Brisbane Urban structure – Great for Brisbane Aerial Photography

The Brisbane central business district (CBD) lies in a curve of the Brisbane river. The CBD covers 2.2 km2 (0.8 sq mi) and is walkable. Central streets are named after members of the rotal famaily, Queen street is Brisbane’s traditional main street. Streets named after female members (Adelaide, Alice, Ann, Charlotte, Elizabeth, Margaret, Mary) run parallel to Queen street and Queen street Mall (named in honour of Queen Victoria) and perpendicular to streets named after male members (Albert, Edward, George, William). The city has retained some heritage buildings dating back to 1820s. The Old Windmill, in Wickham Park, built by convict labour in 1824,is the oldest surviving building in Brisbane. The Old Windmill was originally used for the grinding of grain and a punishment for the convicts who manually operated the grinding mill. The Old Windmill tower’s other significant claim to fame, largely ignored, is that the first television signals in the southern hemisphere were transmitted from it by experimenters in April 1934 – long before TV commenced in most places. These experimental TV broadcasts continued until World War II.The Old Commissariat Store, on William Street, built by convict labour in 1828, was originally used partly as a grainhouse, has also been a hostel for immigrants and used for the storage of records. Built with Brisbane tuff from the nearby Kangaroo Point Cliffs and sandstone from a quarry near today’s Albion Park Racecourse, it is now the home of the Royal Historical Society of Brisbane. It contains a museum and can also be hired for small functions. The city has a density of 379.4 people per square kilometre, which is high for an Australian city and comparable to that of Sydney. However like many western cities, Brisbane sprawls into the greater metropolitan area. This results from the fact that most of Brisbane’s housing stock consists of detached houses.

Early legislation decreed a minimum size for residential blocks resulting in few terrace housesbeing constructed in Brisbane. Recently the density of the city and inner city neighbourhoods has increased with the construction of apartments, with the result that the population of the central business district has doubled over the last 5 years.The high density housing that historically existed came in the form of miniature Queenslander-style houses which resemble the much larger traditional styles but are sometimes only one quarter the size. These miniature Queenslanders are becoming scarce but can still be seen in the inner city suburbs. Multi residence accommodations (such as apartment blocks) are relatively new to Brisbane, with few such blocks built before 1970, other than in inner suburbs such as New Farm. Pre-1950 housing was often built in a distinctive architectural style known as a Queenslander, featuring timber construction with large verandes and high ceilings. The relatively low cost of timber in South-East Queensland meant that until recently most residences were constructed of timber, rather than brick or stone. Many of these houses are elevated on stumps (also called “stilts”), that were originally timber, but are now frequently replaced by steel or concrete. Brisbane is home to several of Australias tallest buildings. Brisbane’s tallest buildings are Soleil at 243 metres, Auroa Tower at 207 metres, Riparian Plaza at 200 metres, One One One Eagle street at 195 metres, and Infinity, at 262 metres, which is currently under construction