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== Interwiki ==
== Interwiki ==


* [[Wikipedia:Melbourne]]
Wikipedia: [[Wikipedia:Melbourne|Melbourne]], [[Wikipedia:Melbourne#Environment|Melbourne, Environment]]
* [[Greenlivingpedia:Category:Melbourne]]
 
Greenlivingpedia: [[Greenlivingpedia:Category:Melbourne|Melbourne]] (category)


== External links ==
== External links ==

Revision as of 13:45, 15 October 2014

Melbourne is the capital city of Victoria, Australia. It is widely heralded as a relatively liveable city thanks to its good public transport system (by Australian standands), its relatively clean environment and active cultural life.

The city also has multiple challenges:

  • Government plans to extend freeways rather than public transport.
  • Water pollution, of creeks and Port Phillip Bay. The Yarra River is heavily loaded with sediment as a result of erosion, owing to the agriculture that has developed since European settlement.
  • Urban sprawl, with large areas of the city dependent on cars and spending extended periods in traffic.

Context

Melbourne has a temperate climate with changeable weather and frequent winds. Suitable urban design for these conditions must include windbreaks and sheltered nooks, for example small parks which catch the sun in the colder months but offer protection from wind.

Urban sprawl is very advanced, but public transport is relatively good, by Australian standards, especially within approximately 10 km of the city centre.

Sustainability initiatives

Melbourne, like other large cities, has multiple sustainability initiatives going on. Some of these are:

In 2014, a new deliberative democratic forum, The Future Melbourne Network, was launched to discuss options and solutions to major challenges facing Melbourne, in areas such as housing, transport, and including issues such as climate change.

See also the external links to high-level projects below.

Initiatives by topic

Cycling

Critical Mass bicycle rides in Melbourne

Wikipedia:

Cycling in Melbourne is common for recreation, commuting and sport. The city has an extensive network of off-road bicycle paths, as well as designated bicycle lanes on many streets. There is an active cycling culture enhanced by a relatively flat topography, and a generally mild climate.
In the 21st century, cycling for health, fitness, and as a non-polluting alternative to the automobile has begun to increase in popularity once again, though cycling's transport modal share still accounts for only around 2% of all trips throughout the metropolitan area.
In the Central Business District (population appx 70K) figures put cycling at 8% of all peak-hour (7am-10am) commuter traffic. Planning for improvements to CBD bicycles routes and other major arterial routes is underway.
Bike paths in Melbourne: Bike paths around Melbourne have developed since the campaigns of Bicycle Network and the strong awareness that nine editions of the Bike Paths Guides have created of the network. Since with increased recognition from all levels of government of the benefit of cycling activities, Melbourne today has a comprehensive set of shared bicycle trails along its river and creek systems, next to its freeways and along its train lines.
The length of the trails in Melbourne, as of 2014, totals around 1,900 km. It is possible to cycle from Werribee in the west to Research in the east (approx 62 km) and Craigieburn in the north and Seaford in the south (about 78 km) and points in between and only have to travel on the occasional piece of road. Often passing through relaxed park surrounds, cycling on many of Melbourne's bike paths can feel like a day out in the country despite remaining within metropolitan Melbourne. Melbourne's bike paths are often easily accessed from its train system.
The latest 2014 edition of the Bike Paths and Rail Trail Guide shows the complete metro network in great detail together with path descriptions and more than 18 destination country rail trails. (www.bikepaths.com.au)
Melbourne Bike Share is a bicycle sharing system that serves the central business district. The stations and bicycles are owned by the government and operated in a public-private partnership with Alta Bicycle Share. Launched in 2010, the network utilizes a system designed by Montreal-based Bixi with 600 bicycles operating from 51 stations. Melbourne Bike Share is one of two such systems in Australia.
Melbourne Bike Share has experienced low ridership in comparison to other bicycle sharing networks in operation around the world. As of May 2011, users made about 13,000 trips each month, short of the goal of 25,000 trips per month. Observers have noted that local law requires all cyclists to wear helmets, which suppresses the number of people who can regularly use the system. Melbourne and Brisbane are the only cities in the world with a bicycle sharing network that have a mandatory helmet law. In November 2010, the Victoria state government began offering helmet rentals at selected stations in an attempt to increase both ridership and helmet usage.
To counter continued poor usage, the Victorian Government decided in May 2013 to trial free helmet sharing by attaching the helmets to the handlebars of a portion of the bike share fleet.

Food

Veg Out community gardens, Melbourne

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Open spaces

Wikipedia: Parks and gardens of Melbourne: Melbourne is considered to be Australia's garden city, and Victoria as the Garden State. There is an abundance of parks and gardens close to the CBD (Central Business District) with a variety of common and rare plant species amid landscaped vistas, pedestrian pathways, and tree lined avenues. Many regional towns have well tended botanic gardens, parks and tree lined avenues.

Sustainable transport

See also: Melbourne Sustainable Transport Reform

Wikipedia:

Melbourne, Public transport: Melbourne is served by a public transport system integrating rail, tram and bus services. Its extensive tram network is the largest in the world, integrated into both bus and train networks. Almost 300 bus routes and a train system comprising 16 lines service Melbourne, Greater Melbourne and suburban regions. Metropolitan, rural and interstate railway networks link together at Southern Cross Station, in Melbourne's CBD (Central Business District).
Trams in Melbourne: The tramway network is a major form of public transport in Melbourne. As of May 2014, the network consisted of 250 kilometres of track, 493 trams, 25 routes, and 1,763 tram stops. It is the largest urban tramway network in the world, ahead of the networks in St. Petersburg (240 km), Berlin (190 km), Moscow (181 km) and Vienna (172 km). Trams are the second most used form of public transport in overall boardings in Melbourne after the commuter railway network, with a total of 182.7 million passenger trips in 2012/13.

Resources

Calendar

2015

February 7 - 28 The Melbourne Sustainable Living Festival/Foundation, held annually every February.

Citizens data initiative

City of Melbourne Open Data portal

See also

Interwiki

Wikipedia: Melbourne, Melbourne, Environment

Greenlivingpedia: Melbourne (category)

External links

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