Designs endorsed for Kings Way undercroft park as long-awaited Southbank project takes shape

Long-discussed plans to transform the neglected space beneath Kings Way in Southbank into a major new recreation and community hub have taken a significant step forward.

The City of Melbourne formally endorsed the developed design for the City Rd Northern Undercroft at its April 21 Future Melbourne Committee meeting, in a step the Lord Mayor Nick Reece described as “an incredible bit of urban design”.

The project, a key action item of the City Road Master Plan, will convert the former taxi queuing area beneath the overpass into a 4500-sqm public open space with sports courts, skate facilities, bouldering walls, seating, planting and youth-oriented play areas. It sits just north of City Rd near Boyd Community Hub and library, in one of the densest parts of Southbank.

Presenting the design update to councillors, City of Melbourne director of city design Luke Flanagan said the project responded directly to years of community calls for more active recreation space in Southbank.

We’ve heard a strong desire from the community for spaces of active recreation within Southbank, he said, pointing to requests for skate spaces, climbing and bouldering walls, sports courts, group fitness spaces and play areas.

The final design has evolved considerably since councillors first approved the concept in May 2025. According to the management report, the updated plan now includes a teen-oriented play space to complement the youth-focused playspace at Boyd Park, a roller skate rink with a planted centre, bouldering walls, one half basketball court, one half netball court, a concrete street-style skate park and plaza, passive seating areas, quiet zones and expanded low-level planting.

The spatial plan of the report shows how those uses will be distributed through the undercroft, including a skate plaza at the northern end, courts in the centre, a roller rink and skate loop, and quieter planted areas and seating zones to the south. One diagram highlights how people will move into, through and out of the space, with pedestrian movement carefully planned around existing ramps, carpark entries and surrounding streets.

Safety has been a major focus of the design. The council’s report says the project will improve lighting, activation and safety camera coverage, while Mr Flanagan told councillors the City had worked with crime prevention specialists, Victoria Police and the Southbank Safety and Security Committee to ensure the space could operate safely throughout the day and night.

Lord Mayor Nick Reece said the project had been discussed for many years and described it as a landmark moment for Southbank.

“I truly think this is going to be a project which the design files around the world will come to see,” he said, likening it to celebrated undercroft renewal projects such as The Bentway in Toronto and the West Bund in Shanghai. He added that the scheme could set a major precedent for future undercroft renewals elsewhere in Melbourne.

“If we can pull it off here with City Road Undercroft, there are many, many further kilometres of undercroft which we can work on as part of stage 2, stage 3 and beyond,” he said.

The project has secured $4.05 million through the federal government’s Thriving Suburbs Program thanks to the support of Federal Macnamara MP Josh Burns, with the City funding the remainder. Detailed design and approvals are expected to be completed by mid-2026, with construction anticipated to begin in late 2026 and finish in mid to late 2027, subject to approvals from the Department of Transport and Planning and Melbourne Water.

For Southbank, it marks the most concrete sign yet that one of its most forgotten pieces of city infrastructure is finally on track to become something far more useful: a genuine public place. •