Grey to Green – CBD Walking Tour – March 2025
On a chilly Sunday morning in mid-May, an excited group assembled at Art Play (Birrarung Maar) on Princes Walk below Federation Square. This was to be the second of Geography Victoria’s fieldtrips for the year, following the success of the Greenline Tour in March.
It was clear from the outset that it would be super well organised as we were handed nifty little hearing pieces to ensure nobody missed any of the insights our leader Rob Adams AM was going to provide. Rob is well known to many geographers as the recently retired City of Melbourne architect and Director of its City Design and Projects division following a career that spanned more than 40 years. Rob pretty much knows everything there is to know about the evolution of our city from the mid-1980s until now and is happy to share his vast knowledge.
Under his guidance, the City of Melbourne has strategically transformed more than 80 hectares of grey space - under used roads, carparks and maintenance depots into green public spaces that prioritise people, plants and wildlife. We were privileged to explore many of the city’s well known transformations along with some hidden gems and to learn how the greening has enhanced biodiversity and climate change mitigation, ensuring the city is more resilient and is meeting the changing needs of its inhabitants.
We started with a quick detour up to the Test Garden adjacent to the Federation Square carpark which demonstrates the naturalistic planting style of Laak Boornda which will be at the centre of the new Melbourne Arts Precinct across the river creating more space for nature in the city.
From there we headed down St Kilda Road past the Arts Centre to Southbank Boulevard. While I was familiar with the top end of this transformation outside the Sumner Theatre and the Recital Centre, I had no idea that there was a very cool children’s playground hidden away just down the road. For those with small people in their lives who want to try something different, and who love climbing, venture down to Rocks on Wheels. No need to worry about what looks like hard bluestone pavers either. They’re actually spongy synthetic material that beautifully matches the real pavers thus maintaining the consistent look for the whole precinct. Fabulous!
Next we crossed the Yarra near Enterprize Park, had a tram ride down Collins St to the Town Hall, and eventually made our way to the Queen Victoria Market. The Market Precinct Renewal project includes purpose built loading docks, climate-controlled trader storage and centralised waste and recycling facilities.
All along the way, we were asking questions and learning about the Council’s strategic vision for the city and the issues that had shaped their thinking. These included the importance of tree canopy cover, surface permeability and the biodiversity of public green spaces to enhance the liveability of our city.
A highlight was our visit to the new narrm ngarrgu library (another who knew!) in the Munro development adjacent to the market. While the focus of this stop was on the open space that will be created, it was also an opportunity to demonstrate how local government can achieve great outcomes by engaging and partnering with Traditional owners, residents, business owners, visitors, and stakeholders.
We finished the day with a delicious lunch at the Multicultural Hub in Elizabeth Street while watching a slide presentation that brought together all that we had learned. The extremely positive evaluation comments received by the Events team reflected how much everyone had enjoyed the experience and valued what they had learned from Rob.
Jo McCoy – Geography Victoria Board member
