The Brisbane central business district (CBD), or 'the City' is located on a point on the northern bank of the Brisbane River. The triangular shaped area is bounded by the Brisbane River to the east, south and west. The point, known at its tip as Gardens Point, slopes upward to the north-west where 'the city' is bounded by parkland and the inner city suburb of Spring Hill to the north. The City is bounded to the north-east by the suburb of Fortitude Valley.

Geography

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. As a general rule, the streets aligned northwest-south east are named after male members of the House of Hanover, while the northeast-south west aligned streets are named after female members. Queen Street was the central roadway, that was turned into a pedestrian mall. It forms the pivotal axis for the grid of roads within the district.

Attractions

The City contains many tall office buildings occupied by corporations and government departments. The areas around the Queen Street Mall and Adelaide Street is primarily a retail precinct. A legal precinct exists around the various court buildings located around the intersections of George Street and Adelaide and Ann Streets. A financial district is forming in the area around Eagle Street, known locally as The Golden Triangle.

The southern end of the CBD is the location of Queensland's Parliament House, the Queensland University of Technology Gardens Point Campus and the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens.

Buildings

Skyscrapers in the CBD include mostly office towers and some hotels. In the last few decades the number of apartment buildings that have been constructed has increased substantially. The tallest building in the city is Aurora Tower (207 m) followed by Riparian Plaza (200 m). Other notable skyscrapers include Brisbane Square, Central Plaza, Waterfront Place and the Riverside Centre. Vision Brisbane, under contruction since mid 2007, will become the tallest building in the city at 283 m tall.

Transport

By road, three road bridges connect the CBD with the southern bank of the Brisbane River: the Captain Cook Bridge, the Victoria Bridge, and the William Jolly Bridge. The Story Bridge connects Fortitude Valley with Kangaroo Point and provides access to the city from the southern bank. The Captain Cook Bridge connects the Pacific Motorway, south of the river, with the Riverside Expressway which runs along the south western edge of the City.

By bicycle and foot, the Goodwill Bridge allows cross river access to South Bank.

The Brisbane central business district is the central hub for all public transport services in Brisbane. Bus services are centred on the Queen Street Bus Station and King George Square bus station. Suburban train services pass through Central railway station, and Roma 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's CityCat high speed ferry service, popular with tourists and commuters, operates services along the Brisbane River between the University of Queensland and Brett's Wharf, stopping at several CBD wharves.

The Brisbane Riverwalk, a pedestrian and cyclist pathway adjoins the central business district along the river bank.

Brisbane CBD in Filming and Television

• Inspector Gadget 2, the sequel to Inspector Gadget, featured many scenes showing the Brisbane CBD, South Bank and Kangaroo Point.
• The Marine, a film featuring John Cena, featured the Golden Triangle district of the CBD, during a scene in which an explosion occurred.
• Fool's Gold, a 2008 film featured the CBD primarily the Botanic Gardens throughout the beginning of the film.
• One of Jackie Chan's first movies, First Strike, featured the city in many scenes to the end of the film from Fortitude Valley, east of the CBD.

References

Further reading

• Petrie-Terrace Brisbane 1858-1988 - Its ups and downs, R. Fisher, Boolarong, 1988 ISBN 0 86439 050 5

External links

• BRISbites: Suburban Sites (History)