Victoria Square in SA has been long neglected. It is the centre of the CBD but rather than being a public square that is a gathering place it is a dead centre killed by cars. It looks the same as it did back in the 1950s. Now the Adelaide City Council has announced a revitalization programme by a special design team:

The square's northern half is an open space for large events with a giant jumbo screen, whilst the southern half becomes a public garden including a Kaurna Aboriginal heritage centre, cafes and wetland. The Grote-Wakefield streets east west crossing in the middle of the square remains open to daily traffic, as does the Traffic around the square, which will be reduced to a uniform three lanes, including one bus lane.

Why no tunnels? Since the car is not rolled back to make way for the movement of people what we have is a facelift of the existing square, rather than a shift to a piazza where there are no cars. It represents a failure of nerve and a lack of political courage.