Canberra/Civic



Canberra's downtown area, Civic (officially City) is what is now Walter Burley Griffin's design for a Civic Centre. Established in 1927, this is Canberra's central business district and one of its oldest centres, surrounded by the rest of North Canberra, Acton and Lake Burley Griffin.

Civic is not particularly large and has few tall sky-rise buildings, shockingly few for a city of 450,000. However, it's the only CBD of its size located in inland Australia – the next closest you could find is Toowoomba CBD.

Civic is known by a handful of other names: City, Canberra CBD, or Canberra City Centre; for simplicity, Wikivoyage has chosen to go with "Civic". To add to the merrymaking of inconsistent naming, the sign designers also couldn't agree on a name for consistency.

History
Civic was established in 1927, 14 years after the city was founded. Before Civic was established, there wasn't a clear town or city centre – the closest that resembled anything like one was Queanbeyan town centre, but Queanbeyan is in NSW, not in the ACT.

The area encompasses Burley Griffin's original plan for a Civic Centre with nearby Russell planned to be Canberra's vibrant "Market Centre". However, Russell is now the headquarters of the ADF, resulting in an unexpected abundance of markets and malls in Civic, more than what was anticipated in Burley Griffin's original plan. Due to Civic's constraints with height restrictions and limited space, many larger stores and markets have opted to move to Belconnen, Canberra's second largest town centre (excluding Queanbeyan).

As Civic approaches its centenary, it remains a relatively new central business district. Whilst you'll find an abundance of historic buildings and sites in the CBDs of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane or even tiny little Hobart, there are very few in Civic – many would fail the criteria for being "historic" in Tasmania, perhaps even Sydney, and certainly lacks the antiquity of the Old World (most of it, at least).

The scarcity of true historic buildings have elevated the prominence of the few that are considered historic in a Canberran context. Most of Canberra's important government buildings are in South Canberra, whilst museums are scattered throughout Canberra, leaving only one in Civic. Canberrans also don't tend to pride in these buildings – the Sydney building, for example, may look good on the outside but are in a state of despair on the inside. Despite this, there are only two important historic buildings in Civic, the Sydney and Melbourne buildings – they have their problems, but they do contribute to Civic's architectural character.

Contrary to all the negativity with Canberra's historic sites, there is one thing that Canberra has that most other Australian cities don't have – a town square. Out of the six state capitals (plus Darwin for inclusion's sake), only Adelaide has one: Victoria Square. However, Civic Square was not designed by Burley Griffin (it was completed in 1961, well after Burley Griffin's time) but instead by Yuncken Freeman (an Australian architecture firm) architects, though it was in Griffin's original plan, with the location purposefully chosen to be the centrepiece of Canberra, linking City Hill and Mount Ainslie, which has led to Canberra Theatre and several other government buildings (both federal and territorial government buildings) popping up.

Orientation
The official urban entity designated as the "City" is separated into five distinct districts. Nevertheless, in practical usage, with the exception of NewActon, these district appellations are seldom employed by anyone other than the ACT government. These names have only materialised on road signs and their consistency is notably lacking.

Similarly, while this portion of Canberra bears the name Civic, its presence on signage is shockingly infrequent – instead, you'll primarily see "City". If you're somewhere closer to Civic, signage may direct you to specific facets of Civic, such as City West or City Centre. Curiously, "City Centre" can either refer to the entirety of Civic, or conversely, exclusively the northeastern sector of the district. However, in customary ACT fashion, signage is a dog's breakfast when picking one name for consistency; it remains haphazard and inconsistent.

Read
There are few publicly available books about Civic, and often those that can be found are only found within Canberra. But despite that, it doesn't mean there are few books about Civic – in fact, the National Library of Australia (NLA) in Parliamentary Triangle, South Canberra has a sizable amount about Civic. Many are online-only and can be found on the library's catalogue.
 * Civic: the living city by Tony Powell (ISBN 9780646449487). Not a very popular book but it does go into great depth about Civic's city planning and why Civic is planned the way it is. The book is a bit hard to find though; few bookstores in Civic have the book but it can be found at the airport, or you may want to borrow it online from the National Library of Australia (NLA).

Get in
As with any city's downtown area, Civic is well-connected by both road and public transit.

By bus
All buses to Civic stop at one interchange, ; one of few in Canberra to have both bus and light rail services.

Being in the centre of Canberra, many lines connect to the rest of Canberra. The ideal way to get into Civic by bus is using these R-routes (i.e. the main important routes), which are as follows: There are also other ordinary bus lines. Unlike the R-routes, services are not very frequent, and these routes come from rather obscure or specific places, such as the Australian Defence Force Academy or the National Museum of Australia.
 * from Belconnen to the northwest and the Canberra Outlet Centre in Fyshwick to the southeast. These operate at 12-minute frequencies until the 7:12PM service from Fyshwick.
 * from Canberra Airport to the east, and Spence/Belconnen to the northwest.
 * from Belconnen to the northwest, and Tuggeranong passing South Canberra to the south.
 * from Lanyon Marketplace in Tuggeranong in the south, terminating in Civic.
 * from Woden in the southwest via Barton. If you're arriving from Canberra Railway Station in Kingston, South Canberra, then use this rapid route.
 * from Weston Creek also from the southwest
 * from Molonglo in the southwest

Except for bus line to/from the National Museum of Australia in Acton and the Dickson Shops in North Canberra, all ordinary bus lines terminate at Civic. Otherwise, the ordinary bus routes are as follows:
 * from the Dickson Shops in North Canberra passing Braddon.
 * from several interchanges in Belconnen, including Cohen Street Interchange, Westfield Belconnen and Belconnen Interchange, and a lot of other minor stops along the way. However, if you're coming to Civic from these interchanges, you're better off taking the R2, 3, or 4 lines that don't go the long and convoluted way.
 * from Watson Terminus in North Canberra, passing the Dickson Shops.
 * from Dickson Shops (Dickson Interchange) but passing Lyneham instead.
 * from Majura Business Park near the airport.
 * from the Australian Defence Force Academy passing the Royal Military College.
 * from Fyshwick.
 * from Woden Interchange passing the South Canberra section of Barton.
 * from Lanyon Marketplace in Tuggeranong via Majura Parkway (M23).

By car
Being at the centre of Canberra, Civic is well-connected in several ways. Many are good quality roads, some of which are freeways, though the prime route which many travellers use is Northbourne Avenue from the north.

Northbourne Avenue (A23) is the main artery connecting Civic to NSW. It runs right through the centre of Civic. If you're entering the ACT via the Federal Highway (M23), all you need to do is stay on the same road until you reach Civic. If you're coming from the northern districts – namely, anywhere from Gungahlin, Hall or from New South Wales via the Barton Highway (A25), stay on Barton Highway and once you're at the Federal Hwy/Barton Hwy/Northbourne Ave intersection, turn right onto Northbourne Avenue until you arrive at Civic.

Parkes Way (unnumbered) doesn't exactly pass through Civic but is Civic's southern border, bypassing the city, and the easiest and fastest way if you're coming from Tuggeranong, Weston Creek, Molonglo Valley, and Belconnen. There are three exits along the freeway and one massive roundabout at the end.

Commonwealth Avenue (A23) connects Capital and State Circles to Civic. From Woden, use Adelaide Avenue northeast into South Canberra, which should later spit you out onto Commonwealth Avenue.

From the airport, head west onto Pialligo Drive and then on Morshead Drive. Continue until Coranderrk Street from where you'll need to turn right at the massive roundabout, and then you've arrived at Civic.

And if you're coming back from the snow (i.e., the Snowy Mountains), keep following the Monaro Highway (A23) which later becomes the freeway-grade Majura Parkway (M23), and exit onto Morshead Drive. Once you've taken the exit, turn left until you've arrived at Civic.

By cycle
Despite initiatives from the territorial government to promote travelling to Civic on a bike and ditch the car, it still remains a somewhat-uncommon method of entering Civic for visitors. Nevertheless, if you're keen to hit the pedal, four of Canberra's intracity bike freeways are in Civic: There is a detailed guide to cycling in Civic from Transport Canberra.
 * – largely follows a similar but more westerly alignment to the R1 light rail from Gungahlin. However, unlike the LRT, this cycle path starts at the northern Gungahlin suburbs of Moncrieff and Taylor at the T-intersection with.
 * – the main cycle path from Belconnen.
 * – mostly a loop around Civic (officially named City Loop), but it starts in Acton and ends in Reid.
 * – a loop around Lake Burley Griffin, connecting parts of Molonglo Valley, South Canberra, North Canberra and Acton with Civic, albeit in a somewhat indirect way.

By light rail
Civic has connections from Gungahlin and North Canberra via Northbourne Avenue (A23). From Gungahlin, the route starts at the town centre and heads east for a few metres until it changes direction and heads south, passing Dickson Interchange before terminating at the, just north of the Alinga Street/Northbourne Avenue intersection. The route is fairly short, and services are frequent, so you won't need any special planning ahead to use the light rail.

There are plans to extend the line down southwest towards Woden along either Capital or State Circle and Adelaide Avenue through the middle of the freeway. This project is separated in two stages, with stage 2A connecting Ailinga St station with Commonwealth Park, and stage 2B connecting Commonwealth Park and Woden. Construction started in 2023 with the cloverleaf ramp removal, with stage 2A projected to open in 2027. Stage 2B is much further on the radar and as of March 2024, is only expected to open in 2033.

See
When it comes to things to see, Civic has very little to offer. Unlike Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth or Adelaide, most of Canberra's museums aren't located in Civic but in the areas surrounding Civic such as Acton or South Canberra. Nevertheless, the Civic has some buildings with some unique architecture, making Canberra quite a different CBD compared to other Australian CBDs.

Most of Civic's sights are located in, a small block in 180 London Cct, including the Legislative Assembly building, Canberra Museum and Gallery, Civic Library and Canberra Theatre. Its location was deliberately chosen to be directly in line with Mount Ainslie; if you want to see it for real, stand at the very centre of the lookout, and whilst Anzac Parade will certainly take the spotlight, look a bit to the right and you'll see the square perfectly in line with City Hill and Ainslie Avenue.



There are a few memorials and monuments in Civic, though only a fraction when you compare it to just ANZAC Avenue alone in Campbell, North Canberra. They're not popular destinations, and if you're time-limited, you can see them while driving and still not miss anything important or notable about these memorials and monuments. Civic has its fair share of government offices, both a mix of federal (that's no surprise as it's the ACT) and territory government offices. Most of the territory buildings are of little interest, and if you're, to be honest, would you want to go and visit some random old building that you cannot enter? The same goes with federal, except there aren't any of interest as all of the important ones are in South Canberra.



Do
Civic isn't a place to "do" things. Perhaps humorously, the most strenuous thing is maneuvering around the city, scrambling for parking, or if it's not a very good day, then maybe both. While there have been several entertainment venues that have opened and closed in Civic, many have closed; some like the former Center Cinema have been taken over by dining establishments.

Buy
There are three major shopping precincts in Civic:
 * City Walk (coloured teal on the map) is an outdoor pedestrian mall in Civic that is home to a large range of shopping outlets, alfresco dining and a few bars. The mall is also home to the Canberra Merry-Go-Round and the Canberra Times fountain.
 * Garema Place is not part of City Walk, but it's just a spur from City Walk that also has lots of restaurants and stores. There's also a small hidden path to access it from Bunda Street just next to Gus' Place, but it's very easy to miss.
 * Petrie Plaza is a shorter pedestrian mall that was created in 1965 by pedestrianising Petrie Street. It doesn't have as many stores or dining precincts as City Walk does, but it's got a lot in the centre (whether it be the gardens, sculptures, a carousel etc.).
 * Petrie Plaza is a shorter pedestrian mall that was created in 1965 by pedestrianising Petrie Street. It doesn't have as many stores or dining precincts as City Walk does, but it's got a lot in the centre (whether it be the gardens, sculptures, a carousel etc.).

All three are within the northeast of Civic (within what you see in red under Civic Centre as seen on the map). They're all essentially interconnected and some would argue that City Walk and Petrie Plaza are simply a part of the greater Canberra Centre. If you're just doing some shopping in Canberra, chances are, you might not even realise that you've left Canberra Centre and its "sub-malls" as they're very interconnected.

Do be aware that finding a place to park your car can get very tricky, even on weekends, and it gets chaotic on weekends. There are a few carparks, but these aren't large when you compare them to the average Westfield in the Big 5. In typical ACT fashion, signage is poor and sloppy and you might need to scramble, make a few wrong left turns, have accidentally ended up on the highly pedestrianised Bunda Street (which can take you a few minutes to get from one end to the other) before finally reaching the centre's carparks.

Book and gift stores
If you're a person into books, and souvenirs or want to take some gifts for those back home, Civic has several book and gift stores. Like all other stores in Civic, most are in either Canberra Centre or the pedestrian malls.



Clothing stores
If you're heading out to the Snowies and forgot to bring your puffy jacket or skipants, then need not worry, there are plenty of clothing stores in Civic that'll have them. Clothing as a whole can be a bit more expensive and cheaper than the price you'll find in Sydney at the same time, but range and variety aren't compromised (so no American chains that left Australia for ripping Australians with cheap, old-fashioned clothes or even Australian stores that might have a tendency for slack in regional areas).

Eat
Civic is one of the only places in Canberra where you can find a whole amplitude of ethnic cuisines to eat, with the other being the Dickson Shops just a few kilometres to the north; unlike Dickson, Civic is not limited to Chinese or East/Southeast Asian cuisine, and you can find plenty of flavours from Italy, India, Turkey – you name it.

There are two main precincts in Civic whose specialty is food, plus the Canberra Centre/City Walk.
 * Canberra Centre and City Walk may be known for shopping, but there are a sizable number of restaurants of all kinds.
 * Sydney Building and a few surrounding buildings house several high-end splurge restaurants (and most of Civic's), as well as many Asian and Indian restaurants.
 * City West may look like a continuation of the Civic Centre's, but it's very different – lots of Italian, Japanese (yes, it's Asian, but the Japanese restaurants are somewhat evenly split up), and the further west you go from the Melbourne Building, the more cafes you'll see, reflecting Australia's coffee culture.

Cafes




Drink
Not much differs in Civic when it comes to pubs with the rest of Canberra or even rural New South Wales. However, you may encounter that nearly every bar, club, and pub is closed on Sundays, but there is always some available at Bunda Street if you're desperate for a drink or two on a Sunday.

Sleep
Civic's accommodation is, for the most part, very similar to any other city centre. Generally clean, containing decent facilities (by NSW or Queensland standards), but a bit devoid of budget accommodation and bed and breakfasts. The former is because, well, all the cheap accommodation can be found in Gungahlin, and the latter is because all the B&Bs are located right to the north of Civic in Braddon along Northbourne Avenue.

Connect
There are plenty of places you can go to in Civic that have CBRfree public Wi-Fi, mostly inside restaurants and at the museum. As it's the central business district of a capital city, there is good 5G coverage by all three major providers.

Go next
You probably won't be spending much time in Civic, unless you're here for a business trip or decided to book accommodation here, but as Civic is the centrepiece of Canberra, there are many other places in Canberra easily accessible from Civic, both by car and by public transport.

This list only includes destinations easily accessible on foot.
 * Commonwealth Park is just southeast of Civic and can be reached on foot simply by crossing the bridge over Parkes Way. Next to Commonwealth Park is Blundell's Cottage in Kings Park, an important historic site of Canberra.
 * If you haven't already, go explore Parliamentary Triangle, where most of Canberra's important landmarks are.
 * For university tourers, Australia's top university, the Australian National University (ANU) borders Civic right to the west.
 * This one requires you to go on a little bit of a longer walk, but it's still close by; ANZAC Parade contains most of Canberra's war memorials, including the Australian War Memorial.