Week Three: London - An Exemplar City for Brisbane

Research on the Existing Congestion Charge in London: By researching the implications of the congestion charge for London, I hope to obtain a greater understanding of what scenarios may emerge from the implications of the same tax in Brisbane.

Impacts of the London Congestion Charge:

• Significant reduction in traffic in the area covered by the charge
• Some shops and businesses reported to be heavily affected by the charge, both in terms of lost sales due to reduced traffic and increased delivery costs
• Stores just outside of the Congestion Charge Zone rose by 1.7%
• To partly compensate for the loss of revenue, shops extended opening hours and introduced regular Sunday opening
• Reduction in some employment in the charging zone
• Increase in the amount of cyclists

2001: Before the tax was introduced in 2003

Red: Cars and Taxis, Blue: Bicycles

2008: 5 years after the tax was introduced

Red: Cars and Taxis, Blue: Bicycles

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org

After 6 months it was found that the average number of cars and delivery vehicles entering the central zone was 60,000 fewer than the previous year:

• 50–60% was attributed to transfers to public transport
• 20–30% to journeys avoiding the zone
• 15–25% switching to car share
• the remainder was due to reduced number of journeys, more travelling outside the hours of operation, and increased use of motorbikes and bicycles
• Journey times were found to have been reduced by 14% - less congestion 
• 4,000 fewer people visiting the zone daily

Research of the London City Urban Form: 

I have heard that the London City urban form is very successful, with various sub-centres surrounding the main city centre. I have also researched polycentric and satellite cities. Below are my findings....

• London is a polycentric city (multiple centres, as opposed to monocentric)
• It has many large green parks, open and recreational spade and with many local hubs that form the focus of diverse residential communities, and intense street culture of markets, safes and commercial activities
• The decentralisation brings commercial activities closer to residential areas and reduces urban sprawl
• London has multiple activity centres, including: 2 international centres, 11 metropolitan centres; 35 major centres; and 156 district centres. There are also over 1,200 smaller neighbourhood and local centres 
• London's multiple centres and widespread sprawl lessens impact on the main centre
• Polycentric development grows zones of global economic integration and achieves territorial cohesion
• Polycentric patterns add value and act as centres contributing to the development of the wider regions
• Polycentricity creates meaningful functional linkages between centres and places

Satellite Cities:

• Prevent the city suburban expansion
• Satellite cities are at least partially independent from the CBD economically and socially
• Satellite cities have their own independent urbanised area
• They have their own communities 
• Have a similar structure traditional centres: they have a CBD surrounded by traditional "inner city" neighborhoods - on a smaller scale

Source: http://cliffhague.planningresource.co.uk, http://en.wikipedia.org, http://www.casa.ucl.ac.uk, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_town

Polycentric City (London)

Monocentric City (Brisbane)

I believe Brisbane could definitely benefit from the development of multiple centres surrounding the CBD. This, combined with the congestion charge, would limit congestion within the CBD, as seen when it was implemented in London. Furthermore, the impacts of a decentralised, polycentric urban form would provide outer suburbs with greater access to resources and services, thus alleviating the need to travel great distances to access them (less pollution - environmentally sustainable) and create less pressure on the single centre. Self-contained sub-centres would be much more sustainable economically and socially, creating their own identity and functioning independently of the main CBD. However, in the London example, it was seen that some shops and businesses suffered in terms of decreased sales, where stores in the outer suburbs benefited from the charge. I believe something similar would happen in Brisbane, where the congestion charge would increase business in the areas surrounding and encourage growth in these areas. Also, the idea of extended opening hours is a viable idea for the Brisbane CBD to compensate for this loss of business. Also, as people may not wish to travel into the charged zone, employment may also see a fall. Similarly to  London, Alternative forms of transport may be introduced, to make transport cheaper, and reliance on "free" transport such as cycling will also increase.