Brisbane
Template:Infobox Australian City
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the state of Queensland, Australia. Brisbane is situated at the heart of South East Queensland, Australia's fastest growing region. As of 2005, the World Gazetteer estimated that Brisbane has a population of 1.8 million, making it the third most populous urban area in Australia, behind Sydney and Melbourne, and the largest municipality. The city's name is pronounced /ˈbɹɪz.bən/.
History
The area now called Brisbane was inhabited before European settlement by the Turrbul and Jagera people whose ancestors originally migrated to the region from across the Torres Strait. In 1823 an exploration party led by John Oxley explored Moreton Bay and sailed up the Brisbane River as far as Goodna, some 20 km upstream from what is now Brisbane's central business district. Brisbane was named in honour of Sir Thomas Brisbane, who was the Governor of New South Wales.
In 1824, the colonial administration of New South Wales decided to establish a penal settlement at what is now Redcliffe, on the shores of Moreton Bay. This settlement was soon closed and moved to the present-day site of Brisbane. Non-convict European settlement of the Brisbane region commenced in 1838.
The first school established in Brisbane was the prestigeous all girls school, All Hallows established by the Sisters of Mercy in 1861. Today All Hallows' is a Catholic school for girls in years 5-12.
Queensland was proclaimed a separate colony in June 1859 and Brisbane was chosen as its capital. However, Brisbane was not incorporated as a city until 1902. Over twenty small municipalities and shires were amalgamated to form the City of Greater Brisbane, now known simply as the City of Brisbane, in 1925.
Due to Brisbane's proximity to the South West Pacific Area theatre of the Second World War, the city played a prominent role in the defence of Australia. The city became a temporary home to thousands of Australian and American servicemen. In addition to this, the AMP Building (later called MacArthur Central) was used as the headquarters of General Douglas MacArthur, the chief of the Allied Pacific forces.
Brisbane was host city for the 1982 Commonwealth Games and the World's Fair, Expo '88. These events in the 1980s were accompanied by a scale of public expenditure, construction and diplomacy not previously seen in the state of Queensland. In the decades since, the metropolis has become Australia's fastest growing city through migration from all continents and the Australian states and territories.
Geography
Brisbane city centre is situated in the southeast corner of Queensland, Australia, at a latitude and longitude of 27°28′S 153°02′E / 27.467°S 153.033°E. The city straddles the Brisbane River, and its eastern suburbs line the shores of Moreton Bay. The greater Brisbane region lies on the coastal plain east of the Great Dividing Range, although the urban area is dotted by large hills reaching up to 300 metres such as Mount Coot-tha, Mount Gravatt, Whites Hill and Stephens Mountain. Generally, the city is a low-lying floodplain and susceptible to severe flooding. Many suburban creeks also criss cross the city increasing the risk of localised flooding. This was demonstrated most poignantly in the aftermath of the 1974 Brisbane flood, which occurred partly as a result of "Cyclone Wanda". Continual non-stop heavy rain had fallen during the three weeks leading up to the flood, which occurred during the Australia Day weekend (26-27 January, 1974). The flood damaged many parts of the city, especially in the suburbs of Oxley, Bulimba, Rocklea, Coorparoo and New Farm. The City Botanic gardens were also inundated, leading to a new colony of mangroves to form in the City Reach of the Brisbane River.
The CBD is situated in a curve of a river. Covering only 2.2 square kilometers, it is easily walkable. The central streets are named for members of the House of Hanover. Streets named after female members: — (Adelaide - Alice - Ann - Charlotte - Elizabeth - Margaret - Mary) run parallel to (Queen Street / Queen Street Mall - named in honour of Queen Victoria ) - and perpendicular to Streets named after male members (Albert - Edward - George - William).
Brisbane has a lower inner-city population density compared with Australia's two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, although constant population growth occurring in Brisbane is closing the gap between Brisbane and Melbourne. This is a result of most of Brisbane's housing stock consisting of detached houses, with few terrace houses in Brisbane and apartments dating before 1970 are relatively uncommon. Pre-1950 housing stock is often built in a distinctive architectural style known as a Queenslander, featuring large verandahs and built on stilts to maximise the circulation of cool air during summer months. Overall the city has a density of 379.4 people per square kilometer, which is comparable to that of Sydney. Recently the density of the city and inner city neighbourhoods has increased with the construction of apartments, with the result that the population of the central business district has doubled over the last 5 years.[1]
Climate
Brisbane has a subtropical climate with hot, moist summers and mild, dry winters. Brisbane is subject to high humidity, mainly from November through to April. Summer thunderstorms are common, and Brisbane frequently experiences hailstorms, cyclonic winds and more recently severe drought during the summer months. January is generally the hottest month, with an average maximum 29 °C (85 °F) and minimum of 21 °C (69 °F), while June is the coldest with temperatures between 20 °C (69°F) and 10 °C (49 °F). The highest recorded temperature in the city was 43.2 °C (109.8 °F) on the 26 January 1940, while the lowest was 2.3 °C (36.1 °F) on the 12 July 1894 and 2 July 1896. [2]
Brisbane has an average annual rainfall of 1146 mm (45.1 in), with January usually the wettest month with a mean rainfall of 160 mm (6.3 in). The wettest day occurred on 21 January with 465 mm (18.3 in) of rain, the highest of any of Australia's capital cities. August and September are the driest months, averaging less than 50 mm per year. From late Spring through to early Autumn, Brisbane may experience severe thunderstorms with large damaging hailstones, torrential rain and destructive winds, some of can exceed 100 km/h. Each year, severe thunderstorms with large hailstorms are responsible for thousands of dollars worth of damage to some Brisbane suburbs.
Water Crisis
Brisbane City (and to an extent all of South-East Queensland) is now in a major water crisis, with Wivenhoe and Somerset dams reaching extremely low levels. It is described as Brisbane's worst drought in 100 years. The drought has seen major regional water storage facilities fall to historically low levels. With the prospect of receiving good summer rainfall being uncertain, Brisbane's water outlook is grim. This situation has been confirmed by mayor Campell Newman and Brisbane residents now face Level 2 Water Restrictions. Brisbane's dams are currently at approximately 35% capacity.
Because of the severe drought, the Brisbane City Council arranged to have the rectangular-shaped fountain at King George Square temporarily converted into a "Watersense" garden, and the fountain area planted with drought-resistant plants and desert plants.
Governance
Unlike most other Australian capital cities, the city of Brisbane is controlled by a single local government entity the Brisbane City Council. The city of Brisbane is divided into 26 wards, each of which elects a council member as a representative. The Lord Mayor of Brisbane and Councillors are elected every four years by popular vote, in which all residents must participate. Council elections are called by the Queensland Government. The current Lord Mayor of Brisbane is Campbell Newman, who was elected to the position in March 2004. Brisbane City Council is the largest local government body (in terms of population and budget) in Australia. The Council, formed by the merger of twenty smaller councils in 1925, (under the City of Brisbane Act 1924) has jurisdiction over an area of 1367 km². Its annual budget is approximatly $1.6 billion, and has an asset base of $13 billion.[citation needed]
Besides the City of Brisbane, the Brisbane region (i.e. the metropolitan area and the surrounding rural region) includes several other local government areas including Beaudesert Shire, Caboolture Shire, part of Gold Coast City, parts of Ipswich City, Logan City, Pine Rivers Shire, Redcliffe City, and Redlands Shire.
Economy
Brisbane has a diverse and vibrant economy with many sectors and industries represented in the city's total production of goods and services. Both white-collar and blue-collar industries are present, with white-collar industries such as information technology, financial services, higher education and public sector administration generally concentrated in and around the central business district and recently established office areas in the inner suburbs. Brisbane has had the highest percentage growth in white-collar employment of Australia's 5 major cities since 2002. Blue-collar industries such as petroleum refining, stevedoring, paper milling, metalworking and QR railway workshops tend to be located on the lower reaches of the Brisbane River and in new industrial zones on the urban fringe. Tourism is an important part of the Brisbane economy, both in its own right and as a gateway to other areas of Queensland.
During the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Queensland State Goverment has been developing technology and science industries in Queensland as a whole, and Brisbane in particular, as part of its "Smart State" campaign. The government has invested in several biotechnology and research facilities at several universities in Brisbane. The Institute for Molecular Bioscience at the University of Queensland (UQ) Saint Lucia Campus is a large CSIRO and Queensland state government initiative for research and innovation that is currently being emulated at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Campus at Kelvin Grove with the establishment of the Institute for Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI).
Major companies based in Brisbane include Suncorp Metway, Flight Centre, Orrcon, Virgin Blue, Boeing, Mincom, Austar, Subway, Millers Retail and the Asia-Pacific operations of Red Hat. Some internet companies such as Wotif.com, Realestate.com.au, Pipe Networks and WebCentral also base their operations in the city.
Commerce
Major shopping areas in Brisbane and the suburbs consist of shopping centres and malls — large multi-leveled buildings containing hundreds if not thousands of individual stores. Major shopping precincts exist throughout the CBD, in the Queen Street Mall and in Fortitude Valley. Most of these stores are usually the central or headquarter stores of their other franchises in the city.
The Queen Street Mall offers a range of restaurants, souvenirs and award winning shopping centres, including: Wintergarden, Broadway on the Mall, Queens Plaza and the Myer Centre. In Fortitude Valley (which is popularly known as 'the Valley'), the Brunswick Street mall hosts bustling pedestrian markets on Saturday and Sunday mornings, and is home to restaurants and cafés, and to Brisbane's Chinatown precinct.
Demographics
The population of the Brisbane City is estimated at 957,010 (as of June 2004). Brisbane has an estimated urban population of 1.8 million as of 2005. Brisbane City Council is the most populous Local Government Area in Australia. Brisbane's CBD is also Australia's densest. Brisbane boasts Australia's highest rate of capital city population growth, and has maintained the title of the fastest growing city for close to 20 years. The urban population reportedly grew by 11.5% between 1999 and 2004.
The last Australian Census in 2001 showed that 1.7% of Brisbane's population are of indigenous origins, while 21.0% were born overseas. Approximately 13.5% of households speak a language other than English, with the most common being Chinese, Vietnamese and Italian. The median age across the city is 32 years old.[3]
Education
Brisbane, like many other Australian capitals, is home to many large, multi-campus universities and colleges. Australian universities based in Brisbane are the University of Queensland (one of the Group of Eight), the Queensland University of Technology and Griffith University. Other universities which have campuses in Brisbane include the Australian Catholic University, Central Queensland University, James Cook University, the University of Canberra, the University of New South Wales and the University of Southern Queensland.
Brisbane has a number of government subsidised TAFE colleges that provide nationally accredited Diplomas and Certificates in a number of trades, as well as specific job based skill sets and arts. These TAFE colleges include the Bremer Institute of TAFE, Brisbane North Institute of TAFE, Moreton Institute of TAFE, Southbank Institute of TAFE and the Yeronga Institute. Other independent tertiary education providers include the Australian College of Natural Medicine, the Brisbane College of Theology, QANTM and Jschool: Journalism Education & Training.
Brisbane is covered under the jurisdiction of Queensland Education regarding public primary and high schools.C
Culture
Brisbane has a strong cultural identity in art, sculpture, literature, poetry and music, which dates back to the late 1800s.
Brisbane held the very successful World Expo 88 at South Bank, from April-October, 1988, on land adjacent to the Queensland Performing Arts Centre.
The South Bank Parklands which were later established on the former Expo '88 site, are now an a thriving mix of Brisbane's relaxed lifestyle and culture, including concerts held at the Suncorp Piazza.
Popular culture
Brisbane has a vibrant live music scene and has produced notable bands such as The Bee Gees, Custard, Savage Garden and Powderfinger. Brisbane's nightlife today is a thriving and varied mix of pubs, clubs, themed bars, and various other venues. There are two main areas of focus: The "City" (CBD) and The "Valley" (Fortitude Valley). While the city typically consists of venues catering to those with a more traditional taste in music or atmosphere, the Valley typically offers a drastically different, more cosmopolitan selection of places.
Arts in Brisbane
Classical culture is also well represented in Brisbane, including the performing arts and creative arts. Many of Brisbane's venues are of international standing, including the Queensland Cultural Centre, the home of the Queensland Museum, the Queensland Art Gallery, the State Library of Queensland and the Queensland Performing Arts Centre. Other theatre areas include the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, the Brisbane Arts Theatre, Twelfth Night Theatre, and the Powerhouse. Brisbane is also the base for the Queensland College of Art and will soon be home to the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art (which will complement the Queensland Art Gallery).
Brisbane is the birthplace of a number of internationally acclaimed singers, musicians and actors, and well has having produced a number of significant Australian authors.
Sport
Brisbane has a strong and proud and long time tradition in sport. Some highlights have been:
- The first ever tied test in the history of Cricket happened in Brisbane in 1960 at the Brisbane Cricket Ground (The Gabba).
- The first ever Rugby League State of Origin match was held in Brisbane in 1980 at Lang Park.
- Brisbane was the host city for the 1982 Commonwealth Games.
- Brisbane was the host city for the 2001 Goodwill Games.
Brisbane is also the birthplace of many of Australia's notable sportsmen and sportswomen.
Landmarks and tourist destinations
Brisbane has many important and historical buildings and structures, some of which date back to colonial times. Brisbane also has many beautiful gardens and parklands.
Popular with tourists are the South Bank Parklands, which are located on the site of World Expo '88. The South Bank Parklands is famous for firework displays that attract thousands of spectators. Tourists and locals alike frequent the beautiful bougainvillea lined Riverside Walkway at all times of the year and flock to the area during music and arts festivals.
Other popular areas for tourism and recreation include the Roma Street Parkland, the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens (a colonial era botanic gardens founded in 1855 in the Brisbane CBD), and the Mount Coot-tha state forest (which includes a lookout over the city), the Brisbane Botanic Gardens (contemporary botanical gardens) and also the Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium. Also popular destinations are Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and Brisbane Forest Park.
Also popular are the rockclimbing cliffs at Kangaroo Point, at the southern approach to the Story Bridge, and the more than 27km of award winning bicycle pathways which line both sides of the river east and west of the city centre. Another new Brisbane attraction is the Story Bridge Adventure Climb, the Story Bridge is one of only three legally climbable bridges in the world. for more info go to, http://www.storybridgeadventures.com.au
Annual events held in Brisbane are also drawcards for tourists. The Ekka (the Royal Queensland Show) is held in August, at the Brisbane Exhibition Ground (also known as the RNA Showgrounds), while Riverfestival is held in September at South Bank Parklands and surrounding areas, and also Victoria Bridge.
Media
Brisbane has only one daily newspaper, The Courier-Mail, and one Sunday paper, The Sunday Mail, both owned by News Corporation. Brisbane also receives the national daily, The Australian, and the Weekend Australian, in addition to Fairfax papers Australian Financial Review, the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
There are also numerous community and suburban newspapers throughout the metropolitan and regional areas, including Brisbane News and City News, many of which are produced by Quest Newspapers (which is also owned by News Corporation.)
Brisbane is served by all five major television networks in Australia, which broadcast from the summit of Mount Coot-tha. The three commercial stations are Seven, Nine, and Ten while the two government stations are the ABC and SBS. Briz 31, a community station, also broadcasts in Brisbane. The major networks operate digital television in the Brisbane area.
Brisbane is serviced by several major radio stations:
The ABC transmits all five of its radio networks to Brisbane:
- 612 ABC Brisbane, part of the ABC Local Radio network.
- ABC Classic FM
- ABC NewsRadio
- Radio National
- Triple J
The other major Radio Stations to be broadcast in Brisbane are:
In addition to the government and commercial stations above, Brisbane has the following community stations: 4ZZZ, BayFM 100.3, multicultural 4EB and the radio station for the print handicapped 4RPH, 98.9 FM for the Best Country (it was the first indigenous radio station in a capital city), 101FM (Logan), 4OUR (Caboolture), 997FM (Redcliffe), Switch 1197 AM, 96.5 FM Family, 4MBS Classic FM 103.7 and 4TAB (betting).
SBS also broadcasts its national radio network to Brisbane. WorldAudio National Radio 2 transmits on 1620AM (City) and 1629AM (North). Radio Brisvaani provides a voice to the Indian community with Hindi language service on 1701AM.
Infrastructure
Public transport
Brisbane has a relatively comprehensive public transport system by Australian standards, with regular services in the inner city and with improving service levels in outer suburb destinations. The services have become increasingly popular due to rising fuel costs. The system consists of a suburban rail network, bus services and ferries. The rail services are operated by CityTrain, a division of Queensland Rail, while the bus system, and the high speed CityCat as well as the Cityferry are operated by Brisbane Transport, a business arm of the Brisbane City Council. Buses that serve the regional areas outside the City of Brisbane boundaries are operated by private sector companies contracted by the State Government.
The CBD, like most cities, serves as the central hub for all public transport services; with Queen Street Bus Station for Buses, Roma Street and Central stations for trains, and North Quay for Ferries. Various smaller transfer hubs, such as the Cultural Centre Busway Station are located at various strategically placed points of public importance and public interest in the city, including the Queensland Cultural Centre, South Bank Parklands and shopping malls which are usually within dense population centres.
The large CityTrain urban rail network consists of 7 suburban lines and covers mostly the west, north and east sides of the city. It also provides the route for an AirTrain service between the City and Brisbane Airport (the AirTrain, itself, is owned by a company). While stretching as far as both coasts, the southern part of the rail network does not enter through any major suburbs or districts. This is mainly due to the placing of major freeways such as the South-East Freeway and the M1 motorway, as well as lack of early planning on southern Brisbane growth. To this day, the easiest way to reach most of the Southern area via public transport is via bus.
To deliver workable public transport to areas outside of the metropolitan train lines, the Busways were established to deliver unrestricted bus travel throughout the southern (and to a lesser note the northern) corridors of the city by providing roads where only buses are permitted. Two busways have opened in recent years in Brisbane — the South-East Busway and the Inner-Northern Busway, with two more busways and new rail lines planned. Public transport has been the only infrastructure that Brisbane has typically always improved and maintained, especially as it struggles to keep up with rapid population growth.
An integrated ticketing system for public transport services has recently been established under the name TransLink. TransLink is a State Government agency responsible for ticketing and the co-ordination of public transport services in the South-East Queensland region. Under the TransLink system, passengers pay common fares on all modes of public transport. TransLink tickets are accepted on both government- and privately-owned buses, trains and ferries. In 2006, Translink will also be introducing a smartcard-based ticketing system, which is currently being trialled in Redcliffe, a city located 30 minutes to the north of Brisbane.
In October, 2005, a 6 month probational period began on 24-hour public transport services, under the name of NightLink.
Two major cab companies operate in Brisbane; Yellow Cabs (whose vehicles are painted orange), and Black and White Cabs. Both companies offer same rate service, as well as pickup from anywhere in the metropolitan and regional areas of Brisbane via bookings or permanent cab ranks. As well as standard taxis, both provide Maxi-Taxis, designed to fit up to 10 people as well disability access. Most cabs now are also fitted with Satellite Navigation and EFTPOS debit/credit card facilities.
Brisbane's massive population growth has seen great strains placed upon South East Queensland's transport system. The State Government and Brisbane City Council have responded with infrastructure plans and increased funding for transportation projects, such as the South East Queensland Infrastructure Plan and Program. Most of the focus has been placed on expanding current road infrastructure, particularly tunnels and bypasses, as well as improving the public transport system.
Roads
Since Brisbane was never designed to accommodate a large urban population, its road system was planned specifically around large and spacious suburban areas. Densely packed suburbs now rely on several main road corridors that split through and between these areas and provide the only link to the CBD and other areas of Brisbane. Logan Road, Moggill Road, Old Cleveland Road and Gympie Road are but a few of these multi-lane corridors that come out of the CBD and snake through the suburbs. As a result, traffic congestion has become a major problem and it was out of the promise of a new road system, nicknamed TransApex that current Lord Mayor Campbell Newman won his election.
Bypasses such as the very successful Inner City Bypass and the future Airport Link and NSBT (North South Bypass Tunnel) will help to circulate traffic away from the city areas and main roads via limited-access roads above the ground that have higher speed limits and exits to particular suburbs. Existing high speed cross-suburban motorways such as the Western Freeway / Centenary Highway and Beaudesert Motorway provide alternative routes to main roads and connect up to main highways and other arterial roads.
In total, the twisting Brisbane River is crossed by seven road bridges, two railway bridges and two pedestrian bridges. Route signage is achieved by means of a system of Metroads, consisting of the most important arterial roads in metropolitan Brisbane including most motorways, and less important State Routes. Multiple freeways connect Brisbane to other cities, including the Pacific Motorway and M1, the Bruce Highway and the Ipswich Motorway, all of which are part of the National Highway System. Brisbane is approximately 1000kms away from Sydney, the closest major capital city.
Airports
at Brisbane Airport
Brisbane Airport, owned by the Brisbane Airport Corporation and located north-east of the city, is the biggest airport in Australia in terms of land size. Brisbane Airport is the third busiest in the country, although predictions have been made that it will overtake Melbourne as the second busiest in Australia within the next three years. Separated into domestic and international terminals, Brisbane Airport has frequent passenger and freight flights, providing direct flights to every capital city in Australia as well as most destinations in Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East. The second largest airline in Australia, Virgin Blue Airlines, is headquartered in Brisbane, while other major airlines Qantas and Jetstar both fly from Brisbane Airport.
Considered world class, the airport won Best Privatised Airport of 2005 by the International Air Transport Association IATA. A $280 million dollar upgrade is in the planning stages at the International Terminal. Brisbane's $400 million parallel runway project is close to a reality after a dramatic rise in passenger numbers over the last 3 years, annual passenger numbers in Brisbane expected to reach more than 22 million by 2012 and more than 35 million by 2023.
The AirTrain provides a link between the Domestic and International Terminals at Brisbane Airport and the city, taking approximately 20 minutes to travel from Central Station to the Brisbane Airport stations.
A $58 million dollar Direct Factory Outlet (DFO) shopping mall has opened at Brisbane Airport providing discount shopping within a kilometre of the terminals. The location of the shopping mall, on the only road leading to Brisbane Airport, has been a source of irritation to both airline passengers and discount shoppers alike, with complaints that the resultant heavy traffic, being shared between the two, is causing major traffic delays. According to a letter in the "Courier-Mail" newspaper, this has been especially detrimental for at least one airline passenger, because the traffic delay caused the passenger to be late "checking in" and this consequently caused the passenger to miss the flight that the passenger was booked on.
Archerfield Airport is located in Brisbane's southern suburbs and used only by light aircraft and general aviation. Other local airports can be found at Caboolture and Redcliffe.
Seaports
The Port of Brisbane is located on the lower reaches of the Brisbane River and on Fisherman's Island at the rivers mouth, and is the 3rd most important port in Australia for value of goods [4]. Container freight, sugar, grain, coal and bulk liquids are the major exports. Most of the port facilities are less than three decades old and some are built on reclaimed mangroves and wetlands. Historically, Brisbane's port facilities were located as far upstream as the central business district.
The economic region near the river mouth including the port, airport and refineries is known as the Australia TradeCoast. It is anticipated that 8% or more of Brisbane's jobs will be located here in coming years.
Notes
- ^ Population Growth Australian Bureau of Statistics Accessed October 14, 2005.
- ^ ABM Australian Bureau of Meteorology. Accessed October 14, 2005.
- ^ Demographic Statistics Australian Bureau of Statistics
- ^ Australian Sea Freight Australian Department of Transport and Regional Services
Trivia
Brisbane is sometimes called by shorter versions of the name - "Brissie", "Brissy" and "Brizzie".
Brisbane is sometimes nicknamed "Bris Vegas" because of its perceived (usually ironic) resemblance to Las Vegas, as well as sometimes being called "Brisneyland".
