Open Spaces
UNDER THE BRIDGE: SHAPING A CITY’S UNDERUSED SPACES
Author: Marisa Wikramanayakefri Urban Developer
The raised train line at Hughesdale Train Station in Melbourne’s south-east.
Every weekday morning, children use a pedestrian bridge over a busy main road to get to school in one of Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs.
Under the bridge at the corner of Euston and Warrigal roads, Hughesdale, sits an empty lot. It is rarely empty for too long— cars pull in to park as parents drop kids off on the school run and to grab coffee from a neighbouring cafe. On occasion it has been used as a gathering spot for residents to talk to council or other government representatives. Though the space has found its own use over time and has not required development, many other such liminal and in- between spaces have. They are the hidden landscapes often on the edge of development. Ratio urban design and planning director Mathew Furness says there is much that can be done with such spaces but that a clear plan at a state level appears to be missing. “It’s hard to believe that I’m all alone in thinking that these spaces are a great development opportunity,” Furness says. “It’s not often planned out as part of other projects—it’s more opportunistic. “[London] had a much more proactive approach to it with its transport authority. “They were trying to exploit those spaces because they could generate rents or generate other income from them.”
Opening spaces for the community Four blocks away at the other end of Hughesdale is a similar space. It was part of the Caulfield to Dandenong Level Crossing Removal Project—nine level crossings were removed and five new stations built. Level crossings were causing traffic congestion and, with the southern hemisphere’s largest mall, Chadstone Shopping Centre, and major commuter routes nearby, the decision was made to raise the railway line. Completed in June, 2018, Hughesdale’s train station sits above Poath Road. But a new issue was created—what to do with the 22.5ha of space created by the project? The answer was a series of parks, community spaces and a walking trail that follows an Indigenous pathway extending for several suburbs to Clayton. During the pandemic, it became a saving grace for many who walked the trail to meet others in their social bubble a few suburbs over. “They’re taking those opportunities to provide community facilities or amenities, which is a bit different too,” Furness says. Creating community and third spaces is often the aim with
14 – April / May 2024
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