Hobart and Mount Wellington 20171120-039

The Hobart City Centre (referred to as the Hobart CBD) is a suburb surrounded by metropolitan

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

, which comprises the original settlement, the central business district, and other built-up areas. It is the oldest part of Hobart and includes many of the city's important institutions and landmarks, such as

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

, Franklin Square, the Elizabeth Street Mall, the Royal Hobart Hospital, the Theatre Royal, Odeon Theatre, State Library, the NAB Building, the

Museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

, and the

Cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty grave, tomb or a monument erected in honor of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere or have been lost. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although t ...

. The city centre is located in the local government areas of the

City of Hobart The City of Hobart is a local government area in Tasmania which covers the central metropolitan area of the state capital, Hobart. The city is governed by Hobart City Council and led by the Lord Mayor. The local government area has a populat ...

. Although the city centre is one of the oldest and most developed areas of Hobart, demographically it is one of the less densely populated areas in the greater area of Hobart, due to its core being commercial. In an attempt to create a more vibrant city at night, the state government has been encouraging inner city residential development in recent years. The population of the city centre was 3,390 in 2021.

History

Settlement of Greater Hobart spawned from the settlement of

Sullivans Cove Sullivans Cove is on the River Derwent adjacent to the Hobart City Centre in Tasmania. It was the site of initial European settlement in the area, and the location of the earlier components of the Port of Hobart. History The cove was the init ...

on 21 February 1804, by order of David Collins who was most unimpressed with the initial landing site at Risdon Cove. On 11 March 2020, the Hobart City Council released a baseline report on the Central Hobart Precincts Plan which had a purpose "to guide future growth in a way that will strengthen what’s great about Hobart". The study area covered 1364 lots of land in 64 blocks. The website outlines four general goals to: *establish a shared vision and framework for the future growth of Central Hobart and identify a set of actions to deliver it; *identify a suite of precincts across the study area and outline a vision for each of them ensuring the ongoing viability of Central Hobart as Tasmania's key administrative and commercial activity centre; *identify opportunities for increased residential densities and infrastructure as well as commercial and community services to support it; *identify the preferred urban form and scale of development for precincts based on a range of urban design, heritage, economic and social considerations. Despite its location between mountains and water, Hobart has the lowest population density of a state capital in Australia which is further reflected by the city centre containing little housing. The city's housing and renting costs are also the highest per capita. The significance of this to the broader region means the City aims to encourage infill development (dubbed

missing middle housing Missing middle housing refers to a lack of medium-density housing in the North American context. The term describes an urban planning phenomenon in Canada, the United States, Australia and more recent developments in industrialized and newly in ...

) "to increase the supply of housing and reduce pressure for

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city". Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted ...

". With a focus on

sustainability Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

, it also wants to add diversity to its transportation infrastructure and the friendliness of streets to people (following "Movement and Place" principles, including planting street trees).

Geography

The Hobart central business district draws a sense of its identity from its location between the Derwent River and the foothills of Mount Wellington. The city is concentrated with

low-rise building A low-rise is a building that is only a few stories tall or any building that is shorter than a high-rise, though others include the classification of mid-rise. Definition Emporis defines a low-rise as "an enclosed structure below 35 metres 15 ...

s, interspersed by parks such as Franklin Square and St Davids Park and historic precincts such as

and

Salamanca Place Salamanca Place is a precinct of Hobart, the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Tasmania. Salamanca Place itself consists of rows of sandstone buildings, formerly warehouses for the port of Hobart Town ...

. The majority of Hobart CBD's streets are one-way with a few exceptions including Elizabeth Street, the main north–south thoroughfare of the city centre. Davey and Macquarie streets form a

one-way couplet A one-way pair, one-way couple, or couplet refers to that portion of a bi-directional traffic facilitysuch as a road, bus, streetcar, or light rail linewhere its opposing flows exist as two independent and roughly parallel facilities. Descriptio ...

carrying traffic between Hobart's major highways along the CBD's southern fringe. Proposed as far back as the 1940s, the six main streets were converted to one-way on 25 October 1959. The streets run on a slightly warped

grid pattern In urban planning, the grid plan, grid street plan, or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at Angle#Types of angles, right angles to each other, forming a wikt:grid, grid. Two inherent characteristics of the grid plan, fr ...

in the CBD, due to early planning by

Lachlan Macquarie Major-general (United Kingdom), Major General Lachlan Macquarie, Companion of the Order of the Bath, CB (; ; 31 January 1762 – 1 July 1824) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Scotland. Macquarie served as the fifth Gove ...

Governance

Administratively, the

City Centre falls under the authority of the

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

of the

. The

Tasmanian Government The Tasmanian Government is the executive branch of the Australian state of Tasmania. The leader of the party or coalition with the Confidence and supply, confidence of the Tasmanian House of Assembly, House of Assembly, the lower house of the ...

also has authority over some aspects of the CBD, in particular the major state controlled roads passing through and around the city.

Commercial area

With the exception of Wrest Point Casino in Sandy Bay, the Hobart CBD contains all of

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

’s tallest buildings, including 39 Murray Street, 188 Collins Street and the Trafalgar Building. The tallest building in the city centre is NAB House at , however planning restrictions limit future developments to a height of . There have been some exceptions to this rule such as Wellington Centre standing at and the new Royal Hobart Hospital K1/K2 Twin Towers which stand at high. The City centre has several shopping areas including the Wellington Centre, Centrepoint and the historically significant Cat and Fiddle Arcade. Stores in this area include

Myer Myer (stylised MYER) is an Australian mid-range to upscale department store. It trades in all Australian states and one of Australia's two self-governing territories. Myer retails a broad range of products across women's, men's, and child ...

Target Target may refer to: Warfare and shooting * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artille ...

, Woolworths, H&M, JB-Hi-Fi,

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

and Country Road. In September 2007, a spectacular inner city fire was responsible for the loss of one of Hobart's Myer buildings and as a result saw the construction of the Icon Complex, boasting a 5 level Myer with specialty shops as well as a Hotel with roof top bar. File:Lascar Metro Office at dawn (Hobart) (4552446376).jpg, Hobart GPO within the Hobart Bus Station on Elizabeth Street. File:Myers Liverpool Street 20171120-082.jpg, Myer ICON Complex on Liverpool Street File:Elizabeth Street Mall Hobart CBD.jpg, The Elizabeth Street Mall in the Hobart CBD, looking south from the Liverpool Street intersection. File:Macquarie Street Hobart CBD.jpg, Macquarie Street in the Hobart CBD, looking east from the Murray Street intersection. File:Murray Street Hobart CBD.jpg, Murray Street in the Hobart CBD, looking south at the Liverpool Street intersection. File:Wellington Centre Hobart 20171120-127.jpg, Wellington Centre from Liverpool Street

Culture

There is a large concentration of cultural institutions within the CBD including: the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, the

State Library of Tasmania The State Library of Tasmania is the reference, special collections, research and public lending library in the Tasmanian capital of Hobart, Australia. It is part of Libraries Tasmania. Libraries Tasmania includes a state-wide network of librar ...

, the Odeon Theatre, the Playhouse Theatre, and the Theatre Royal. Every December, the city hosts the conclusion of the

Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is an annual oceanic yacht racing event hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, starting in Sydney, New South Wales, on Boxing Day and finishing in Hobart, Tasmania. The race distance is approximately ...

while concurrently holding the Taste Festival. Every January the city hosts the Australian Wooden Boat Festival and the annual Royal Hobart Regatta is held during February. Additional, the

Salamanca Market Salamanca Market is a renowned street market held every Saturday at Salamanca Place in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. Since its inception in 1972, the market has grown to become the most visited tourist attraction in Tasmania, attracting over one ...

is held at

every Saturday.

References