretching from Swanston Street to Queen Street and covering two city...

 via a pedestrian and cycle path developed from the Sandridge Bridge. The formerly disused bridge was opened to the public on 12 March 2006, just in time for the 2006 Commonwealth Games
2006 Commonwealth Games
The 2006 Commonwealth Games were held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia between 15 March and 26 March 2006. It was the largest sporting event to be staged in Melbourne, eclipsing the 1956 Summer Olympics in terms of the number of teams competing, athletes competing, and events being held.The site...

. The Northbank promenade was completed later in 2006 to link the sections.

An increasing number of corporations began opening their offices in Southbank. PricewaterhouseCoopers
PricewaterhouseCoopers
PricewaterhouseCoopers is a global professional services firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest professional services firm measured by revenues and one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms....

 relocated their office from Spring Street
Spring Street, Melbourne
Spring Street is a major street in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It runs roughly north-south, and is the easternmost street in the Hoddle Grid. The street travels from Flinders Street in the south, to La Trobe Street and the Carlton Gardens in the north...

 to Freshwater Place
Freshwater Place
Freshwater Place is a high-rise complex in the Southbank district of Melbourne, Australia. The complex consists of a 62 floor residential skyscraper and PricewaterhouseCoopers Tower, a 36 storey office building. The building stands at 205m....

 in 2005. Other names on the list include Fujitsu
Fujitsu
is a Japanese multinational information technology equipment and services company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is the world's third-largest IT services provider measured by revenues....

, and Foster's Group
Foster's Group
Foster's Group is a beer group with interests in brewing and soft drinks. Foster's Group is the brewer of the Foster's Lager. Foster's Group Limited is a publicly-listed company on the Australian Securities Exchange and is based in Melbourne, Victoria...

.

In May 2008 the Victorian Government created the new suburb place and name ‘South Wharf’, in the western end of Southbank (now encompassing the MCEC Convention Centre and Polly Woodside National Trust museum). South Wharf is home to several large apartment buildings, along with a hotel and a large shopping centre precinct. Southbank and South Wharf share the same postcode (3006).

Heritage

Despite being dominated by modern apartments and office towers Southbank has a number of significant heritage buildings existing Arts precinct on the eastern end and along St Kilda Road which includes Victorian Arts Centre and National Gallery of Victoria
National Gallery of Victoria
The National Gallery of Victoria is an art gallery and museum in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is the oldest and the largest public art gallery in Australia. Since December 2003, NGV has operated across two sites...

 (1960s), parts of the Victorian College of the Arts
Victorian College of the Arts
The Faculty of the VCA and Music is a faculty of the University of Melbourne, in Victoria . VCAM is located near the Melbourne central business district, on two campuses, one - the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music - on the Parkville campus of the University of Melbourne, and the other - the...

 campus as well as the Victoria Barracks
Victoria Barracks, Melbourne
Located on St Kilda Road in Melbourne, Australia, Victoria Barracks Melbourne is of architectural and historical significance as one of the most impressive 19th century government buildings in Victoria, Australia.-Pre-World War II:...

 and Malthouse Theatre. Rare pockets of heritage on the western side includes the James Bond Store (25-43 Southbank Boulevarde) built in 1888.

Media

Southank features some radio & television studios owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...

, The studios are serviced by shows like 774 ABC Melbourne
774 ABC Melbourne
774 ABC Melbourne is an ABC Local Radio station in Melbourne, Australia. Originally known by its callsign 3LO, it began transmission on 13 October 1924 – Melbourne's second radio station after 3AR.-History:...

, 621 ABC Radio National
Radio National
ABC Radio National is an Australia-wide non-commercial radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.Radio National broadcasts national programming in areas that include news and current affairs, the arts, social issues, science, drama and comedy...

, ABC Classic FM 105.9
ABC Classic FM
ABC Classic FM is a classical music radio station available in Australia, and internationally online. It is operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation . It was established in 1976 as "ABC-FM", and later for a short time was known as "ABC Fine Music" , before adopting its current name...

, Triple J 107.5
Triple J
triple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...

, & television programs such as Stateline VIC, ABC News Victoria
ABC News (Australia)
ABC News is a national news service produced by the News and Current Affairs division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation - the division is responsible for all newsgathering and production of news output for ABC television, radio and online services...

, also with other programs such as Spicks & Specks, East of Everything
East of Everything
East of Everything is an Australian drama television series which began screening on 30 March 2008 on the ABC. It is produced by Deborah Cox , Fiona Eagger and Roger Monk...

, as well as entertainment, arts, documentaries & more. as well as international broadcasts Radio Australia
Radio Australia
Radio Australia is the international broadcasting and online service operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation , Australia's public broadcaster.- History :...

 & Australia Network
Australia Network
Australia Network, originally Australia Television International and later ABC Asia Pacific, is a free-to-air international satellite television service operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation since 2006. The television and online service broadcasts 24 hours a day on 7 days a week, to...

.

Promenade and footbridge

The Southbank promenade, designed by architects Denton Corker Marshall
Denton Corker Marshall
Denton Corker Marshall is a major award-winning Australian architecture practice established in Melbourne in 1972. It was founded by architects John Denton, Bill Corker, and Barrie Marshall...

, runs from Princes Bridge along to Queens Bridge street and Queens Bridge which also incorporates Queensbridge Square and continuing to the west of the Bridge is "Yarra Promenade", which runs underneath Kings Way and Kings Bridge to Clarendon Street, Spencer Street Bridge including Crown Entertainment Complex and promenade restaurants.

The Southbank art and craft market occurs on the promenade near the Arts Centre every Sunday. The promenade is also home to several buskers and a pavement chalk artists.

Transport

Southbank has a network of major roads running through it and is often heavily congested with traffic
Traffic
Traffic on roads may consist of pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars and other conveyances, either singly or together, while using the public way for purposes of travel...

 and limited mainly to offstreet multi-storey parking. The Westgate Freeway runs along the south border with has numerous interchanges to Southbank's roads. The main north-south arterials leading into the Melbourne City Centre are Kingsway, Clarendon Street, Queensbridge/Moray Street. Secondary internal main roads include Southbank Boulevard, Sturt Street and Power Street. The main east-west arterials are City Road (east-west) and Normanby Road (which curves south into Whiteman Street). Many smaller roads allow one-way traffic
One-way traffic
One-way traffic is traffic that moves in a single direction. A one-way street is a street either facilitating only one-way traffic, or designed to direct vehicles to move in one direction.-General signs:...

 only, to limit congestion.

Almost all southbound tramlines run along the St Kilda Road boundary, however the following tram lines run through Southbank.
  • Route 1
    Melbourne tram route 1
    Tram route 1 is a public transport service in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It runs from the terminus at Nicholson Street and Bell Street in East Coburg to the corner of Victoria Avenue and Beaconsfield Parade in Albert Park....

     : Along Sturt Street
  • Route 55
    Melbourne tram route 55
    Tram route 55 is a public transport service in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It runs from the corner of Bell Street and Melville Road in West Coburg to the Domain Road Interchange - Domain Road and St Kilda Road east of the city....

     : Along Queensbridge Street and Kings Way
  • Route 112
    Melbourne tram route 112
    Tram route 112 is a public transport service in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It runs from West Preston, in the northern suburbs to St Kilda.Like most tram routes in Melbourne, it falls within Metcard/myki ticketing Zone 1....

     : Along Clarendon Street
  • Route 109
    Melbourne tram route 109
    Tram route 109 or simply The 109 is a public transport service in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It runs between a terminus in Box Hill and a terminus near Station Pier in Port Melbourne...

     : Along Clarendon Street and Normanby Road
  • Route 96
    Melbourne tram route 96
    Melbourne tram route 96 is a public transport tram and light rail route in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.It is one of Melbourne's busiest tram route carrying 39,700 passengers a day with a frequency of every 10 minutes or less during peak...

     : Along Clarendon Street and Whiteman Street


Although Southbank promenade forms part of the Capital City Bicycle Trail
Capital City Trail
The Capital City Trail is a shared use path for cyclists and pedestrians, which circles the Melbourne city centre and some inner eastern and northern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....

, the large number of pedestrians in the area means bicycle riding at high speed is hazardous; advisory signs have been posted to encourage cyclists to not exceed 10 km/h.

See also

  • City of South Melbourne
    City of South Melbourne
    The City of South Melbourne was a Local Government Area located about south of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia, on the south bank of the Yarra River...

    - the former local government area of which Southbank was a part.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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