I have a dream. A dream of a futurist Melbourne. These thoughts began during my high school years of the mid 1990s. Back then we had changed from the Victorian Caine/Kirner Labor state governments to the brand new Kennett Liberal government.

Jeff Kennett, for all his government achieved (or not), left Victorians with the legacy of some big projects - Crown Casino is probably the best example. My focus here is on the BIG scale projects that generated community attention, and ultimately increased the cosmopolitan feel for Melbourne - in this case - Southbank. Revitalising a previously drab part of Melbourne. My dreams are largely about a cosmopolitan Melbourne - making it a truly world-class city. Fast forward briefly to 2010 - we still have major current issues in Melbourne revolving around PUBLIC TRANSPORT! My dreams would have blown these issues away, and would still have currency in today’s reality.

As an ABC (Aussie born Chinese) I have holidayed regularly in Singapore - 10 trips in total, usually spending a week or so there. My experiences on the Singapore public transport system (MRT & bus) is a large influence on my designs and thoughts. Further, to balance this influence out, I need to make reference to my travels through Europe in September 2009. I visited London and used the tube as my main mode of transport for the 4 days I was there. I travelled the metro in Paris as part of the TopDeck tour group. Thus, I can make the case that I have a reasonable world experience when it comes to commenting on the sorry state of Melbourne’s public transport system. Further, I have also read (and re-read) the Singapore Story, which explains the vision behind Singapore’s success, public transport merely being one aspect of a much bigger picture.

Back to my dream. I didn't just think about an ideal public transport system for Melbourne, I have, over the years drawn maps and even some basic station designs! The purpose of this blog/website is to share these thoughts and thus, I welcome any feedback. This has been a hobby of mine and honestly, I have no idea on the likely level of interest. If this takes off then maybe. I've found a niche... Maybe not...

I need to add here a disclaimer that I am NOT by profession a transport engineer, designer or town planner. My line of work as the main pages of this website should show, is in IT/business consulting. Ok, maybe I can draw upon the common work goal of solving business problems - in this case the problems that government planning and vision should have and be addressing.

I have not done any costings to determine Net Present Values (NPVs) or Return On Investment (ROI); my ideas kinda ignore the cost factor and focus on the ideal state - if we were to do things right, without political or self-interest, what would we Melbournites expect?

A number of other influences on me and my background to explain this whole "dream":

1. Church

I follow Christ, and my home church since young (I learnt to talk in this Christian environment) has been the Church of Christ Fellowship Clayton. At the time of writing (June 2010) the church has vacated the 25 Burton property in preparation for a total rebuilding program. I have also had a separate dream of the ideal church design. That collection of thoughts and designs will be pursued along with this initiative!

2. Years of Education

The fact is I attended Haileybury College. During my time it was an all-boys school and total fees were max $12k... Compare that to the crazy $18k+ you hear these days... It was a very different school to what is today's school. During the 1990s, the school did build their sports complex which ended up being the pool only... We had the big Aikman Hall (we knew it as the Great Hall) so there were some influences on big design. The hall design (built before my time in e early 1980s) has more direct influences on my designs of the ideal church layout.

At Monash Uni, i was exposed to the architecture and size of the Robert Blackwood Hall, the construction of the Sports & Rec facilities, the Science STRIP birth. So, ok, now on reflection I realize there has been a lot of construction programs on the periphery of my life that have subtly infused these thoughts of an ideal Melbourne.

3. Apple

If you were to know me back in 2005, you wouldn't have picked this. My love affair with all things Apple is tied to the Apple principles around their product designs. Steve Jobs knows and understands that products need to work. Apple constantly gains high customer experience and satisfaction results in their surveys. To answer the question that probably pops into your mind, yes - I am typing this on my iPad. On the Glen Waverley train I might add (Now at Richmond, started at Glen Waverley)

Thanks for reading this inaugural article!

[Comments can be emailed to me - nic.lee @ xbop.com.au]