Shared and green public spaces are critical to the health of our city and our communities. Public spaces include green parks, hard landscaped areas, drainage infrastructure (like water sensitive urban design treatments), paths and streets. These spaces enhance our physical and mental health, increase the attractiveness of our neighbourhoods, provide habitat for wildlife, and offer many ecosystem functions such as collecting stormwater run-off, regulating temperature, and improving air quality.

Along the Rail Corridor, there are locally significant trees. However, there are not enough street trees in residential and industrial area and more are needed to meet Council’s tree canopy cover goal. Some new trees have been planted along the Rail Corridor by local community groups, making it shadier and more attractive for people and wildlife. The Upfield corridor could be enhanced as north-south habitat link between Royal Park and Princes Park and Fawkner Cemetery and Memorial Park, each with high conservation values.

Existing parks within the Upfield Corridor include Jewell Station Reserve, Lux Way Reserve, Wilson Avenue Pocket Park and the recently opened Bulleke-bek Park and Garrong Park. Council has taken a proactive position and acquired land for new parks being planned at land purchased at 14 Frith Street and 260 Sydney Road under our A Park Close to Home program. A broader range of space for recreation and sport is available at the Brunswick Central Parklands, 500 metres west of the Upfield Corridor. This area is 19 hectares in area and includes a series of parks, sporting fields and facilities. To the south, within the City of Melbourne, is the expansive Royal Park. It is known as a State Open Space.

Local population and housing growth has increased the need for public spaces that serve a range of functions. Streets and bluestone lanes make up most of shared public spaces in the project area. They vary in size and are often narrow, not well connected and in average to poor condition. Significant sections of the Rail Corridor are faced with blank walls, uninteresting buildings, and car parks.

The project area is home to a large number of significant cultural and heritage places, landscapes, and buildings. They include sites of Aboriginal cultural heritage value and post-contact heritage value. The Upfield Railway Precinct is recognised in the Merri-bek (Moreland) Planning Scheme (as Heritage Overlay 180) for its heritage values. It makes special mention of Jewell Station and Brunswick Stations as buildings of particular importance. The Upfield Railway Precinct is also listed on the Victorian Heritage Register, giving its heritage values special protections.