Hobart City Centre
{{About|the area with the postcodes 7000 and 7001 in Tasmania, Australia known as Hobart|the city and metropolitan area, also known as Hobart|Hobart}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox Australian place
| name = Hobart City Centre
| image = NZ7 2609 (46297925524).jpg
| caption = The Hobart City Centre in 2019
| state = Tas
| type = suburb
| lga = City of Hobart
| lga2 =
| local_map = yes
| zoom = 13
| city = Hobart
| est = 1803
| postcode = 7000, 7001
| pop = 3,390
| pop_year = 2021
| pop_footnotes = {{cite web | year = 2021 | url = https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/SAL60276 | title = 2021 Census QuickStats : Hobart (C) - Inner (Statistical Local Area) | publisher = Australian Bureau of Statistics | access-date = 2022-11-23}}
| area = 1.9
| fedgov = Clark
| stategov = Clark
| dist1 =
| location1=
| location2=
| dist2 =
| dist3 =
| location3=
| near-nw = West Hobart
| near-n = North Hobart
| near-ne = Glebe
| near-w = West Hobart
| near-e = Glebe
| near-sw = South Hobart
| near-s = Sullivan's Cove
| near-se = Sullivan's Cove
}}
File:Hobart and Mount Wellington 20171120-039.jpg]]
The Hobart City Centre (referred to as the Hobart CBD) is a suburb surrounded by metropolitan Hobart, 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, the Supreme Court, Franklin Square, the Elizabeth Street Mall, the Royal Hobart Hospital, the Theatre Royal, Odeon Theatre, State Library, the NAB Building, the Museum, and the Cenotaph. The city centre is located in the local government areas of the City of Hobart.
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.{{cite web | year = 2010 | url = http://www.hobartcity.com.au/Publications/Strategies_and_Plans/Affordable_Housing_Strategy_2010-2012 | title = Affordable Housing Strategy 2010-2012 | publisher = Hobart City Council | access-date = 2014-01-04}}{{cite web | year = 2010 | url = http://macquariepoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Doc-L.pdf | title = Hobart- A world class, liveable waterfront city | publisher = Government of Tasmania | access-date = 2014-01-04}} The population of the city centre was 3,390 in 2021.
History
{{Main|History of Hobart}}
Settlement of Greater Hobart spawned from the settlement of Sullivans Cove 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:{{cite web |title=Central Hobart Precincts Plan |url=https://yoursay.hobartcity.com.au/central-hobart-precincts-plan |website=Your Say Hobart |publisher=City of Hobart Council |access-date=13 September 2021}}
- 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) "to increase the supply of housing and reduce pressure for urban sprawl". With a focus on sustainability, 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).{{cite web |title=Central Hobart Precincts Plan UNDERSTANDING CENTRAL HOBART BASELINE REPORT FEBRUARY 2020 |url=https://ehq-production-australia.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/cd5e955ccf9cded45c2309692ce623a293bd2be7/documents/attachments/000/141/876/original/ICPP_Baseline_Report_02.20_V12.pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAIBJCUKKD4ZO4WUUA%2F20210913%2Fap-southeast-2%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20210913T075411Z&X-Amz-Expires=300&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=c0869774f25fd999e7931694bc544b312255230b99cc8728d1b577117d5e7c63 |website=City of Hobart and the Tasmanian Government |access-date=13 September 2021}}
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 buildings, interspersed by parks such as Franklin Square and St Davids Park and historic precincts such as Sullivans Cove and Salamanca Place. 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 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.[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/26392314 One-Way Traffic Proposed] The Examiner 25 April 1947 page 4{{cite book|last=Cooper|first=Ian|title=Trolley Buses of Tasmania|date=1979|publisher=Australian Electric Traction Association|location=Sydney|isbn=0 909459 05 3|page=67}} The streets run on a slightly warped grid pattern in the CBD, due to early planning by Lachlan Macquarie.
Governance
Administratively, the Hobart City Centre falls under the authority of the local government area of the City of Hobart.{{cite web|url=http://www.hobartcity.com.au/Home/|title=Home|publisher=Hobart City Council|access-date=2014-01-04}} The Tasmanian Government also has authority over some aspects of the CBD, in particular the major state controlled roads passing through and around the city.
{{Wide image|Hobart-Panorama-facing-south-west-from-glebe.jpg|800px|The Hobart City Centre at Dawn}}
Commercial area
With the exception of Wrest Point Casino in Sandy Bay, the Hobart CBD contains all of Tasmania’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 {{Convert|58|m|ft|abbr=on}}, however planning restrictions limit future developments to a height of {{Convert|42|m|ft|abbr=on}}. There have been some exceptions to this rule such as Wellington Centre standing at {{Convert|48|m|ft|abbr=on}}{{cite web|url=http://www.hobartcity.com.au/files/dcac42ce-2871-4977-af21-a1d200ebd620/Central_Area_Review_Background_Report_June_2013.pdf|title=Central Area Provisions Background Report|publisher=Hobart City Council|access-date=2014-01-04}} and the new Royal Hobart Hospital K1/K2 Twin Towers{{cite web|url=http://www.themercury.com.au/news/tasmania/builders-named-for-two-new-towers-of-the-royal-hobart-hospital/story-fnj4f7k1-1226708599101|title=Builders named for two new towers of the Royal Hobart Hospital |work=Mercury |publisher=The Mercury|access-date=2014-01-04}}{{cite web|url=http://www.hobartcity.com.au/files/ceece4e2-29c2-4de3-b874-a0cb00fdc973/48_Liverpool_St_RHH_redevelopment.pdf|title=Supporting Assessment Information|publisher=Hobart City Council|access-date=2014-01-04}} which stand at {{Convert|48|m|ft|abbr=on}} 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, Target, Woolworths, H&M, JB-Hi-Fi, Kathmandu and Country Road. In September 2007, a spectacular inner city fire{{cite web|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/devastating-myer-fire-leaves-hobart-reeling/2007/09/23/1190486137334.html|title=Devastating Myer fire leaves Hobart reeling|date=24 September 2007 |publisher=The Age|access-date=2014-01-04}} was responsible for the loss of one of Hobart's Myer buildings and as a result saw the construction of the {{Convert|40|m|ft|abbr=on}} Icon Complex, boasting a 5 level Myer with specialty shops as well as a Hotel with roof top bar.{{cite web|url=http://www.theiconcomplex.com.au/images/icon%20brochure.pdf/|title=Icon Complex|publisher=Kik group|access-date=2014-01-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140815102511/http://theiconcomplex.com.au/images/icon%20brochure.pdf|archive-date=15 August 2014|url-status=dead}}
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 Odeon Theatre, the Playhouse Theatre, and the Theatre Royal.
Every December, the city hosts the conclusion of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race 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 is held at Salamanca Place every Saturday.
See also
{{Portal|Australia}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
{{Hobart suburbs}}
{{Capital city central business districts of Australia}}
{{Coord|42|52|50|S|147|19|30|E|region:AU-TAS_type:city|display=title}}