The Public Life of Infrastructure – elevated rail and linear parks

These new parks, now scattered across Melbourne, claw out public space in the slender space beneath elevated rail viaducts. They knit together street networks that were previously sliced in two by the immutable line of the at-grade railway, and a focus on active transport connections and multi-generational program means they are in use throughout the day and into the evening. Often found in mature and densifying neighbourhoods, they also provide outdoor space in places where new parks would otherwise be prohibitively expensive and complex.

It is fair to say that, by several important measures, these linear parks are a success. But anyone with a reasonable memory will remember how tortured and contested these projects were when they were first proposed. It seems appropriate, then, to ask how this shift in perception happened, and what this says about public spaces about our cities – and the people who live in them.

The projects have been widely celebrated for setting new standards and creating an entirely new typology for Melbourne – but the panel pointed out these successes were hard-won.
Adam Kiekebosch, ASPECT Studios Regional Director, began by recounting how the Caulfield to Dandenong Rail Crossing Removal was initially maligned by the community and in the press. One of the first elevated rail projects in Melbourne, the designers were left without relevant examples of similar built work to point to, and instead relied on sketches and renders to communicate their plans to the public. This initially did little to soothe concerns about the bulk of the elevated railway, whether the new spaces would be harbours for antisocial activity, and the removal of trees.

More recent “skyrail” parks demonstrate a willingness to build on and refine what is becoming a Melbourne vernacular style, even when the process is led by different practices.
The Bell to Moreland Level Crossing Removal Project, designed by Tract Consultants and Wood Marsh Architecture, traverses the narrowest site of the projects completed so far. Built atop one of the oldest railway lines in Melbourne, the new landscape preserves, and in some places actively repairs, a number of heritage elements, including a pair of Victorian stations and signal boxes.

A recurring theme was that designing these parks, outside of the complex task of negotiating community expectations, is hard. A high and persistent level of creativity is evidently needed to create great spaces in such difficult places.