Senior Geography Project 2011

Senior Geography Project 2011::

The Redevelopment of Top Ryde City.

Topic ::

Aim ::

To see what the redevelopment of Top Ryde City has given the local community.

• Benefits
• Disadvantages

These benefits/disadvantages that i looked for were in terms of public transport facilities, shopping/public facilities and accesibility.

Focus Question ::

Hypothesis::

I think that Top Ryde City will have a generally positive effect on the local community of Ryde. Some aspects may be more beneficial than others, for example, i believe that an improvement of transport services will be more benefical then a large variety of stores.

Method ::

To gather my information, i chose to do a questionnaire rather than a survey to collect information. By asking questions that didnt have just a yes or no question, i was able to get information about their thoughts. For example, rather than just asking, " Has public transport improved since the redevelopment?" and getting a yes or no answer, by asking them WHY they think it has improved, i was to get additional information, and from this information be able to draw general ideas and conclusions.

Using this questionnaire, i went to Top Ryde City Shopping Centre and at nearby bus stops and questioned locals.

Background Info ::

History ::

Top Ryde City was originally called Top Ryde Shopping Centre, and opened on the 14th of November, 1957, on the current site. It was Australia’s second open-air shopping centre.

In 1986, Top Ryde Shopping Centre underwent refurbishments, and was newly opened, Top Ryde Shopping Square. The new shopping centre now consisted of a multi storey carpark, bowling alley.

Successful during its opening years, Top Ryde Shopping Square was dubbed a "dead mall" towards the end of the centres life. Rather than retail stores, a majority of the 90 shops in Top Ryde Shopping Square had become service/ banking stores. As a result of this unsuccess, Top Ryde Shopping Square was completely demolished in September 2007 and rebuilt to be the Top Ryde City that we have today.

Top Ryde City :: General Overview

Top Ryde City occupies a 3.5 hectare block of land surrounded by Blaxland Road, Devlin Street, Pope Street and Tucker Street. The centre has a retail space of 78,125 square metres, located across 6 levels of commerical spacing.

Construction for Top Ryde City began on the 6th of September, 2007. After 2 years of construction, the 1st “stage” of the newly named Top Ryde City was open to the general public on the 5th of November 2009. This first stage featured more than 115 stores, including majors Big W, Woolworths & JB-HIFI.

Its second stage was opened on the 20th February 2010, and featured several speciality stores and supermarket giants Aldi and Franklins.

The third and final stage opened on the 4th August 2010 and consisted of major department store Myer and additional fashion outlets within La Strada, an additional break-way to Top Ryde City.

Top Ryde City houses over 270 stores, features a cinema, a public library and 2 pedestrian overpasses, with one leading to the City of Ryde Council building.

Results ::

Public Transport ::

When asked "Has access to public transport improved after the redevelopment of Top Ryde City?" this was how the locals answered.

Benefits ::

When questioned about public transport facilities, a large majority of the people commented on its overall improvement. A general comment made by many was that the introduction of the Metro, "M" bus routes have greatly improved acessibility to other suburbs and especially the CBD.

Locals have also commented on the improvement of bus regularity and frequency. Buses which were once irregular had improved greatily, for example the 515. A bus which had once recieved complaints, even an article in a paper, now gave locals access to facilities like Ryde Hospital.

Store variety ::

Above is a chart showing the percentage of shops avaliable in Top Ryde City, divided into categories. The 3 main categories of stores avaliable have been underlined in red, being Fashion, Resauraunts & Cafes and Foodcourt/Takeaway.

When asked what stores they frequently visited, a majority of the locals answered Department Stores, Variety Stores, Foodcourt/Takeaway and occasional Fashion Stores, underlined in green.

A common thought found among the locals was that whilst they thought it was great that Top Ryde City had a wide range of stores to visit, a concern was that not all of the shops were affordable, especially some of the higher end clothing stores. Another thing discovered from my research is that whilst 27% of the stores are Fashion related, only 5 out of the 59 shops were Men clothing stores, which lead to the conclusion that Top Ryde City was a more female targetted centre.

Accesibility ::

Accesibility is a major benefit for locals. giving them easy access to a large shopping complex and public facilities like Top Ryde Library. From the questionnaire, many said that its location is one of the main reasons that they visit Top Ryde City. As it is located across the road from Ryde Public School, parents have said that it is a easy place for them to go after picking up the children, and since it is also only a 15 minute walk from Ryde Secondary College, Top Ryde City often has many high school students after school hours.

Preference ::

Whilst there have been many benefits following redevelopment at Top Ryde, its preference over other major shoppng centres was small and minimal. Whilst Top Ryde City had many good facilities and stores, many locals said that the lay out of the centre was an issue, especially the design of the escalators, with many complaining about the distance between each one. Another major complaint was the layout of the parking lot, with many saying that when they first used the carpark, the directions towards exits were too confusing, taking too long to find the suitable exit.

Other major shopping centres like Macquarie Centre were preferred over Top Ryde City because of its proximity to a train station, the wider range of bus routes avaliable and its proximity to Macquarie University and it's library.

Another reason major shopping centres like Macquarie were preferred was that in the eyes of locals, the shops avaliable were more affordable, with better sales and more diverse range of shops. Comments about layout was also mentioned, with a lot of locals saying the arrangement of shops and escalators/lifts were more convenient and accessible than those at Top Ryde City.

Limitation & Problems ::

Limitations & Problems ::

Limitations i faced when completing my SGP was the amount of questions i asked, and the detailed-ness of the response as i wanted to keep the questioning short and simple.

Another limitation was the people that i asked. Because most of my questioning was done after school, there weren't a very diverse range of people i could question, and most of the people i ended up questioning were students who had just finished school, or parents of children. This also caused a few problems as some of the people i asked, particularly some students, didn't take the questions seriously and weren't co-operative/helpful.

Another limitation, similar to the people i asked, was where i did my questionnaires. Rather than going to nearby shopping centres like Macquarie and Rhodes, i only went to Top Ryde City. By limiting myself to a small area, i wasnt able to get a wide range of answers and opinions.

The End.

My focus question became ::

"How has the redevelopment of Top Ryde City affected the local community?"