A new vision for the Perth foreshore redevelopment has called for a reduction in the density and height of buildings along the waterfront, in line with cities such as San Francisco and Barcelona.
A new vision for the Perth foreshore redevelopment has called for a reduction in the density and height of buildings along the waterfront, in line with cities such as San Francisco and Barcelona.
The plan, released by urban think tank CityVision, does not include any apartments along Mounts Bay Road and retains St Georges Terrace as the main ridge for high-rise office towers, in contrast to LandCorp's $300 million plan.
It proposes most of the high rise development - between 10 and 25 storeys - be located away from the river on part of the Esplanade.
CityVision chairman Ken Adam said there were a number of problems with high-density development next to the river, including traffic congestion and the interruption of views from Kings Park.
"Any successful [waterfront] development, anywhere in the world, is only two or three storeys high. It's beneficial to have apartments and high rise in close proximity to the river, just not directly on top," Mr Adam said.
"We don't see the need for, and don't want great damage done by large buildings along the foreshore. It goes against the grain of the landscape. You've got the escarpment and Mt Eliza, and the curve of the river, and we want to enhance the natural landscape with built form."
Mr Adam said moving development down to the river would also draw the life out of the CBD, particularly St Georges Terrace.
He said the results of LandCorp's second peer review had also shown there was concern over the scale of development at the waterfront.
However, CityVision has supported development along William and Barrack streets, reducing the size of the Esplanade, and connecting the city to the river with an iconic building at the foot of William Street - both of which are supported by LandCorp.
A key component of the CityVision plan is retaining and enhancing parkland near the freeway interchange, with the installation of a cable car to Kings Park.
Mr Adam said this would connect Kings Park to the city, with a tourist loop running up St Georges Terrace and leading down to Barrack Square.
"We would also see the potential for an Aboriginal interpretive centre here," he said.
The CityVision plan would also mostly retain Riverside Drive in its current form, with a bridge leading over an artificial lake.
Meanwhile, LandCorp has released the results of a survey of visitors to its Perth Waterfront website, which found 66 per cent of comments were positive, 26 per cent were negative, 6 per cent were against foreshore development of any kind and 2 per cent were neutral.
