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Building Cities from the ground up in Australia---Canberra and it's largest new satellite city to date--Tuggeranong Australia

Canberra's Y Plan   ▲                                                                                                                     

Above is the one of the recognized international icons of innovation in planned  regional development . Canberra's Y shaped scheme allows for expansion
of up to three million people by channeling planned growth along valley floors and creating green belts of hill zones and river corridors. This cluster of urban growth
is connected by an extensive freeway system and a planned maglev rapid transit network..

My experience with this dynamic experiment in designed urban growth was over a ten year period as principal landscape architect for the National Capital
Development Corporation (NCDC) . I had responsibility for the integration of landscape development with all five of the new satellite cities that were under
construction at that time. This included concept and development plans for open space systems, parklands, road corridors, schools, small
and large centers and institutional zones.

Tuggeranong Strategy Plan---19 uniquely different communities designed to function within a common creative frame of regional services

Although I expended a lot of effort with all  five emerging cities at that time, I have chosen to present how Tuggeranong came into being from its early
concept period to the beginning of construction in the late 1970's. As of 2007 this project is about 80% complete and may build out to it's it's upper target
range of 375--425,00 by as early as 2025.

The Tuggeranong valley is 25 km (15miles) from central Canberra and is about 25 km(15miles) in length and averages 15km(10miles) in width.
I was most fortunate to know the site in its original awesome beauty and I still marvel today at the massive transformation that has (and is) occurring
and that I played a role in the outcome. To say something like that humbles one beyond description to see such massive alteration of this scale in only one
lifetime is truly a pivotal point in any career as it has been in mine.

Tuggeranong was and is all about scale and quality of lifestyle and from the beginning we placed maximum emphasis on techniques for creating a sense
of place for it's future inhabitants. This core concept led to the creation of 19 communities of limited size with each having it's own uniqueness in both subtle
and pronounced ways. The intimate little corner stores, each different in its own way, period architecture for various communities, maybe a small
Victorian square in one and a Mediterranean motif in another. Theme oriented landscape design was used that injected individual character into community
entryways, period sculpture and landscape furniture varied throughout the project re seating, paving detail, plant material types, mood lighting, fountains, water
features, etc.

 interactive maps canberra region                 
SVG map viewer installer ---to utilize all features of the act map service install svg map viewer and ensure that your active X feature is engaged
on your browser
street map tuggeranong

Tuggeranong's upper population ranges from 375,000-425,000 by 2025 as indicated in the communities map below
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The valley was cleared of most of the original forest timber during the 18th and 19th century European settlement and gradually developed as sheep
and cattle grazing country. Below is a montage of Tuggeranong but for the shot in the center looking down Anzac parade across lake Burley Griffith in
the national area towards the old parliament building. Bottom right are pics of the historic Lanyon homestead, which was one of the premiere grazing
properties of its day and now a popular museum.. Bottom left is the McCurdy homestead, which was left as a craft center in Kambah.
▼▼

 

Canberra National Area Overview
A pen and ink sketch from my book based on a photo I took from a small plane window around 1971. Lake Burley Griffith can be seen in the foreground
with the old Parliament House on the axis of the Commonwealth and Kings bridges .The national area houses most federal centers and the National Library.
The original suburbs built in the 20's and 30's can be seen nestled around the lake .To your extreme left is the northern edge of the Tuggeranong Valley
and to your right is the beginning of the  suburbs of Belconnen and Gungahlin. The darker areas are generally forested hill zones that create the "y" shaped
configuration reflected in the internationally known
plan by that name.
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A very similar aerial view of Canberra's national area taken around mid 2007. The focal point of old Canberra is lake Burley Griffith, named after the
Chicago architect who designed the original city in the 1920's. The circular round about to your left (Capital Circle) contains the new Australian Parliament
complex. The two radiating arms from Capital Circle are Kings Av and Commonwealth Ave. Anzac Parade can be seen to your far right  between the two
bridges. The Tuggeranong valley is some 25 km(15miles) south (to your left) of the national area seen below.
▼▼

An excellent rendering of the old and new parliament buildings viewed from the steps of the War Memorial looking down Anzac Parade over Lake
Burley Griffith. Battilio Giurgola Architect. The siteing of the new parliament was nothing short of brilliance in that the beginning and the new progression
to nation status can be viewed from one very historic spot. Very powerful symbolism. A great piece of urban design to say the least.

▼▼

Tuggeranong Conceptual Overview

A 1971 sketch I did early in the creative stage for Tuggeranong. The 2007 aerial below my visualization was taken from a very similar angle and looks
much like this today.  Background hills are the Brindabellas, with Lake Tuggeranong in the foreground. The large complex in the foreground (item 3) is
the Kambah regional center with cinemaplex, community college, business parks and super mall.  Across the Lake (item 7) is the town center with
Tuggeranong University, federal office centers, hotels, financial centers, etc.
▼▼

From concept to construction--same view as above, but 29 years later and  now it's a reality--In the distance is lake Tuggeranong and the Town Center--
to your left is the Wanniassa community(26,000). In the foreground is the Kambah regional center and one of the high schools. To your left is part of the
Kambah community (28,000) --date of photo: July 2007--date of my original sketch : April 1971
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29 years later, a masterpiece of urban planning, with still more to come

The Kambah community was the first application of the orientation concept of massing recreational open space, centers and schools around a central
entry corridor. It proved a highly effective way of visually and functionally structuring the community. A strong sense of identity and orientation emerges
immediately upon entering thecity and culminates in sweeping views of the town centre over the lake and a breathtaking panorama of the snow capped
Brindabellas in the background.  Truly oneof the finest examples of urban landscape planning in the world today. Below are two revealing images.
The top view is the master plan for Tuggeranong compiled in the late 70's and below it is a similar 2007aerial of the project illustrating how close the two are.
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Before--an aerial of Tuggeranong valley in 1970 about 5 years before initial construction began in the northern portion of the valley for the Kambah
community . After--aerial taken around mid 2007 showing about 80% buildout of the project. west tuggeranong with a planned population of around 100,000
will be developed over then next 10 years. the town center and university are about 75 % complete
at 2007
▼▼

Bold experiments in community living--the orientation concept comes of age

The evolution of Canberra's Y plan involves constant adaptation of new concepts re ongoing development of the region. One of the most dynamic shifts
in neighborhood design came about by consolidating older style 5000 pop units into much larger communities of around 25,000 with their cores shifted
to a central spine of parks and open space. This bold diversion from the traditional gained two important advantages. One was a marked improvement in
efficiency of the shops, services and schools of the new consolidated scheme. The second major improvement was aesthetic and psychological. One could
now gain a much greater sense of their community's structure and how an individual could relate to it not to mention the striking aesthetic impact of a  large
continuous "park like" character at the center of the new enclave. Kambah was the first community built this way in Canberra and was a popular place to live
from the very beginning.
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A powerful functional and visual concept is introduced to the lexicon of landscape architecture--known as the "orientation concept" --it gives one a
compelling sense of place in a community. One Kambah resident I know told me: " I know I'm home when I arrive in this enchanting park like setting with
everything I need to live a good life--shelter--shops--schools--recreation--services--it's all there and very easy to get to, a brilliant idea to say the least"

At the top of the 2007 view below is lake Tuggeranong and the Kambah Regional Center . In the central portion of the view are the playing fields and
indoor recreation center and at the bottom of the aerial are two of Kambah's four primary/pre schools, neighborhood shops, a fire station and a local health
center. Movement throughout Kambah's central commons are via the 139km(86mi) Tuggeranong multi trail system utilizing over 90 pedestrian under and over
passes that avoid pedestrian crossings of all major roads when exploring the city. Note the 4 pedestrian under passes alone along the main north
south Drakeford Blvd. The multipurpose trail system is used for school, shop and work access via bikes and electric carts. It's recreational uses include jogging, hiking
and equestrian use. The Tuggeranong regional multitrail system integrates with  the national trail system in the adjacent hill reserves and connects to the Snowy Mountains
national park system, the Pacific Ocean Trail, The Tasmanian Trail and many more options.

▼▼a symphony of spatial experiences upon entering this special city--through a parkland leading to a large lake with snow capped mountains
as a backdrop!!----PU in the key below stands for pedestrian underpass---BSU means Basic Sports Unit---PS &HS mean primary and high schools

Surely pursuing storm water runoff design can put you to sleep, right? Wrong. Tuggeranong is an internationally recognized model of
how drainage liabilities can be turned into a major urban asset.

Another innovation in Tuggeranong that had a major aesthetic and functional impact was the bold approach to storm water runoff for this massive
project. The valley before development had been negatively impacted by severe erosion due to over grazing of sheep stations in the area.
As a result large gullies had evolved along the original drainage formations, posing a serious long term threat to the future city. Extensive collaboration
between landscape architects and hydraulic engineers produced a solution that proved highly successful. Some 128 km (80miles) of redesigned storm
water channels not only solved the runoff challenge but created a major addition to the new city's emerging parkland character. Thousands of hectares of
useable open space were added. The basic concept was to pipe the 10 year "quick flow" underground and then create a combination of lined channels
and grassed swails to absorb the longer duration runoff storms up to 100yr cycle. Much effort went into shaping the channels to fit the terrain and give
them a natural character by curved radius' and imaginative earth sculpture shaping of the design. One significant economy achieved by this collaboration
was to create a larger number of cut to fill balances in the earthworks contracts. Some 14 million trees were planted to stabilize
this massive new and important element in this totally planned city.
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Below is an enlarged detail of  one of the many kinds of reconstructed drainage swails and channels I designed and help build for the tuggeranong project. This x section shows how I recreated
a natural stream character for large portions of the massive new ecologically designed native drainage system. The hydraulic engineers and I spent much time and effort avoiding a sterile machine
like look that is so common in many of these type of storm water runoff solutions. The concept was simplicity itself. Pipe the quick flow or the 10 year duration underground in concrete pipes and reshape
the above ground flow to a 100 year duration into the natural creek beds that were there originally. Much of the original material was used e.g. the basalt bolders were saved and re used--small granite
rocks were reused for stream bottoms, hundreds of thousands of native trees, shrubs and grasses were re established.
▼▼
my original cad version of this detail in pdf format  before I processed it thru photoshop for color enhancement

Some very creative thinking was required to resolve a very serious problem in the valley due to both overgrazing and massive tree clearing that left the basaltic soils highly exposed to erosion from the
periodic "gully busters" that are common in the region. Shown below left are part of the headwaters of a badly eroded gully in the future Wanniassa community and several views of some of the reconstructed
ecologically designed drainage network that in many cases appears to have been the original creeks and streams before European settlement . The left center pic is a new stream in the Conder area, the
remaining 2 views are from the Calwell and Oxley communities taken some 10-12 years after their creation

▼▼  widespread eroded gullies averaging 3-5m in depth            a few of the many reconstructed eroded streambeds using 100 percent local materials and all native plant material
                                                                                                                 re positioned on site granite tors                                   many small created wildlife bogs              native grasses in erosion control

Below are typical details of a gabion stone storm water channel that was and is being used throughout the 128km drainage system in Tuggeranong. Gabions are extensively used in the project for two very
good reasons, one is they are relatively inexpensive because of the abundance of basalt and granite rock fragments in the valley and two they are very appealing if done correctly, particularly as they age and
the extensive vegetation incorporated into the placement of the cages begins to mature and soften the impact they have on the landscape
▼▼
a pdf of the same detail

Below is a prototype concrete lined channel that I and a hydraulic engineer designed in the early phases of construction in Tuggeranong. This model was widely used and a view of it can be seen
in the 5km (8mile) length of the Tuggeranong Creek segment of the drainage network shown below this section. Concrete lined channels had their pros and cons. They were more expensive than
gabion and piped alternatives but they could be more expedient in many situations due to the ready availability of concrete and the time savings once the contractors got the hang of standardized form
placement
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a pdf of this detail

Granite gabions channel under construction in Banks               Tuggeranong Creek lined concrete channel                              stepped granite gabions being set in Banks

A 5km(8mile) segment of the reconstructed Tuggeranong Creek can be seen below winding it's way thru the new city doubling as vital linear park and is now
a major aesthetic component of the city's huge open space network. The key in the picture can be read as follows:
1--Isabella Pond ,a120ha(416ac) ecologically designed retention basin that serves as a primary filter and flood control element for Lake Tuggeranong
2-Bonython community
3-Drakeford Drive (6 lanes)
4-MacKillop College
5-6 Johnson and Isabella Drives (6 lanes)
7 Calwell shops--Calwell High and playing fileds
8 Monaro Hwy ( a regional artery  to Sydney, Batemans Bay on the Pacific, The Snowy ski resorts and Melbourne to the south.
▼▼

The historic Tuggeranong Homestead, that ran 300,000 sheep in it's heyday, was a major preservation effort by Team Tuggeranong. The 20ha( 50 ac) site
is now a conference center,community activity hub and a model day care--pre school project.

Adjacent to this  historic icon is a portion of the massive reconstruction of miles of eroded gullies that plagued the valley at the start of development. The primary channels
like Tuggeranong Creek (below) were lined with  earth toned, tinted, porous concrete. Many channels were  shaped into 100m wide grass swails with 10 yr quick flow piping below ground.
Below is part of the 5km (8mile)segment of the reconstructed Tuggeranong Creek that had eroded gullies up to 15m in depth before restoration. Over 14 million native trees and shrubs
were planted throughout the128km (77mile) newly reconstructed regional drainage system.
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A town center perched magnificently between a wild river gorge and a pristine lake with sweeping panoramic views of  snow capped
mountains in the background--truly a designers dream come true.

Live theatre, art galleries, international shops and restaurants, "Paddington density living style", character bars, side alley pawn shops, banks, a library,
theme oriented pocket parks, one for outdoor sculpture another for ice skating, one with a small aviary and so on. A center with international orientation
that will seek out diversity as a primary design objective. Tuggeranong's town center was planned with graduated height restrictions and staggered setbacks
for structures to ensure maximum light penetration and informality of appearance.  Below is one of 12 sections I put together when working with
the architects and urban designers and at that stage of the design were searching for moods, themes and fabric makeup of the future center.
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Below are 2 images depicting both the original concept scheme for the massive town center that I was heavily involved with and a  2007 aerial of the site.
I was instrumental in establishing the overall landscape character of the complex including selling the idea of Lake Tuggeranong as an integral part of the
scheme.

My landscape concept was to lead one thru a Kambah park like entry to the city and arrive at a dynamic portal space of open sky and water at  the center
and mountains as the backdrop. The effort proved a tremendous success story as you can see .

Arguably one of the most powerful examples of urban design in the world today. One of the other crucial ideas that I introduced was the 2 mile axis through the site
Stranger mountains. (See concept plan below--axis a-a'). This axis will eventually form a great Boulevard in the French tradition of outdoor restaurants,
sculpture gardens and shops with symmetrical rows of deciduous trees to pass winter sun to the ground level (sycamore, hickory, etc). Champs Elysees
certainly comes to mind by way of our design intent.
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Early conceptual studies that produced the highly successful 4 level center hierarchy in Tuggeranong. (The corner store, the area or neighborhood
center, the regional center and the town center.)
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Tuggeranong's centers came in 4 sizes to meet the needs each center type had. The smallest size is the "corner store" seen below in Kambah which serves
about 4-5000 people and have proved very popular.

Much design effort has gone into these "mom & pops" to give them a laid back, intimate flavor where
everyone knows your name and service is on a personal basis. It's a vegetable market every Tuesday and fresh seafood on Fridays from Bateman's Bay
on the Pacific about a 3 hr drive from their doorstep. Catch up on local gossip and check out the "junk exchange" board for something you don't need but
have to have. Below right is another very efficient local type of center but with a wider range of services and sophistication and serves about a 15,000
catchment. Typical uses shown are:

1-irrigatied playing fields--2-more playing fields--3 and 12 --pedestrian underpasses to center.-4-playing fields--5--health center--6 and 7--boutique shops
8--main 2 level commercial center with a supermarket--retail shops on the ground floor and office space on the second level.--9--auto service center
10 and 11--private social clubs (a photog haven and a used book-cd exchange club.---14--fire station and emergency medicine center
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Kambah corner store-- store owner residence above                                Next step in the centre hierarchy--the small area centre at Kambah
local color & charm at a very human scale--bocce anyone?                          pursuing excellence thru design for small community gathering places                                                                     

Tuggeranong's 120km--6 lane arterial network--A classic example of why collaboration is so vital to achieve maximum quality. Spectacular results in road
and drainage development as well as corridor aesthetics  have been achieved in Tuggeranong due to intense collaboration between landscape architects
and engineers.

Below is a 2007 aerial of the Isabella Plains community (20,000). The very complex intersection of Drakesford and Isabella Plains Blvd for
example at the bottom of the pic took years to get right. The Lake Isabella retention basin (bottom right) acts as both a filter and volume control for Lake
Tuggeranong (top center). Landscape architects, including myself, had unprecedented opportunity to creatively  fit these elements to their corridors and
augment the results with over 3 million trees and shrubs for this solution alone.

Tuggeranong's advanced or forward planting effort has resulted in over 30 million trees being planted years in advance of development. About 15% of this
vegetation was destroyed due to great difficulties in correct forecasting but around 85% of the growth had at least a 10 year start in many cases. The results
are obvious as you can see. Note that the town centre to your top leftis still got a long ways to go before an expected build out in 2025.Also note the beginning
impact of the Urambi-Strange axis development near the right hand side of the town centre.

▼▼ World class combined major arterial and floodway design. To say it was a massive undertaking would be the understatement of the year.
Below is a completed view in 2007 of one of the most complex transportation corridor segments of the Tuggeranong development process. Many
skills went into creating the final result. The Isabella pond is a major component of the Tuggeranong storm water drainage system and functions as
both a giant retention basin for Lake Tuggeranong and a major aesthetic and recreational part of the Tuggeranong community

An early cross section schematic I compiled re information from planners, road engineers and hydraulic engineers that summarized most of the
components that went into the comprehensive transportation corridor analysis program that I introduced to the National Capitol Development
Corporation early in the Tuggeranong planning and development process.

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My study of the 6.4km (4mile) length of Lanyon South trunk road included over 63 parameters that the civil engineers and I evaluated before determining
final horizontal and vertical geometry for this particularly challenging length of Tuggeranong's massive 128km(80mile), 6 lane arterial system. Typical
parameters that were critical in this particular corridor analysis were:

• optimal locations for 7 underpass/overpass locations the planning team had defined as essential re 3 school and 2 area center locations.
• limits of acoustically sensitive zones re soundproof walls and configurations for alternative 3m acoustical mounding if possible to lower road costs.
• configure geometry to maximize over 9 outstanding view zones of the adjacent Brindabella Mountains and Murrumbidgee River.
• averting 3 ecologically delicate zones that included a historic yellow box forest (E.Melliodora) at the southern end of the Lanyon Homestead.
• choosing between 3 options for a 100m floodway channel that had to cross the segment somewhere near GIS co-ordinate station 70
• optimizing pylon locations and elevations for the mammoth 133KV power grid crossing .
• designing imaginative road furniture re emergency road stops---information signage--high mast lighting--etc
• creative shaping and planting of sediment lagoons within the corridor to trap polluted pavement runoff generated by anticipated heavy traffic flows.
• find a visual and practical solution for a 820mm gas pipeline crossing at or near station 287+34E.
• develop mass planting schemes within the ROW that integrated with adjacent forest land. A great opportunity to make the road fit the terrain.
• soften the cut and fill portions of the road by getting creative with transitions that are mellow and give the impression of being there all along. (Hard to do)
• skillfully incorporate 2 ecopassages for wildlife to safely cross these 6 lane corridors.

This early corridor analysis that I created was the format for over 30 corridor evaluations for the long life of this huge road network. The results of this
extensive collaboration between landscape architects and engineers that I fostered paid huge dividends re final corridor efficiency and aesthetics. This merger of
critical skills in major roadway design obviously increases the design know how of the team by an exponential factor.
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Parameters that I also evaluated in arterials  included  co-ordinated design for the extensive array of road furniture that's an integral
part of road corridor design. This involved information signage design for ingress-egress ramps--travel data--etc, integral color concrete dyes and
texture relief patterns for  underpass locations, austen steel for high mast lighting and guardrails--plexiglass emergency phone units and so on.

This particular segment was also quite difficult to fit to the terrain in the way the engineers and I wanted it to. It took several attempts to get the
final cross section you see below. One of the many complications we faced was ensuring that cut and fill balanced along the construction path or
costs would skyrocket and sink the budget which meant something else would have to go further down the line which nobody wanted.
▼▼

Below is a plan and a as built view of a good representation of effective utilization of the multi purpose transportation corridor that was standard in
Tuggeranong's development. The area of the plan is centered around the Tharwa Drive pedestrian overpass in south Tuggeranong adjacent to the
Calwell and Isabella Plain communities. The flexible transportation corridor here has a maglev high speed provision, a six lane arterial road, two
75m stormwater channels with piped 10 yr flow and two 4m service corridors for road lighting--drainage--neighborhood electrical distribution and
telecom services. We spent a lot of effort and time getting all the elements shown in their optimum locations that included safe road crossing for the
school, medium density housing and shops adjacent to the planned maglev stop and many other design considerations.
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A view from the bus stop looking toward the Tharwa Drive pedestrian overpass a few years ago. Dual curved ramps, both with max slopes of 10% glide you
right over this great piece of urban design that we all contributed to
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Evolution of a special city
The montage below includes a view of Tuggeranong in its original pristine state (top left). Bottom left is a very similar view after Kambah was well
under way. The National Capital Development Corporation was first in publishing its completed work on the internet and this practice has proven of
great value to both Australian citizens as well as urban design, planning, architectural and landscape architectural students the world over.
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A tribute to leadership and  excellence in regional development
Sir John Overall, CBE MC-1913-2001

Many have contributed to the forging of a once struggling sheep station on the Molongo River in 19th century Australia into one of the world's
most dynamic, well planned, international capital's.

But this truly epic saga of amazing determination and vision has one special hero.

In his long, eventful life, John Overall was a honors student, a decorated soldier in the AIF, a visionary extraordinaire  and a natural leader of men.
In 1958,after a distinguished career as an architect, he assumed the reigns of a fledgling creation known as the National Capital Development
Corporation. whose only ambition was to plan and build one of the world's premier national capital's from scratch .The rest is history, that is best
summarized in his excellent work on Canberra  : Canberra: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow a Personal Memoir, AFC Press, 2005.

Thank you John for our friendship, expert guidance and your magnificent contribution to this now historic period of Australia's evolution and allowing
me to be a small part of it.

kent mccoy landscape architect
www.kentmccoy.com
email: kentmccoy40@gmail.com

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