Your views: on a high-rise CBD and more
Today, readers comment on housing a growing city population, big-ticket sports events and landlords.
Commenting on the story: Moving up: How more residents will change city skyline
According to Adelaide City Council we can expect the CBD to emulate the concrete canyons of other capitals by the 2040s.
It’s a great vision if they want Adelaide to look like every other city but still a pity that Adelaide hasn’t embraced the Central Parisian disdain – with the exception of the Eiffel Tower – for high-rise buildings.
The Paris Plan Local d’Urbanisme restricts the height of structures to 12 storeys (37 metres). This restriction came about after the construction in 1973 of the 209 metre Montparnasse Tower which now stands incongruously in the Central Paris landscape.
It would be nice to rejoice with “Vive la ressemblance avec Paris” but that ship has sailed. – Barry Baddams
The predicted need for high rise residential towers in Adelaide makes the need for apartment design standards in South Australia imperative.
These need to address building form, performance and amenity, through clear and enforceable minimum standards for design and of construction. This should include a requirement that a registered architectural practice be involved from inception to the completion of construction to provide holistic and comprehensive independent oversight of the project.
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The consequences of not regulating the design and construction of mixed use and residential high rise buildings is clear to see from the failures that have occurred in other parts of Australia as well as here, with owners left with real estate which does not meet the marketing hype, has no ability to respond to climate change and is worth less than they paid for. It also burdens the wider community with buildings that negatively impact the amenity, environment and liveability of the area. – Nicolette DiLernia
This will completely destroy the character of Adelaide – why would anyone visit a city that looked just like any other Austro-American city?
And how many heritage, distinctive, or emblematic buildings will be demolished to build these monstrosities? How about some imagination, strategy and clever design to accommodate this population growth in a human and characterful way? – Barbara Fergusson
The addition of so many residential apartment towers has the potential to ruin the city, spoiling its streetscapes and overshadowing its sunny outdoor dining spaces etc if not done properly.
The current Capital City DPA with no height limits and no tower setback requirements has resulted in incongruously sited apartments towers rising 30+ storeys up from the streetscape. as we see in Frome Street for example.
The tower of the Central Market Arcade development, whilst this tall, will be set back 12m with the 2-storey red brick podium matching the buildings that Coles replaced in the 1960s, thanks to the Guiding Principles put in place on this site by Council at my instigation.
Such human scale podiums that match in with the scale of Adelaide’s predominantly 2-storey historic streetscapes, with the towers set well back from the street, mid block is the way to achieve the population targets without spoiling our city.
Currently the planning rules for the city provide no such guidance to apartment tower developments and much of our historic streetscapes. I fear for our city’s future unless the Council and Government can improve the planning rules controlling such development. – Sandy Wilkinson
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Against the wishes of a majority of its citizens, the Albanese government has opened the floodgates to thousands more immigrants.
Developers will make the profits, the federal government will gain extra revenue through taxation, while state and local governments will pick up the pieces, forced to scramble around to find money to provide the enormous amounts of infrastructure demanded, never managing to keep up.
Why is that most of our state politicians support this Ponzi scheme? When will they have the common sense and the guts to stand up to the federal government to say ‘stop’, we like Adelaide as it is, we don’t want to turn it into Sydney? – Sandra Kanck
Commenting on the story: No thanks: SA rules out 2026 Commonwealth Games bid
On this one I think Dan is right. The cost of the Olympics and Commonwealth Games are so high. And that is not even paying the athletes.
What about modest opening and closing ceremonies, no new venues – Victoria has plenty – a Games village that could be social housing post-Games. That should get the costs down. – Geoff Weaver
Commenting on Your views: Tuesday July 18
One of your irate pro-landlord letter writers was so enraged by the increased protections available to tenants that they loudly cried out “what’s next – the Government will tell us how we can spend our money!” To which I say – Dude, take a chill pill, government has always had the right to tell you what you can and can’t spend your money on.
Landlords, despite the best efforts of REISA to portray them as ‘Ma and Pa’ investors struggling to make an extra quid, are able to sell the property at a profit (house prices have risen dramatically in the last five years) or they can still have their asset paid off from rents and negative gearing. Tenants on the other hand do the 9-5 slog and half of their wages pay the landlord’s mortgage.
Give me a break, if landlords are rational then they should move their wealth into different investment types and stop complaining that they can’t just evict someone so they can jack up the rent on the next lease. – Tony Clifton
I have been a landlord for over 15 years and rent my properties at a reasonable rent so tenants are able to afford the rent. At around $100 a week under market rate. I know of other landlords who rent at a lower than market rate usually because a good tenant is worth dollars in the bank. Landlords are not all greedy money grabbers.
I would like the Federal Government to introduce a tax deduction for the difference between the lower rent landlords charge as against the market rate they could charge. This would incentivise a percentage of landlords to charge lower market rates for people who need affordable housing. – Philip Altmann
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