Brisbane CBD | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Brisbane CBD, looking across the Brisbane River from South Brisbane, 2020 | |||||||||||||
  Brisbane CBD Location in metropolitanBrisbane | |||||||||||||
| Coordinates:27°28′04″S153°01′34″E / 27.4677°S 153.0261°E /-27.4677; 153.0261 (City of Brisbane (centre of suburb)) | |||||||||||||
| Country | Australia | ||||||||||||
| State | Queensland | ||||||||||||
| City | Brisbane | ||||||||||||
| LGA | |||||||||||||
| Location | |||||||||||||
| Established | 1825 | ||||||||||||
| Government | |||||||||||||
| • State electorate | |||||||||||||
| • Federal division | |||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||
• Total | 2.5 km2 (0.97 sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||
| • Total | 12,587 (2021 census)[3] | ||||||||||||
| • Density | 5,030/km2 (13,040/sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Time zone | UTC+10:00 (AEST) | ||||||||||||
| Postcode | 4000 | ||||||||||||
| County | Stanley | ||||||||||||
| Parish | North Brisbane | ||||||||||||
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TheBrisbane central business district (CBD), officiallyBrisbane City, is the centralsuburb andcentral business district ofBrisbane, the state capital ofQueensland, Australia.[4] It is also colloquially referred to as the "CBD", "the city", or simply "town". The CBD is located on a point on the northern bank of theBrisbane River, historically known asMeanjin,Mianjin orMeeanjin in the localYuggera dialect.[5] The triangular-shaped peninsula is bounded by themedian of the Brisbane River to the east, south and west.[6] The point, known at its tip asGardens Point, slopes upward to the north-west where the city is bounded by parkland and the inner city suburb ofSpring Hill to the north. The CBD is bounded to the north-east by the suburb ofFortitude Valley. To the west the CBD is bounded byMilton,Petrie Terrace, andKelvin Grove.
In the2021 census, the suburb of Brisbane City had a population of 12,587 people.[3]
The Brisbane central business district is an area of densely concentrated skyscrapers and other buildings, interspersed by several parks such asRoma Street Parklands,City Botanic Gardens andWickham Park. It occupies an area of 1.367 km2. The city is laid out according to a grid pattern surveyed during the city's early colonial days, a feature typical of most Australian street patterns.
Most central streets are named after members of theHouse of Hanover.Queen Street (named in honour ofQueen Victoria) is Brisbane's traditionalmain street and contains its largestpedestrian mall, theQueen Street Mall. Streets named after female members (Adelaide,Alice,Ann,Charlotte,Elizabeth,Margaret, andMary) run parallel toQueen Street and perpendicular to streets named after male members (Albert,Edward,George, andWilliam).
The CBD'ssquares includeKing George Square,Post Office Square andANZAC Square (home to the city's centralwar memorial).
The Brisbane central business district was built on a spur of theTaylor Range with the highest spot in the suburb beingWickham Terrace.[7]North Quay is an area in the CBD that was a landing point during the first European exploration of theBrisbane River.
Petrie Bight is a reach of theBrisbane River (27°27′49″S153°02′06″E / 27.4636°S 153.0351°E /-27.4636; 153.0351 (Petrie Bight)),[8] which gives its name to the small pocket of land centred on the area under theStory Bridge's northern point, around the Brisbane River toAdmiralty Towers II. The location was originally known as Petrie Gardens and was an early settlement farm, one of two that provided food for the colony.[9] The site was named afterAndrew Petrie and has been the base for water police and in earlier times wharves.[10] The location ofCustoms House and the preference for wharves was due to the site being directly downstream from the central business district.[10]
Wharf Street Baptist Church opened at 38 Wharf Street (corner of Adelaide Street,27°27′55″S153°01′47″E / 27.4652°S 153.0296°E /-27.4652; 153.0296 (Baptist Church (1859))) on 6 February 1859. It was the firstBaptist church to be built in Queensland, the Brisbane congregation having previously met in a range of public buildings since forming in 1855. It was designed in theEarly Italianate style and was built byAndrew Petrie. The church was 57 by 34 feet (17 by 10 m) and could accommodate 250 people. The cost was £2000 for the land and building, but part of the cost was covered by donations, e.g.Thomas Blacket Stephens partially donated the land. In 1881, the church was enlarged, but the need for further growth resulted in a decision to build a new church, theCity Tabernacle inWickham Terrace. The Wharf Street church was sold, holding its last service on 5 October 1890 with the tabernacle being dedicated on 9 October 1890.[11][12][13][14] The building is no longer extant. On Tuesday 25 May 2021, a Baptist Historic plaque was placed at the site to commemorate the church.[15][16]
On 2 April 1860, theQueensland Government opened its first school, the Brisbane National School in Adelaide Street under headmaster John Rendall with an initial enrolment of 50 boys and 8 girls.[17]
A congregation of the Church of Christ was established on 23 September 1883 in the Brisbane central area. In the late 1890s the congregation purchased 430 Ann Street (27°27′46″S153°01′49″E / 27.4628°S 153.0302°E /-27.4628; 153.0302 (Your Church (Church of Christ))) to establish their first church, still operating as at 2021 under the name Your Church.[18][19][20][21]
The Brisbane City Library opened in 1965, moving intoBrisbane Square in 2006.[22]
The city centre was damaged by the2010–2011 floods.[23]
In the2016 census, Brisbane City had a population of 9,460 people.The most common countries of birth other than Australia were China 16.0%, South Korea 8.3%, England 3.7%, Taiwan 3.2% and Brazil 2.8%. 43.7% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 12.3%, Korean 7.7%, Cantonese 3.6%, Spanish 2.9% and Portuguese 2.7%. The most common responses for religion were No Religion 43.0% and Catholic 16.8%.[24]
In the2021 census, Brisbane City had a population of 12,587 people.[3]
There are no schools in the central business district. The nearest government primary schools areBrisbane Central State School in neighbouringSpring Hill to the north andPetrie Terrace State School inPaddington to the north-west. The nearest government secondary schools areFortitude Valley State Secondary College in neighbouringFortitude Valley to the north-east andKelvin Grove State College in neighbouringKelvin Grove to the north.[25]
Queensland University of Technology has its major campus at Gardens Point (27°28′36″S153°01′41″E / 27.4767°S 153.0281°E /-27.4767; 153.0281 (Queensland University of Technology (Gardens Point Campus))), located betweenParliament House, the City Botanic Gardens, and the Brisbane River.[26] It hosts an art gallery and operatesOld Government House as a museum; both of these and other facilities are open to the public.[27]
A number of other universities have premises in the Brisbane CBD for events, networking, and short courses, but their major teaching and research facilities are not in the CBD.[28][29][30][31][32]
Up until 1964, a Brisbane City Council regulation limited building heights to 132 ft (40 m).[33] Some of the first skyscrapers built in the CBD include the SGIO building (nowSuncorp Plaza) in 1970 andAMP Place in 1977. Other notable openings included Comalco Place (1984), Riverside Place (1986), the two towers of Central Plaza (1988 and 1989), and Waterfront Place (1990).[34]
In the last few decades the number ofapartment buildings that have been constructed has increased substantially. Brisbane is home to several ofAustralia's tallest buildings. Brisbane's tallest buildings areBrisbane Skytower at 270 metres,The One at 264 metres, One William Street at 260 metres,Soleil at 243 metres,Aurora Tower at 207 metres,Riparian Plaza at 200 metres,One One One Eagle Street at 195 metres, andInfinity at 249 metres, which was completed in 2014.
The Brisbane CBD is one of the major business hubs in Australia.[35] The City contains many tall office buildings occupied by organisations, businesses and all three levels of government that have emerged into a number of precincts. The areas around theQueen Street Mall and Adelaide Street is primarily a retail precinct. A legal precinct exists around the various court buildings located around the intersections ofGeorge Street andAdelaide andAnn Streets.
The government precinct was an area centred on theExecutive Building that includes manyQueensland Government offices.111 George Street,Mineral House, andEducation House are also located here.1 William Street was completed in 2016, now serving the role of the former Executive Building. The Executive Building and Neville Bonner building were demolished for the state's largest infrastructure project. Anurban renewal project based around theQueen's Wharf megaproject is under construction along the southern end of William Street, which includes a pedestrian bridge crossing theRiverside Expressway.[36]
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Like most other Australian capital cities, Brisbane hasexperienced dramatic rises in rental prices for residential and office space before theGreat Recession. At the beginning of 2008, the Brisbane central business district contained 1.7 million square metres of office space.[37]High demand in the office market had pushed vacancy rates in the Brisbane CBD to 0.7% by January 2008, the lowest in Australia.[37] Premium grade office space was even less vacant with an occupancy rate of 99.9%. By the end of 2009 the situation had reversed. In mid 2013 the market for office space had declined to its worst position in two decades with a vacancy rate of just under 13%.[38]
Major landmarks and attractions in the CBD includeCity Hall (including theMuseum of Brisbane), theStory Bridge, theHoward Smith Wharves,ANZAC Square,St John's Cathedral, theBrisbane River and itsRiverwalk network, theCity Botanic Gardens,Roma Street Parkland,Queensland Parliament House,Old Government House andCustoms House.
Brisbane has manyheritage-listed sites, including:
By road, four road bridges connect the CBD with the southern bank of the Brisbane River: theCaptain Cook Bridge, theVictoria Bridge, theWilliam Jolly Bridge and theGo Between Bridge. TheStory Bridge connects Fortitude Valley withKangaroo Point and provides access to the city from the southern bank. The Captain Cook Bridge connects thePacific Motorway, south of the river, with theRiverside Expressway which runs along the south western edge of the city. Heading under and bypassing the CBD is theClem Jones Tunnel. Because on-street car parking is in high demand, parking meters are installed across the inner city.[51]
By bicycle and foot, theGoodwill Bridge allows cross river access to South Bank. The Kurilpa Bridge allows cross river access from North Quay to South Brisbane. Cyclists and pedestrians may also cross while using the Victoria, William Jolly, Go Between and Story road bridges. TheKangaroo Point Green Bridge is being built between the CBD and Kangaroo Point.
The Brisbane central business district is the central hub for all public transport services in Brisbane. Bus services are centred on theQueen Street bus station andKing George Square busway station. Suburban train services pass throughCentral railway station, andRoma Street railway station. Roma Street also serves as the terminus for long distance and country services. The central business district is served by various city ferries. Brisbane'sCityCat high speed ferry service, popular with tourists and commuters, operates services along theBrisbane River between theUniversity of Queensland and Northshore Hamilton, stopping at several CBD wharves.
TheBrisbane Riverwalk, a pedestrian and cyclist pathway adjoins the central business district along the river bank.[52]
The Brisbane CBD has featured in a number of films, including:
