tag:theconversation.com,2011:/africa/topics/future-west-30248/articlesFuture West – The Conversation2019-06-16T20:01:24Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1167372019-06-16T20:01:24Z2019-06-16T20:01:24ZCaring for Country: how remote communities are building on payment for ecosystem services<p>The <a href="https://www.iied.org/markets-payments-for-environmental-services">payment for ecosystem services</a> (PES) model is supporting a new wave of self-determined construction on Aboriginal homelands. </p>
<p>With <a href="http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/IndigLawB/2009/35.html">no secure strategy</a> for government infrastructure investment in homelands, particularly in <a href="https://dlghcd.nt.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/151793/HomeLands_Policy_QA_30_April.pdf">new housing</a> or <a href="http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/AUIndigLawRw/2015/4.pdf">new homelands</a>, PES provides an alternative approach to support meaningful livelihoods on Country. Importantly, revenue from PES can support self-determined and appropriate building there.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/building-in-ways-that-meet-the-needs-of-australias-remote-regions-106071">Building in ways that meet the needs of Australia’s remote regions</a>
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<p>PES can attract funding from government, such as for ranger programs, and from private sources, in the form of carbon credits and <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-corporate-social-responsibility-and-does-it-work-89710">corporate social responsibility</a> funds. <a href="http://www.unrisd.org/unrisd/website/document.nsf/(httpPublications)/27529D10F92E00DFC12579F200553BAF?OpenDocument">Research</a> suggests it’s also “crucial for improving social outcomes for Indigenous communities”.</p>
<p>Other <a href="https://www.academia.edu/38523845/Reconceptualising_Ecosystem_Services_Possibilities_for_cultivating_a%20%20%20%20nd_valuing_the_ethics_and_practices_of_care_Jackson_S._and_Palmer_L._">researchers argue</a> that PES is “most effective” on remote Aboriginal homelands and outstation settlements where it fundamentally values cultural knowledge and where the vastness of the landscape allows for economies of scale. </p>
<p>Indigenous PES enterprises can harness both traditional Indigenous knowledge and contemporary science for land management that improves environmental quality. Examples include activities like carbon abatement, feral animal management and biodiversity conservation and restoration.</p>
<p>On remote Aboriginal land, PES is often one of the few enterprise opportunities. That’s due to such restrictions as distance from economic centres, poor access, skilled labour shortages and <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2017C00178">limitations</a> on Aboriginal land tenure, in particular the limited capital and security held. <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2016C00111">Commonwealth</a> <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2017C00178">laws</a> prevent the buying and selling of this land. </p>
<h2>The example of Kabulwarnamyo outstation</h2>
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<span class="caption">Kabulwarnamyo outstation is a remote settlement of about 50 people on Nawarddeken Country in West Arnhem Land, Northern Territory.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hannah Robertson (2015)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<span class="caption">Kabulwarnamyo is a remote community in West Arnhem Land.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Google Maps</span></span>
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<p>Kabulwarnamyo outstation displays how PES activities simultaneously cause and provide a way of meeting the demand for buildings on remote Aboriginal land. And often this happens in ways that are more responsive to the local context than current government-provided alternatives.</p>
<p>Kabulwarnamyo is a small outstation of about 50 people on Warddeken Country in West Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, about an eight-hour drive from Jabiru. It is extremely remote and cut off for up to five months of the year during the wet season. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.mca.com.au/artists-works/artists/bardayal-lofty-nadjamerrek/">Established in 2002</a>, Kabulwarnamyo is managed by the not-for-profit company <a href="https://www.warddeken.com/">Warddeken Land Management</a>. This followed the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission’s (ATSIC) <a href="http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/AUIndigLawRw/2015/4.pdf">moratorium on creating new homelands</a> due to the Australian government no longer funding the building of houses on them. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/who-decides-a-question-at-the-heart-of-meaningful-reconciliation-41752">Who decides? A question at the heart of meaningful reconciliation</a>
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<span class="caption">The self-built office at Kabulwarnamyo includes doors painted with totems in the traditional X-ray style.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hannah Robertson (2015)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>PES activities – namely <a href="https://www.warddeken.com/about">carbon abatement and biodiversity conservation</a> – are the core business of Warddeken. However, it also built 14 dwellings on the outstation using an A$80,000 grant from the NT government and PES funds from the sale of carbon credits to multinational energy company ConocoPhillips. </p>
<p>The flexibility of the carbon credit funds meant Warddeken could build in ways that directly responded to the needs of the people, rather than adhering to centrally determined regulations, which typically drive up building costs.</p>
<p>To establish Kabulwarnamyo, the Warddeken rangers, who are traditional owners and residents of the outstation, self-built an office and 14 balabbala (traditional Warddeken shade shelters). A number of versions have been developed over time. Each balabbala consists of a raised timber platform floor on steel rails with local cypress pine posts and two trucking tarpaulins as a roof. </p>
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<span class="caption">An early version of the balabbala at Kabulwarnamyo. The double-layered tarpaulin shades provide cross-flow ventilation and reduce passive heat gain.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hannah Robertson (2015)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>Dome or safari tents are pitched on the platforms to provide sleeping spaces and privacy for occupants. The structures have solar-powered electricity and hotplates for cooking using bottled gas. A creek-fed pump provides water. A separate structure houses a shower and long-drop toilet. </p>
<p>Excluding wages for construction staff, each balabbala costs A$15,000. These simple structures do not adhere to public housing standards, but do meet crucial local needs. The balabbala project has allowed Warddeken rangers to conduct PES activities and maintain cultural connections to Wardekken Country in the absence of government funding for services support.</p>
<h2>Evolving to meet local community needs</h2>
<p>As Warddeken’s business has developed, so too have the building typologies. In 2015, Warddeken <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-22/remote-nt-indigenous-community-opens-own-school/6639220">self-built a school</a> to enable children to also return to living on Country. The school is a modified and extended balabbala, built using Warddeken Land Management core funds. </p>
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<span class="caption">The Kabulwarnamyo school is a modified balabbala with a central truss that eliminates the need for a central pole.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hannah Robertson (2015)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>A crowdfunding campaign raised ongoing teaching funds. Financing the running costs of the school remains a challenge. Unlike remote non-Indigenous townships, there is little NT government support for homeland education. </p>
<p>The school, like the balabbalas, represents this community’s reinvestment of PES-derived funds to meet their crucial needs in innovative ways. The <a href="https://www.nawarddekenacademy.com/projects">Nawarddeken Academy</a> was formally registered as an independent school in December 2018. It is clear these unconventional buildings are fit for purpose and satisfy the registration requirements of the NT Department of Education.</p>
<p>PES-enabled balabbala are not the ideal solution for building development on homelands. But here they are appropriate because they are simple and largely suited to the environment and the cost of building them matches available funds. Warddeken CEO Shaun Ansell has said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>What we do at Kabulwarnamyo is appropriate for our resourcing, environment and capacity, but it’s not proper housing. If we had the capacity to build beautiful mud brick houses for everyone we would.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There are long-term plans to improve the balabbala using locally sourced stone for half-walling. This will retain the structures’ passive ventilation properties while improving protection during the wet season and cold weather. The structures can therefore be seen as staged projects, improved as resources become available.</p>
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<span class="caption">A newer version balabbala under construction. The rails are now steel so the structure lasts longer and the white tarp has higher reflectivity than the darker versions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hannah Robertson (2015)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>Most importantly, the balabbala provide significant social returns to local Nawarddeken. A <a href="https://www.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/publications/Warddeken%20SROI.docx">2014 report by Social Ventures Australia</a>, commissioned by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, documented significant social, environmental, economic and cultural benefits as a result of PES investments at Kabulwarnamyo. It estimated the value of these outcomes at A$55.4 million for the financial years 2009-15 – a return on investment of $3.40 for every dollar invested.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/want-to-boost-aboriginal-financial-capability-spend-time-in-communities-99210">Want to boost Aboriginal financial capability? Spend time in communities</a>
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<h2>Lessons from the Warddeken experience</h2>
<p>The Warddeken experience shows us the policy conditions that could support building and PES enterprises on other remote Aboriginal lands. These are:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>implementing government policies that recognise, or at least do not inhibit, self-driven building initiatives</p></li>
<li><p>loosening restrictions on using PES carbon credits and Working on Country funds to support building that directly responds to needs arising from living on Country</p></li>
<li><p>providing incentives for urban-based corporates to support remote PES partners and a widespread environmental strategy</p></li>
<li><p>recognising the value PES creates beyond an environmental return</p></li>
<li><p>continuing government support for PES economies in remote Australia.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>As Warddeken has shown, buildings play a critical role in enabling PES. The flip side of this is that PES supports building in response to locally identified needs. </p>
<p>PES provides extensive environmental benefits, but it is the broader social and cultural returns, such as maintaining connections to Country and creating sustainable livelihoods, that are most meaningful on remote Aboriginal land.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The Conversation is co-publishing articles with <a href="http://www.alva.uwa.edu.au/community/futurewest">Future West (Australian Urbanism)</a>, produced by the University of Western Australia’s Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts. These <a href="https://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?keyWords=%22Future+West%22&type=">biannual collections of articles</a> look towards the future of urbanism, taking Perth and Western Australia as its reference point. The latest series looks at the notion that urbanism is shaped by design enterprise. You can read other articles <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/future-west-30248">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/116737/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hannah Robertson works for Monash University.</span></em></p>We now have a proven model for supporting self-determined building on Aboriginal homelands. The next question is how can its reach be extended?Hannah Robertson, Innovation Fellow and Lecturer, Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1167352019-05-23T20:00:27Z2019-05-23T20:00:27ZTaming wild cities: the tall buildings of Australia show why we need strong design guidelines<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275995/original/file-20190522-187157-1dlolkp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Towering canyons of concrete and glass are an increasingly dominant feature of fast-growing cities like Melbourne.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/skyscrapers-against-blue-sky-downtown-melbourne-307186025?src=S3BLnQ-VXmqb6Y4Ylb4XEg-1-4&studio=1">ymgerman/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Private enterprise has shaped the skylines of Australia’s cities, and the names of their highest towers reflect this. The towers of Sydney shout finance: Deutsche Bank, MLC, Ernst & Young, ANZ, Suncorp. The tall buildings of Perth read like a mining index: BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Woodside. In Melbourne, residential skyscrapers for investors make up the mass of new development, with names like Aurora, Verve, Empire and Vision – names that are timeless (and placeless).</p>
<p>The recent transformation of Australian city centres makes them appear unruly and wild, with their gilded towers, curtain walls compiled from a cladding company catalogue, and hybrid building types. Two-storey Victorian-era fronts abutt six-storey apartment buildings, or are completely engulfed by towers. This bricolage, paired with aspirational branding, creates the impression that property developers and financiers are the main drivers and shapers of this “anything goes” approach to urban development.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275873/original/file-20190522-187165-55jxlq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275873/original/file-20190522-187165-55jxlq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275873/original/file-20190522-187165-55jxlq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275873/original/file-20190522-187165-55jxlq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275873/original/file-20190522-187165-55jxlq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275873/original/file-20190522-187165-55jxlq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275873/original/file-20190522-187165-55jxlq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">New residential towers along Melbourne’s Elizabeth Street as viewed from Queen Victoria Market.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/NlN78jXybSo">Shawn Ang/Unsplash</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is partly true. Market-driven development has always played a leading role in the urban settlement of Australia. But markets operate within a framework of rules that mitigate the negatives of urban development for the public good. </p>
<p>Governments have a key role in setting policies, rules and regulations that steer those driving urban development through the morass of planning policies, design guidelines and codes for buildings. Within these planning mechanisms, government actions should reflect the standards and expectations of the communities they represent.</p>
<p>So why is there such a gulf between what the centres of Australian cities look like, including their public spaces, and community expectations? Part of the problem is the lack of guidance about quality design during the planning and design phase and the consistent decision-making necessary to achieve it.</p>
<h2>Take Melbourne, for example</h2>
<p>Nowhere is this more obvious than some of Melbourne’s recently built tall towers.</p>
<p>Over the two decades up to 2015 there was a lack of strong regulation of planning schemes around taller buildings. In 1999 – when the economy was sluggish –
the state government removed density controls from the city centre to allow maximum flexibility in property development. </p>
<p>These controls had established a maximum floor area ratio (FAR) of 12:1. This means that if a site has an area of 1,000 square metres, the construction of 12,000 square metres of floor space is allowed. It might be a building built across the whole site to 12 storeys, or a building on half the site to 24 storeys. </p>
<p>It is only by chance that Melbourne’s height limit was set between 265 metres and 315 metres, so that buildings did not intrude into aircraft flight paths.</p>
<p>The soaring heights of Melbourne’s buildings are not necessarily a major problem. The new residential towers take their share of the 100,000-plus new residents who move to Greater Melbourne each year, and these people are <a href="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/hdp.au.prod.app.com-participate.files/2615/2963/7455/Transport_Strategy_Refresh_-_Background_paper_-_Car_Parking.pdf">more likely to walk than drive</a>. And restricting building heights does not necessarily lead to better buildings and neighbourhoods. </p>
<p>However, setting height limits through density controls – regulating floor areas, and apartments, in a building, block or precinct – is an important lever for achieving better design. It’s a form of regulatory “bargaining power”, permitting a few extra floors in return for better public amenity. Without it, there can be many bad outcomes, particularly at street level, as is obvious in some recently built towers.</p>
<p>The City of Melbourne’s 2018 report, <a href="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/hdp.au.prod.app.com-participate.files/8915/4882/4706/Post_Exhibition_Synthesis_Report_Amendment_C308.PDF">Promoting High Quality Urban Design Outcomes in the Central City and Southbank</a>, notes a “lack of design investment in the lower 20 metres of building facades and in particular in shopfront design” in the past. The problems include allowing parking above ground in podiums, tinted glass that renders active uses (such as common areas or commercial tenancies) invisible, and poor materials and architectural details that undermine the quality of the streetscape. This can contribute to poor visual connections between building occupiers and pedestrians, which reduces surveillance from above that would help make streets safer.</p>
<p>Some developments just look incredibly cheap and bland. There are flat finishes and facades, tinted glass, floor-to-ceiling glazing with repetitious frames and mullions, building services taking up much of the street frontage – despite the luxury apartment taglines used to market these towers.</p>
<h2>Tighter controls for better design</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275876/original/file-20190522-187176-1ogoie2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275876/original/file-20190522-187176-1ogoie2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/275876/original/file-20190522-187176-1ogoie2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275876/original/file-20190522-187176-1ogoie2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275876/original/file-20190522-187176-1ogoie2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=750&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275876/original/file-20190522-187176-1ogoie2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275876/original/file-20190522-187176-1ogoie2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/275876/original/file-20190522-187176-1ogoie2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=943&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Melbourne has more than 40 skyscrapers, with another 20 or more under construction.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/H7JgMqYsXLE">Arun Clarke/Unsplash</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Planning controls in the central city and Southbank area of Melbourne have become tighter since <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/new-cbd-rules-clamp-down-on-excessive-skyscraper-heights-and-densities-20150903-gjersp.html">interim controls were put in place in 2015</a>. These became permanent in 2016. Most of the podium and infill towers recently springing up in Melbourne received planning permission before then. </p>
<p>The new controls stipulate stronger requirements for minimum street setbacks, overshadowing, wind effects, FAR limits and tower separation. New height limits are based on density controls. However, high-rise apartment towers are still permitted to produce <a href="https://participate.melbourne.vic.gov.au/future/trends/urban-growth-and-density">densities higher than those found in areas of Tokyo or Hong Kong</a>. </p>
<p>These new planning controls have already led to a reduction in above-ground car park podiums, as developers aim to increase their yield in the face of restrictions on floor area ratios.</p>
<p>Despite these new planning provisions promoting quality design, there is still ambiguity around what good design means for Melbourne’s taller building proposals. This becomes an issue when tall buildings are subject to discretionary height limits. </p>
<p>The report <a href="https://www.planning.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0026/392660/Final-MGS-Heights-Criteria-Report.pdf">Measurable Criteria to Assess Development Applications Exceeding Preferred Heights: Analysis and Recommendations</a> by MGS Architects observed through several case studies across Melbourne – including in South Yarra and Collingwood – that extra height can be negotiated for projects that demonstrate a “high standard of architectural design”. But good design here may not relate to setbacks, overshadowing, provision of public space, or quality architectural details. It could be because a building is marketed as a “landmark”, “gateway” or “icon”. </p>
<p>But does a building’s height make it a landmark? If so, how high should it be? And should poor public amenity (such as generating traffic or overshadowing) be traded away because a building is “slender” and “sculptural”?</p>
<p>In the case of projects that went to the planning tribunal VCAT, the City of Melbourne report observed:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Where the tribunal was required to make a decision between an acceptable urban design outcome or project viability (such as the ability to achieve a viable tower envelope), viability and consolidation objectives prevailed on balance. </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>What more needs to be done?</h2>
<p>Certainty and consistency are lacking. MGS Architects <a href="https://www.planning.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0026/392660/Final-MGS-Heights-Criteria-Report.pdf">writes</a> that this “undermines the public perception of a fair and orderly process for development approvals”.</p>
<p>All property developers, architects and planners desire consistency and clarity in urban planning, design and policy in order to deliver their projects – as do local communities. And despite moves in the right direction in Melbourne, there still is room to improve regulation. This includes introducing clearer density controls in relation to quality architectural design, a design review process in which designers lead decision-making and design-led envelope controls (where quantitative rules about where development is permitted are matched by qualitative rules that focus on how the building interfaces with the public realm).</p>
<p>However, to encourage innovation the regulations should still allow for flexibility. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/276003/original/file-20190523-187182-z7fn9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/276003/original/file-20190523-187182-z7fn9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/276003/original/file-20190523-187182-z7fn9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276003/original/file-20190523-187182-z7fn9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276003/original/file-20190523-187182-z7fn9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276003/original/file-20190523-187182-z7fn9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276003/original/file-20190523-187182-z7fn9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/276003/original/file-20190523-187182-z7fn9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An easing of height restrictions in part of Adelaide has led to a slew of new commercial, residential and hotel building projects over 100 metres.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/adelaide-australia-september-16-2018-aerial-1200853342?src=kTtaKFVmcjAafnvISeq0nA-1-75&studio=1">GagliardiPhotography/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The growth in Melbourne’s residential towers reinforces to the inhabitants of Australian cities the need to regulate for quality design outcomes. It acts as a warning for strategic town centres in Melbourne, and across Australia, that lack adequate quality control of their taller buildings. </p>
<p>Height restrictions were eased in part of Adelaide’s city centre this decade with the <a href="https://www.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/14670/ACC_Capital_City_DPA_approval_25_Oct_2012.pdf">Capital City Development Plan Amendment</a>. This led to a slew of new commercial, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-07-27/is-it-time-to-implement-postcode-5000-in-adelaide/10039102">residential and hotel buildings over 100 metres</a> proposed or under construction. Let’s hope that, with strong design guidelines, Adelaide avoids the mistakes of some of Melbourne’s recent additions.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The Conversation is co-publishing articles with <a href="http://www.alva.uwa.edu.au/community/futurewest">Future West (Australian Urbanism)</a>, produced by the University of Western Australia’s Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts. These <a href="https://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?keyWords=%22Future+West%22&type=">biannual collections of articles</a> look towards the future of urbanism, taking Perth and Western Australia as its reference point. The latest series looks at the notion that urbanism is shaped by design enterprise. You can read other articles <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/future-west-30248">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/116735/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Timothy Moore does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Planning controls in Melbourne were eased 20 years ago, with mixed results, and new limits are now in place. Will other cities that have eased height limits, like Adelaide, avoid the same mistakes?Timothy Moore, PhD Candidate, Melbourne School of Design, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1060712018-12-19T19:07:41Z2018-12-19T19:07:41ZBuilding in ways that meet the needs of Australia’s remote regions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250125/original/file-20181211-76965-i1rzd5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Doing it locally: workers in the Gumatj timber workshop, Gunyangara.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hannah Robertson</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Remote areas were described as “unused” and/or “underperforming” in a <a href="https://msd.unimelb.edu.au/events/mtalks-rem-koolhaas-and-david-gianotten-on-countryside">2017 address</a> by internationally renowned architects Rem Koolhaas and David Gianotten of OMA. Similarly, a <a href="http://www.studio-basel.com/publications/books/switzerland-an-urban-portrait.html">2004 territorial study</a> of Switzerland by ETH Studio Basel, led by architecture firm Herzog & De Meuron, painted the entire country as an urban landscape except for the most remote alpine regions. These were classified as “fallow land” and/or “quiet places”.</p>
<p>It follows that building policies typically centralise decision-making, resources and projects in the largest population centres, irrespective of population distribution or remote community needs. The urban perspective through which building policies are largely determined fails to assess the value of remote regions beyond market-oriented economics. </p>
<p>For remote-dwelling Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people the land, or Country, is entwined with spiritual and cultural identity. It cannot be valued in market terms.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-wont-close-the-gap-if-the-commonwealth-cuts-off-indigenous-housing-support-91835">We won't close the gap if the Commonwealth cuts off Indigenous housing support</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>A regional approach to building could meet remote community needs and bring about local economic development. It would also reinforce the <a href="https://www.humanrights.gov.au/publications/un-declaration-rights-indigenous-peoples-1">United Nations-recognised right of Indigenous peoples</a> to maintain cultural connections to Country.</p>
<h2>What’s different about remote Indigenous settlement?</h2>
<p>Remote Australia cannot be viewed through the same lens as rural Australia. For a start, it has distinct settlement patterns. These are characterised by the presence of large numbers of Indigenous people, a widely dispersed population and, as population geographer <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/296839023_Social_Engineering_and_Indigenous_Settlement_Policy_and_Demography_in_Remote_Australia">John Taylor describes it</a>, a “frequent” and “circular” internal mobility.</p>
<p>While just 1.4% of Australia’s population lives in remote areas, <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/2075.0Main+Features202016?OpenDocument">18.4% of Indigenous people do</a>. In remote areas, Aboriginal people are more likely to have experienced histories that enabled them to maintain connections to traditional Country. This has resulted in a proportionally greater recognition of Aboriginal land tenure under either the <a href="https://www.clc.org.au/index.php?/articles/info/the-aboriginal-land-rights-act/">Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976</a> or the <a href="https://auroraproject.com.au/what-native-title">Native Title Act 1993</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://empoweredcommunities.org.au/our-regions/north-east-arnhem-land/">Northeast Arnhem Land</a> in the Northern Territory is typical of this pattern. It is extremely remote and has a largely Indigenous population, with 67% identifying as Yolngu. </p>
<p>There are three main settlement types: a largely non-Indigenous mining town of 2,500 people, Nhulunbuy; a mostly Indigenous ex-mission settlement of around 850 people called Yirrkala; and more than 30 homelands across the territory located on traditional family clan lands with populations of up to 150, but typically fewer than 50 people. The people move often from place to place due to seasonal and cultural obligations and/or availability of access to services.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250119/original/file-20181211-76989-1qtidtz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250119/original/file-20181211-76989-1qtidtz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250119/original/file-20181211-76989-1qtidtz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250119/original/file-20181211-76989-1qtidtz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250119/original/file-20181211-76989-1qtidtz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250119/original/file-20181211-76989-1qtidtz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250119/original/file-20181211-76989-1qtidtz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250119/original/file-20181211-76989-1qtidtz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Northeast Arnhem land is extremely remote and has a largely Indigenous population living in three main settlement types.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hannah Robertson</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Challenges of building remotely</h2>
<p>Physical distance and political marginalisation make it difficult and costly to advocate for building in remote regions generally, but Australia’s remote Indigenous regions face further challenges.</p>
<p>Restrictive Aboriginal land tenure limits opportunities for building and/or economic development. For instance, there is no housing market due to the inability to buy and sell recognised Aboriginal land. This means that, unlike in the rest of Australia, buildings do not represent an economic “improvement” to the land. </p>
<p>Furthermore, in Yirrkala, no houses were built in the first five years of the federal government’s Strategic Indigenous Housing Infrastructure Program (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Indigenous_Housing_and_Infrastructure_Program">SIHIP</a>) – later relabelled the National Partnership Agreement on Remote Indigenous Housing (<a href="https://dcm.nt.gov.au/supporting-government/office-of-aboriginal-affairs/national-partnership-agreement-on-remote-indigenous-housing">NPARIH</a>) and then the National Partnership on Remote Housing (<a href="https://www.pmc.gov.au/indigenous-affairs/housing/national-partnership-agreements">NPRH</a>). This was because others contested Rirratjingu clans’ traditional ownership of parts of the township, which delayed decisions on where houses could be built.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250134/original/file-20181211-76989-1d42iyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250134/original/file-20181211-76989-1d42iyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250134/original/file-20181211-76989-1d42iyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250134/original/file-20181211-76989-1d42iyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250134/original/file-20181211-76989-1d42iyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250134/original/file-20181211-76989-1d42iyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250134/original/file-20181211-76989-1d42iyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250134/original/file-20181211-76989-1d42iyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Materials are usually shipped in, but the Delta Reef Gumatj have begun building with locally made timber trusses.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hannah Robertson</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Economic development and job opportunities are also limited. A special agreement is required to establish an economic venture on Aboriginal land. Obtaining permission is costly and the process slow as extensive legal and anthropological work is required. </p>
<p>The result has been a dearth of local material and construction industries, and jobs, on remote Aboriginal land. Building materials are generally shipped in.</p>
<p>Collectively, these factors contribute to a reliance on government for investment in building. In Northeast Arnhem Land, the Australian or Northern Territory governments provide 95% of building funds.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250127/original/file-20181211-76959-d83srf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250127/original/file-20181211-76959-d83srf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250127/original/file-20181211-76959-d83srf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=327&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250127/original/file-20181211-76959-d83srf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=327&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250127/original/file-20181211-76959-d83srf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=327&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250127/original/file-20181211-76959-d83srf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250127/original/file-20181211-76959-d83srf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250127/original/file-20181211-76959-d83srf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Government-funded housing under construction by DRG, Gunyangara.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hannah Robertson</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Centralisation model dominates</h2>
<p>The policy position of Australian, state and territory governments has long been one of centralisation. Funding is concentrated on the largest population centres where there is a perceived availability of jobs and economies of scale.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250120/original/file-20181211-76971-1ch19ky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250120/original/file-20181211-76971-1ch19ky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250120/original/file-20181211-76971-1ch19ky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=667&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250120/original/file-20181211-76971-1ch19ky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=667&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250120/original/file-20181211-76971-1ch19ky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=667&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250120/original/file-20181211-76971-1ch19ky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=838&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250120/original/file-20181211-76971-1ch19ky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=838&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250120/original/file-20181211-76971-1ch19ky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=838&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Immediate housing need in Northeast Arnhem Land by number.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hannah Robertson</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This position is upheld irrespective of identified building needs. For instance, in 2015 Nhulunbuy had 250 vacant houses after the Gove alumina refinery closed. There were shortfalls of 56 houses in Yirrkala and 81 houses across the Laynhapuy homelands. Yet 90% of government investment in building was in Nhulunbuy and Yirrkala, despite negligible need in Nhulunbuy and extensive need on the homelands.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250122/original/file-20181211-76956-13hfal9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250122/original/file-20181211-76956-13hfal9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250122/original/file-20181211-76956-13hfal9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=214&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250122/original/file-20181211-76956-13hfal9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=214&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250122/original/file-20181211-76956-13hfal9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=214&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250122/original/file-20181211-76956-13hfal9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=269&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250122/original/file-20181211-76956-13hfal9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=269&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250122/original/file-20181211-76956-13hfal9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=269&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The territorial distribution of capital works investment in Northeast Arnhem Land.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hannah Robertson</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Northeast Arnhem Land experience aligns with that of other remote Indigenous regions. Homelands, in particular, have been chronically underfunded. After the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) was abolished in 2005, state and territory governments largely assumed responsibility for infrastructure and services on homelands without allocating further funds for new housing. The Northern Territory government formalised this position in its <a href="https://dhcd.nt.gov.au/news/homelands-policy-review-opportunity-to-provide-your-feedback">Homelands Policy</a> and amendments to it in 2013.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250128/original/file-20181211-76989-18yshdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250128/original/file-20181211-76989-18yshdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250128/original/file-20181211-76989-18yshdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250128/original/file-20181211-76989-18yshdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250128/original/file-20181211-76989-18yshdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250128/original/file-20181211-76989-18yshdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250128/original/file-20181211-76989-18yshdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250128/original/file-20181211-76989-18yshdk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The stage structure at Baniyla Homeland is used as a house due to overcrowding.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hannah Robertson</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The situation is unlikely to change. If anything, it has intensified. In 2016, threats from the Western Australian government extended from ending new construction to <a href="https://regionalservicesreform.wa.gov.au/book/resilient-families-strong-communities-0#hb_page_95">ending basic services</a> to <a href="https://regionalservicesreform.wa.gov.au/book/resilient-families-strong-communities-0#hb_page_95">between 100 and 150 of its smallest homelands</a> (more commonly <a href="https://regionalservicesreform.wa.gov.au/p/roadmap">known as outstations in WA</a>).</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/who-decides-a-question-at-the-heart-of-meaningful-reconciliation-41752">Who decides? A question at the heart of meaningful reconciliation</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Government building projects in remote Indigenous Australia have not only failed to align with needs but also have limited local economic development. Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) Queensland Research Centre <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/final-reports/167">reports</a> criticised the <a href="http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20090515044057/http://www.jennymacklin.fahcsia.gov.au/Internet/jennymacklin.nsf/content/new_alliance_09oct08.htm">alliancing procurement</a> methodology used in the SIHIP/NPARIH program because it allocated risk to the contractor. This knocked small-scale local contractors out of the tender process and resulted in limited use of local labour and materials.</p>
<h2>Four steps to better building policy</h2>
<p>Policy reforms could stimulate building in remote Indigenous regions. Reforms should focus on increasing local Indigenous input into decision-making. This is critical for identifying and responding to local needs. </p>
<p>From the most difficult to the easiest to enact, reform options could be:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>alignment with the <a href="https://www.1voiceuluru.org/the-statement">Uluru Statement from the Heart</a>, treaty or constitutional amendment to give Indigenous people “<a href="https://www.whitlam.org/whitlam-legacy-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-peoples/">their rightful place</a>”, as Gough Whitlam put it, at a national level with statutory decision-making authority over their lands</p></li>
<li><p>amend legislation to devolve decision-making to Indigenous people at a local regional level, as occurred in 2017 amendments to the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 devolving these powers from the Northern Land Council to the Tiwi Land Council, Ngarrariyal Aboriginal Corporation and Baniyala Nimbarrki Land Authority, for self-determination of townships on their lands</p></li>
<li><p>restructure <a href="https://rda.gov.au/">Regional Development Australia</a> agencies to align with recognised territorial regions, as opposed to general population distribution, to foster best building practice and advocacy for local needs</p></li>
<li><p>do nothing but favour the specification of local suppliers (such as through the <a href="https://supplynation.org.au/">Supply Nation</a> network), materials (in Northeast Arnhem Land the Delta Reef Gumatj have begun building with locally made concrete blocks and timber trusses) and labour (through slow builds and the use of semi-skilled technological systems) at a project-by-project level.</p></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250132/original/file-20181211-76980-1dgcb1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250132/original/file-20181211-76980-1dgcb1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250132/original/file-20181211-76980-1dgcb1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250132/original/file-20181211-76980-1dgcb1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250132/original/file-20181211-76980-1dgcb1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250132/original/file-20181211-76980-1dgcb1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250132/original/file-20181211-76980-1dgcb1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250132/original/file-20181211-76980-1dgcb1s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Self-funded Delta Reef Gumatj-built single men’s accommodation under construction, Gunyangara.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hannah Robertson</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-need-to-stop-innovating-in-indigenous-housing-and-get-on-with-closing-the-gap-96266">We need to stop innovating in Indigenous housing and get on with Closing the Gap</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>These policy options are not necessarily mutually exclusive: where practicable they could be conducted in tandem or implemented in part.</p>
<p>The shift to a regional building approach does not require revolutionary change. Rather, it builds upon a remote region’s existing practices, knowledge and organisational systems by decentralising decision-making. </p>
<p>Building is not the panacea for the economic development challenges of remote Indigenous regions – it cannot employ every job seeker. But if building policy decision-making is regionally determined it can better align with community needs and contribute to local industry.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/indigenous-communities-are-reworking-urban-planning-but-planners-need-to-accept-their-history-92351">Indigenous communities are reworking urban planning, but planners need to accept their history</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The Conversation is co-publishing articles with <a href="http://www.alva.uwa.edu.au/community/futurewest">Future West (Australian Urbanism)</a>, produced by the University of Western Australia’s Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts. These articles look towards the future of urbanism, taking Perth and Western Australia as its reference point, with the latest series focusing on the regions. You can read other articles <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/future-west-30248">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106071/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hannah Robertson works for Monash University.
</span></em></p>Centralised policies are not meeting the needs of remote Indigenous settlements. Increasing their decision-making input and the role of local industry can overcome the challenges of building remotely.Hannah Robertson, Innovation Fellow and Lecturer, Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1060732018-12-16T19:21:07Z2018-12-16T19:21:07ZAfterlife of the mine: lessons in how towns remake challenging sites<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249385/original/file-20181207-128211-sd2oz9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Old mine sites suffer many fates, which range from simply being abandoned to being incorporated into towns or turned into an open-air museum in the case of Gwalia, Western Australia.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The question of what to do with abandoned mine sites confronts both regional communities and mining companies in the wake of Australia’s recent mining boom. The companies are increasingly required to consider site remediation and reuse. Ex-mining sites do <a href="https://theconversation.com/sending-mines-to-rehab-good-for-health-good-for-the-environment-2216">present challenges</a>, but also <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-mine-to-wine-creative-uses-for-old-holes-in-the-ground-3245">hold opportunities</a> for regional areas. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/no-to-rehab-the-mining-downturn-risks-making-mine-clean-ups-even-more-of-an-afterthought-58502">No to rehab? The mining downturn risks making mine clean-ups even more of an afterthought</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Old mine sites can provide a foundation for unique urban patterns, functions and transformations, as they have done in the past. It is useful to look at historical gold-mining regions, such as the Victorian goldfields, to understand how these sites have shaped the organisation and character of their towns.</p>
<p>Research by The University of Queensland’s Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation suggests Australia has <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-should-we-do-with-australias-50-000-abandoned-mines-18197">more than 50,000 abandoned mine sites</a>. Some are in isolated places. But many others are close to or embedded within regional settlements that developed specifically to support and enable mining activity. </p>
<p>Abandoned mines present unique challenges for remediation:</p>
<ul>
<li>the sites are large (sometimes enormous)</li>
<li>their landscapes are <a href="https://theconversation.com/restoration-wont-work-a-new-way-to-fix-old-mines-21236">environmentally and structurally degraded</a></li>
<li>sites are <a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-children-exposed-to-toxic-mining-metals-do-worse-at-school-48343">often contaminated</a> by substances used in processing – like arsenic in the case of historical goldmines. </li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/soil-arsenic-from-mining-waste-poses-long-term-health-threats-5901">Soil arsenic from mining waste poses long-term health threats</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>These characteristics exclude mining sites from reuse for activities such as residential development. The sites are often considered fundamentally problematic. At times former mining sites have been reused opportunistically, accommodating functions and uses that could co-exist with the compromised physical landscape.</p>
<h2>How have old mines shaped our towns?</h2>
<p>The industrial patterns established during the Victorian gold-mining boom are traceable through observing the street layout and the location of civic buildings, public functions and open spaces of former gold-mining towns. </p>
<p>For example, in the gold-mining town of Stawell, a pattern of informal and winding tracks was established between mining functions. These tracks later provided the basis for the town’s street organisation and land division, including the meandering Main Street, which forms the central spine of the town.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249391/original/file-20181207-128214-lptzj5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249391/original/file-20181207-128214-lptzj5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249391/original/file-20181207-128214-lptzj5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=216&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249391/original/file-20181207-128214-lptzj5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=216&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249391/original/file-20181207-128214-lptzj5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=216&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249391/original/file-20181207-128214-lptzj5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=271&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249391/original/file-20181207-128214-lptzj5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=271&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249391/original/file-20181207-128214-lptzj5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=271&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Left: Cascading dams in Stawell are remnants of the industrial crushing processes that were linked together along naturally occurring gullies. Right: Looking from Cato Lake towards Stawell Town Hall.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Harper, Laura</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Cato Lake, behind Main Street, was transformed from the tailings dam of the Victoria Crushing Mill. St Georges Crushing Mill and its associated dams became the Stawell Wetlands. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249388/original/file-20181207-128214-1yar2qt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249388/original/file-20181207-128214-1yar2qt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249388/original/file-20181207-128214-1yar2qt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249388/original/file-20181207-128214-1yar2qt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249388/original/file-20181207-128214-1yar2qt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249388/original/file-20181207-128214-1yar2qt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249388/original/file-20181207-128214-1yar2qt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249388/original/file-20181207-128214-1yar2qt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Current residential allotments in Stawell overlaid with the geographical survey of 1887. The gaps correspond to mining claims, crushing mills, tailings dams and other industrial processes associated with mining.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Harper, Laura/Map underlay from Mining Department of Melbourne</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Other mining sites were transformed into the car park for Stawell Regional Health, the track for Stawell Harness Racing Club and the ovals for the local secondary college. A survey of public open spaces in Stawell shows that over time former mining sites accommodated most of the town’s public functions.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249389/original/file-20181207-128205-23o0pw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249389/original/file-20181207-128205-23o0pw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249389/original/file-20181207-128205-23o0pw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249389/original/file-20181207-128205-23o0pw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249389/original/file-20181207-128205-23o0pw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249389/original/file-20181207-128205-23o0pw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249389/original/file-20181207-128205-23o0pw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249389/original/file-20181207-128205-23o0pw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Open space in Stawell showing the correlation of past mining sites with public function:
1. Central Park – public reserve est. 1860s.
2. Cato Park and Bowls Club – was Victoria Co. Crushing Mill
3. Stawell Regional Health – built over a mullock heap associated with the St George Co. Crushing Mill.
4. Wetland Precinct – was part of St George Co. Crushing Mill
5. Stawell Harness Racing Club – was part of Wimmera Co. Crushing Mill
6. Stawell Secondary College and grounds – was part of Wimmera Co. Crushing Mill
7. Borough of Stawell reservoir (disused) – was part of Wimmera Co. Crushing Mill
8. Federation University (Stawell Campus) – was School of Mines and prior, St George Lead (surface diggings)
9. Stawell State School – public reserve established in 1865
10. North Park Recreation Reserve – was part of Galatea Co. Mine / Grants Crushing Mill
11. Stawell Leisure Complex – was part of Galatea Co. Mine / Grants Crushing Mill
12. Oriental Co. Mine Historic Area – was Oriental Co. Mine
13. Moonlight-cum-Magdala Mine Historic Area – was Magdala Mine / Moonlight Co. Mine
14. Big Hill reserve, lookout and arboretum – site of multiple claims including Sloan and Scotchman, Cross Reef Consolidated and Federal Claim</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Harper, Laura</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many other Victorian goldfields towns developed in similar ways to Stawell. These towns have lakes or other water bodies in and around their central urban areas that were born out of mines. </p>
<p>Calembeen Park and St Georges Lake in Creswick and Lake Daylesford in Daylesford were all formed through the planned collapsing of multiple underground mines to create urban outdoor swimming spots. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249390/original/file-20181207-128211-1n7vkg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249390/original/file-20181207-128211-1n7vkg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249390/original/file-20181207-128211-1n7vkg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249390/original/file-20181207-128211-1n7vkg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249390/original/file-20181207-128211-1n7vkg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249390/original/file-20181207-128211-1n7vkg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249390/original/file-20181207-128211-1n7vkg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249390/original/file-20181207-128211-1n7vkg0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Calembeen Park in Creswick is a swimming hole with a diving board that takes advantage of the extreme depth of the lake formed through collapsing several underground mines.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Bendigo, the ornamental Lake Weeroona was formed on the site of the alluvial diggings. Other sites in these towns became parks, ovals, rubbish tips and public functions that could be accommodated on the degraded land.</p>
<p>Abandoned mine sites outside towns have also been used for unique purposes. Deemed unsuitable for use by the farming and forestry industries, these sites have developed into havens for flora and fauna, including endangered species. A 2015 article in Wildlife Australia magazine details instances of the Eastern Bentwing-bat and the Australian Ghost Bat <a href="https://www.forestrycorporation.com.au/about/releases/safeguarding-the-public-and-protecting-threatened-bats-at-mogo-state-forest">adopting abandoned gold mines</a> as replacement habitat for breeding and raising their young. </p>
<p>The neglect of other gold-mining sites has preserved historical remnants by default. The <a href="https://parkweb.vic.gov.au/explore/parks/castlemaine-diggings-national-heritage-park">Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park</a> in Victoria is one example. Here, water races, puddling machines and crushing batteries are hidden amid dense bushland. </p>
<p>The town of Gwalia in Western Australia, abandoned after its mine closed, has been transformed into a <a href="http://www.gwalia.org.au/">town-sized open-air museum</a>.</p>
<h2>And what uses are possible in future?</h2>
<p>Historical gold-mining sites in or near towns continue to be adapted for unusual uses. The Stawell Goldmine on Big Hill in Stawell is being converted to accommodate the Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory (<a href="https://www.darkmatter.org.au/allposts/2018/11/27/sabre-south-and-supl">SUPL</a>), a research laboratory one kilometre below the surface. Cosmic waves are unable to infiltrate the abandoned mining tunnels, so the conditions are ideal for exploring the theorised existence of dark matter.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249565/original/file-20181209-128208-va1mfh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249565/original/file-20181209-128208-va1mfh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249565/original/file-20181209-128208-va1mfh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249565/original/file-20181209-128208-va1mfh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249565/original/file-20181209-128208-va1mfh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249565/original/file-20181209-128208-va1mfh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249565/original/file-20181209-128208-va1mfh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/249565/original/file-20181209-128208-va1mfh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Working on the Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory deep underground in an old mine tunnel.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Swinburne University</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/digging-for-cosmic-gold-the-hunt-for-dark-matter-at-the-bottom-of-a-gold-mine-69890">Digging for cosmic gold: the hunt for dark matter at the bottom of a gold mine</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In Bendigo it is proposed to use the extensive historical mine shafts under
the town to <a href="https://www.energy.vic.gov.au/renewable-energy/pumped-hydro">generate and store pumped hydroelectricity</a>. This scheme, recently explored as a <a href="https://www.bsg.org.au/bendigo-pumped-hydro-project/">feasibility study by Bendigo Sustainability Group</a>, would use solar panels to create power to pump underground water up through the mining shafts to be stored at the surface. When power is required the water would be released through turbines to generate electricity.</p>
<p>The lack of demand for remediating sites for market-led uses (such as urban development, farming or forestry) broadens their potential for uses that might otherwise seem marginal or improbable, such as new forms of public space. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-mine-to-wine-creative-uses-for-old-holes-in-the-ground-3245">From mine to wine: creative uses for old holes in the ground</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The scale and remoteness of many post-industrial mining sites in Australia – such as Western Australia’s <a href="http://www.superpit.com.au/">Super Pit gold mine</a>, which is 3.5 kilometres long and 600 metres deep – might mean that approaches to reuse different from those taken with historical goldmines are required. We don’t have to wait until a mine’s closure to think about how it might be used in the future.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The Conversation is co-publishing articles with <a href="http://www.alva.uwa.edu.au/community/futurewest">Future West (Australian Urbanism)</a>, produced by the University of Western Australia’s Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts. These articles look towards the future of urbanism, taking Perth and Western Australia as its reference point, with the latest series focusing on the regions. You can read other articles <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/future-west-30248">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106073/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The industrial patterns of mining shaped many Australian towns, which found varied uses for disused mine sites. The mining boom ensures the challenges these sites present will be with us a long time.Laura Harper, Lecturer in Architecture, Monash UniversityAlysia Bennett, Lecturer and Researcher, Department of Architecture, Monash UniversityRoss Brewin, Senior Lecturer, Department of Architecture, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1060742018-12-09T19:09:14Z2018-12-09T19:09:14ZGrey nomad lifestyle provides a model for living remotely<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/249378/original/file-20181206-128217-1t2yfpk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Grey nomads are champions of a radical type of portable urbanism as they travel to far-flung places like Lake Ballard in Western Australia.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image courtesy of Tourism Western Australia</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every other year, retired couple Jorg and Jan journey some 5,000 kilometres in their campervan from Port Fairy in southeastern Australia to Broome in the far northwest for a change of lifestyle and scenery. There they catch up with other couples from across the nation, who often converge on the beach for communal dinners. Jorg and Jan’s break lasts several weeks.</p>
<p>They are two of tens of thousands of retired adults travelling independently across the continent at any given time in search of adventure, warmer weather and camaraderie after a lifetime of hard work. These part-time nomadic adventurers, or grey nomads, have recast the image of Australia’s ageing population. Rather than being inert and conservative, or in need of care, these older Australians are champions of a radical type of urbanism: dwellings are mobile, infrastructure is portable or pluggable, social networks are sprawled, and adherents are on the move daily or weekly.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/grey-dawn-or-the-twilight-years-lets-talk-about-growing-old-62488">Grey dawn or the twilight years? Let’s talk about growing old</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243372/original/file-20181101-78450-2er13y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243372/original/file-20181101-78450-2er13y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243372/original/file-20181101-78450-2er13y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243372/original/file-20181101-78450-2er13y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243372/original/file-20181101-78450-2er13y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243372/original/file-20181101-78450-2er13y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=607&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243372/original/file-20181101-78450-2er13y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=607&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243372/original/file-20181101-78450-2er13y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=607&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nomads driving along Meelup Beach Road near Dunsborough.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image courtesy of Tourism Western Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/grey_nomad">Grey nomad</a> is a term used to describe Australians over 55 years old who travel for an extended time – from weeks to months – and cover more than 300 kilometres in a day across semi-arid and coastal Australia. The term was popularised following the 1997 Australian documentary <a href="http://www.decembermedia.com.au/grey-nomads/">Grey Nomads</a>, which captured the phenomenon of older travellers who made their homes wherever they parked.</p>
<h2>What is the scale of grey nomadism?</h2>
<p>Travellers, including grey nomads, contribute to a “roaming economy”: decentralised dwelling results in decentralised spending. The Western Australian government estimated in its <a href="https://www.tourism.wa.gov.au/Publications%20Library/About%20Us/Caravan%20and%20Camping%20Snapshot%202016.pdf">Caravan and Camping Visitor Snapshot 2016 report</a> that 1.54 million domestic visitors spent time in caravans or camping, contributing more than A$1 billion to the state economy.</p>
<p>According to the Campervan & Motorhome Club of Australia, <a href="https://members.cmca.net.au/content/govind">RV drivers spend an average of $770 per week</a>. And their value to a remote place extends beyond economic capital to human capital. Grey nomads often provide labour (such as gardening, house-sitting or their pre-retirement professional skills) in exchange for a place to park or for extra income.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243368/original/file-20181101-78474-1toa99c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243368/original/file-20181101-78474-1toa99c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243368/original/file-20181101-78474-1toa99c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243368/original/file-20181101-78474-1toa99c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243368/original/file-20181101-78474-1toa99c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243368/original/file-20181101-78474-1toa99c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243368/original/file-20181101-78474-1toa99c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nomads relax at a caravan site in Esperance.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image courtesy of Tourism Western
Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The availability of caravan parks, campsites and public parking reserves is essential to attract the grey nomad to regional towns. According to a 2012 report for Tourism WA, <a href="https://www.tourism.wa.gov.au/Publications%20Library/Industry%20Support%20and%20Opportunities/The_Brighthouse_report_June_2012_v2.pdf">A Strategic Approach to Caravan & Camping Tourism in Western Australia</a>, the state had a total of 37,369 campsites at 769 locations. In addition, remote private properties are becoming available through apps such as <a href="https://www.wikicamps.com.au/">WikiCamps Australia</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/grey-nomads-drive-caravan-boom-but-camp-spots-decline-17497">Grey nomads drive caravan boom but camp spots decline</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But while many nomads go off-grid, carrying their solar panels and generators, others are just looking for free reserves to park in. Beyond the site and its amenities – such as power, water, showers or flushing toilets – qualities such as “authenticity” are important to nomads, as <a href="https://ro.ecu.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1155&context=theses_hons">highlighted by Mandy Pickering</a>. Sites should feel remote rather than urban.</p>
<h2>Will future generations be as fortunate?</h2>
<p>The rise of the grey nomad over the past half-century has been made possible through the ability of ageing Australians to fund this retirement lifestyle. They might sell their houses (some may simply benefit from having secure accommodation), withdraw their superannuation or receive government benefits. Nomadism is a reward after a lifetime entangled in an economic and social system that keeps the individual tied to a stable workplace and place to live.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243370/original/file-20181101-78471-1mo3fk9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/243370/original/file-20181101-78471-1mo3fk9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243370/original/file-20181101-78471-1mo3fk9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243370/original/file-20181101-78471-1mo3fk9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243370/original/file-20181101-78471-1mo3fk9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243370/original/file-20181101-78471-1mo3fk9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/243370/original/file-20181101-78471-1mo3fk9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Aerial view of Osprey Campground near Ningaloo Reef.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image courtesy of Tourism Western Australia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For future generations, the outlook in terms of grey nomadism being a viable retirement lifestyle is not especially bright. <a href="https://theconversation.com/home-ownership-foundations-are-being-shaken-and-the-impacts-will-be-felt-far-and-wide-91664">Home ownership is sliding out of reach</a> for many younger people. And many are enmeshed in the gig economy, meaning they are not receiving employer superannuation contributions. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/renters-beware-how-the-pension-and-super-could-leave-you-behind-105840">Renters Beware: how the pension and super could leave you behind</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Future generations may be so much in debt or living in such straitened circumstances that they cannot retire to a life of leisurely travel.</p>
<p>While grey nomadism might not be a sustainable model in the future, the lifestyle demonstrates how future generations of nomads – not necessarily grey – can live cheaply while populating regional centres for weeks or months, bringing economic and human capital to these remote places. These nomads will be able to work on their laptops in the public libraries, cafes, share houses and co-working spaces of country towns, accessing work remotely through cloud-based telecommunications. </p>
<p>They might not come in campervans but be dropped off in driverless vehicles; vacant campsites might become sites for small cabins. Or, as these nomads will be looking for temporary accommodation, spare rooms or entire houses might be made available. To find these dwellings, they might use apps that bring great efficiency to managing housing occupancy, enabling the “sharing” (renting) of unoccupied space for days, weeks or months.</p>
<p>Are regional towns ready to embrace these “emerging nomads” who are attracted by affordable living costs, network coverage, fast internet speeds, great weather, temporary housing options and unique regional identities, as the grey nomads were before them?</p>
<p>Grey nomads are recognised as a group that requires distributed infrastructures. They demonstrate a capacity for domesticity and urbanity without boundaries. The grey nomads are the precursor to a new generation that might not only want to travel, but need to in an economic environment that is not static or stable. And that will mean they can no longer afford to stay in one place.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This article was co-authored by Amelia Borg, a director of Sibling Architecture and a Masters of Business student at the University of Melbourne.</em></p>
<p><em>The Conversation is co-publishing articles with <a href="http://www.alva.uwa.edu.au/community/futurewest">Future West (Australian Urbanism)</a>, produced by the University of Western Australia’s Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts. These articles look towards the future of urbanism, taking Perth and Western Australia as its reference point, with the latest series focusing on the regions. You can read other articles <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/future-west-30248">here</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/off-the-plan-shelter-the-future-and-the-problems-in-between-75839">Off the plan: shelter, the future and the problems in between</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106074/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Timothy Moore does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Grey nomads travel Australia because they have the desire and the means to do so. Could future generations end up following in their footsteps because they can no longer work and stay in one place?Timothy Moore, PhD Candidate, Melbourne School of Design, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/983832018-06-27T19:57:04Z2018-06-27T19:57:04ZCommunity pool projects show how citizens are helping to build cities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223296/original/file-20180615-32310-sp4lix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Badeschi on the Spree River in Berlin. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nordicbird/Flickr </span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Swimming is central to Australian identity, whether at the beach, in a river or a backyard pool or creek. At the heart of Australia’s bathing culture is the public pool. Its persistent popularity is reflected in a raft of recent proposals to construct pools across the country. </p>
<p>Property developer Riverside Marine has <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-11-17/floating-pool-planned-for-brisbane-river/8034092">proposed building a pool</a> that would float in the Teneriffe section of the Brisbane River. And the <a href="http://yarrapools.com/">Yarra Pools project</a> in Melbourne, which also seeks to create a floating swimming pool on the Yarra River, is gaining momentum through the input of a collection of peak bodies and community organisations.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224635/original/file-20180625-114736-1wfpm5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224635/original/file-20180625-114736-1wfpm5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224635/original/file-20180625-114736-1wfpm5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=271&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224635/original/file-20180625-114736-1wfpm5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=271&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224635/original/file-20180625-114736-1wfpm5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=271&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224635/original/file-20180625-114736-1wfpm5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=341&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224635/original/file-20180625-114736-1wfpm5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=341&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224635/original/file-20180625-114736-1wfpm5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=341&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Artist’s impression of the Yarra Pool, Melbourne.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image courtesy of Studio Octopi, Yarra Swim and Picture Plane</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Such realities reflect a growing trend of individual and organisational interests, not local and state governments, leading Australian community construction proposals.</p>
<h2>Rise of the public pool</h2>
<p>The public pool became embedded in <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-segregation-to-celebration-the-public-pool-in-australian-culture-82916">Australia’s cultural consciousness</a> after hundreds of seaside and suburban pools were constructed all over the country in the early to mid 20th century.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-segregation-to-celebration-the-public-pool-in-australian-culture-82916">From segregation to celebration: the public pool in Australian culture</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This reflected a belief that government should provide amenities for citizens that promoted health, safety and appropriate leisure activities. It was also part of a belief that humankind could control, regulate and tame nature, including water.</p>
<p>With the rise of indoor leisure centres and backyard pools in the 1970s and ’80s, the popularity of outdoor public pools declined. Attendances waned and public funding fell away. This exacerbated under-investment and led to <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/community-groups-swim-against-the-tide-in-a-bid-to-save-outdoor-pools-20150203-134mqe.html">many closures in the 1990s</a>. </p>
<p>But the 21st century has seen a wider global interest in urban pools, water parks and promenades – like Helsinki’s <a href="https://www.allasseapool.com/">Allas Sea Pool</a> – as part of efforts to make places more healthy and attractive. There is particular interest in the redevelopment of many docks, ports and city beaches in wealthy cities.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223297/original/file-20180615-32342-1omgn6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223297/original/file-20180615-32342-1omgn6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223297/original/file-20180615-32342-1omgn6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223297/original/file-20180615-32342-1omgn6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223297/original/file-20180615-32342-1omgn6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223297/original/file-20180615-32342-1omgn6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223297/original/file-20180615-32342-1omgn6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Allas Sea Pool in Helsinki.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ninara/Flickr</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-that-clean-swimming-pool-smell-is-actually-bad-for-your-health-73936">Why that 'clean swimming pool' smell is actually bad for your health</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Popular opinion and public support</h2>
<p>The private sector has been active in proposing pool developments. Some design firms and property developers have signalled their interest through what’s called the “render drop”. This is the release to media outlets of an artist’s impression of a project that has a novelty factor, in the hope of gaining traction and public support. </p>
<p>Damian Rogers Architecture and Arup employed the render drop to gain attention for a proposal for <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-10/docklands-surf-beach-proposal-firm-wants-to-build-wave-pool-/5878632">a surf pool at Melbourne’s Docklands</a>. But attention for a project does not equate to support for it. A render drop can test popular opinion, but a project put forward this way can fail to achieve engagement with the stakeholders that would have to help plan, deliver, maintain and use the project.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-that-clean-swimming-pool-smell-is-actually-bad-for-your-health-73936">Why that 'clean swimming pool' smell is actually bad for your health</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Community and private interests should work with government from early on in a project’s conception. Yarra Pools has, for instance, had a long road-map for gaining public support for the pool. This includes <a href="https://theurbandeveloper.com/articles/yarra-swim-co">partnering peak community bodies</a>, engaging with private firms and speaking with governmental organisations.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223298/original/file-20180615-32339-tvongw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223298/original/file-20180615-32339-tvongw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223298/original/file-20180615-32339-tvongw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223298/original/file-20180615-32339-tvongw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223298/original/file-20180615-32339-tvongw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223298/original/file-20180615-32339-tvongw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223298/original/file-20180615-32339-tvongw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223298/original/file-20180615-32339-tvongw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Artist’s impression of the proposed surf pool at Docklands, Melbourne.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image courtesy of Studio Magnified/Aurecon</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Working together</h2>
<p>The visibility of non-government proposals may reflect a sense that governments lack the responsibility, will, finance or imagination to deliver public projects. This makes way for the private and community sectors to meet an untapped demand. </p>
<p>An increase in non-government proposals may also be the result of an increased push from the community and private sectors to be involved in the processes of urbanism. </p>
<p>Though, as architect and historian Hannah Lewi argues in the 2010 book <a href="https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/4901519">Community: Building Modern Australia (2010)</a>, governments weren’t always responsible for urban projects. She writes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Progress societies and local groups were instrumental in the building of public pools through fundraising to bolster municipal, state and federal government assistance that was typically meagre and stopped short of achieving such a costly undertaking.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Scarce public funding has often pushed the delivery of community infrastructure towards collaboration between community, government and private sectors. In this relationship, if one wants to shift the behaviour of local government – at the very least, to get a pool built – one needs to engage with government rules, regulations and organisational culture from the outset. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/this-is-what-our-cities-need-to-do-to-be-truly-liveable-for-all-83967">This is what our cities need to do to be truly liveable for all</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>A community project to create a pool with the input of individuals and organisations shifts the role of the public. They go from being a passive agent, which is consulted at the beginning of the design process, to a potentially ongoing and active participant – or collaborator – in the continuing life of buildings and cities.</p>
<p>This model can also hold governments and private stakeholders to account in the area of project delivery while building trust by opening up the often opaque processes of urban development. </p>
<p>The building of a pool can be part of a larger project of building new civic institutions and networks that fall somewhere between market, state and civil society.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The Conversation is co-publishing articles with <a href="http://www.alva.uwa.edu.au/community/futurewest">Future West (Australian Urbanism)</a>, produced by the University of Western Australia’s Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts. These articles look towards the future of urbanism, taking Perth and Western Australia as its reference point. You can read other articles <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/future-west-30248">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/98383/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Timothy Moore does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Community proposals for public swimming pools are popping up all over the country. But individuals need to work with governments to ensure these projects actually get off the ground.Timothy Moore, PhD Candidate, Melbourne School of Design, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/871732017-12-12T19:11:13Z2017-12-12T19:11:13ZSurprise! Digital space isn’t replacing public space, and might even help make it better<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196842/original/file-20171129-28917-9uclmv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Telstra and the City of Joondalup have joined forces in a trial of 'smart park' applications at Tom Simpson Park. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>You’re on the train on your daily commute, head bowed, peering at your phone. A cavalcade of news stories, friends’ holiday snaps and random promoted images of trending slippers pops up on your social media feed, which you idly push along in search of something fresh. You look up. Most of the people around you are doing something similar. Connecting intensely with their smartphones, and not with anyone near them.</p>
<p>It’s a scene repeated across Australian cities every weekday morning. More and more of our daily lives – how we work, how we navigate, how we learn and how we entertain ourselves – take place through the interface of glowing rectangular screens. There is <a href="https://theconversation.com/your-brain-on-the-internet-a-response-to-susan-greenfield-8694">concern</a> about what smartphones are <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-technology-making-your-attention-span-shorter-than-a-goldfishs-42072">doing to our attention spans</a>, our <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-your-smartphone-making-you-shy-71605">capacity for random human interactions</a> and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15738692">our self-esteem</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>Further reading:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/connections-arent-conversations-while-technology-enables-it-can-also-interfere-51689">Connections aren’t conversations – while technology enables, it can also interfere</a></em></p>
<hr>
<p>But what does the age of the smartphone mean for our cities, and for how we design our public spaces?</p>
<p>It’s a question that has intrigued tech futurists for decades. Australian-born architect Bill Mitchell trained a generation of digital urbanists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to imagine and plan for the coming “city of bits”. In his 1995 book <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/city-bits">City of Bits</a>, he likened the impact of the infobahn to that of <a href="http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20130722-revolution-in-paris-street-design">Haussmann’s 19th-century Parisian boulevards</a>, in their capacity to radically reshape the city. </p>
<p>Unlike Haussmann’s network of avenues, parks and water infrastructure, the “invisible city” of the 21st century would, Mitchell argued, be shaped more by the logic of networked data. Places would be “constructed virtually by software instead of physically from stones and timbers”. </p>
<p>Mitchell wasn’t the only one who believed our digital future would dramatically reshape our cities. Media futurist Marshall McLuhan <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=1RwuDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT868&lpg=PT868&dq=%22the+city+as+a+form+of+major+dimensions%22&source=bl&ots=8RN3f8s8bW&sig=cbyOZEp-rasEcH5Zbsl_syj-uf4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiktM-k0-LXAhUGabwKHY2hC8MQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=%22the%20city%20as%20a%20form%20of%20major%20dimensions%22&f=false">speculated in 1964</a> that the coming “global village” would mean that “the city as a form of major dimensions must inevitably dissolve like the fading shot in a movie”. Our need for groups of people to be near to each other, he believed, would become redundant as more and more of our connections would occur virtually.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HeDnPP6ntic?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Marshall McLuhan – The World is a Global Village (CBC TV)</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Of course, the future didn’t quite turn out that way. Vibrant, productive physical places still matter. Architects and designers are still building places of “stones and timbers”. </p>
<p>Smartphone-equipped citizens need not be tethered to their desks to surf the infobahn. The <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-the-internet-of-things-16542">Internet of Things</a> (IoT) entails more and more urban services and infrastructure being connected via tiny distributed sensors. The virtual space of the internet has become increasingly interconnected with our urban fabric.</p>
<h2>Experimenting with the city of data</h2>
<p>The city of bits has become the city of data. The millions of daily interactions and transactions in cities – volumes of energy used; movements of people, traffic, water and waste; social media interactions; emails; financial and retail transactions; and multi-modal transport flows – are generating huge volumes of “data exhaust”. These data are increasingly being put to work in an attempt to better manage the pressures and challenges our cities face.</p>
<p>Many hope this age of big data will lead to smarter, more responsive cities. Australian cities have begun trialling smart technologies – parking apps, smart lighting trials, public Wi-Fi – to improve basic city services. The Australian government’s A$50 million <a href="https://cities.dpmc.gov.au/smart-cities-program">Smart Cities and Suburbs Program</a> will help scale up these investments to allow for more ambitious trials.</p>
<p>Many smart-city technologies are designed to help local governments better monitor services such as waste collection and roads maintenance. For example, the Western Australian city of <a href="http://www.joondalup.wa.gov.au/welcome/citynews/17-05-23/City_and_Telstra_build_Australia_s_smartest_park.aspx">Joondalup is partnering with Telstra</a> to test IoT technologies to better monitor environmental factors like temperature, humidity, pollution, light and noise levels in real time.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196845/original/file-20171129-28852-4zwzli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196845/original/file-20171129-28852-4zwzli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196845/original/file-20171129-28852-4zwzli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196845/original/file-20171129-28852-4zwzli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196845/original/file-20171129-28852-4zwzli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196845/original/file-20171129-28852-4zwzli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196845/original/file-20171129-28852-4zwzli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196845/original/file-20171129-28852-4zwzli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Telstra and the City of Joondalup are trialling real-time environmental monitoring applications at Tom Simpson Park.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The recently released <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-25/smarter-planning-saving-perth-council-millions/8559194">Smarter Planning Perth</a> (SPP) map allows government agencies and utilities involved in infrastructure works to better collaborate, share costs and co-ordinate timetables. This is a platform designed to minimise works congestion and cut project time frames, so the city’s road networks run more efficiently.</p>
<p>But what kinds of places will these smart technologies and services actually create? With a focus on data analytics, efficiency and automation, there is no guarantee that the latest data-driven technologies will necessarily help our public places thrive.</p>
<p>As the digital urbanist Rick Robinson wrote in a <a href="https://theurbantechnologist.com/2016/02/01/why-smart-cities-still-arent-working-for-us-after-20-years-and-how-we-can-fix-them/">2016 article</a>, commercial agendas for smart cities are:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>just as likely to reduce our life expectancy and social engagement by making it easier to order high-fat, high-sugar takeaway food on our smartphones to be delivered to our couches by drones whilst we immerse ourselves in multiplayer virtual reality games.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Places of ‘stone and timber’ still matter</h2>
<p>Data-driven technologies may make cities work more efficiently, but that may not always be the only thing we want out of places. One of the great lessons of the past two decades is that, despite our growing dependence on digital platforms of communication, spaces that enable us to connect and mingle in real life still matter. Our enduring connection to places of “stones and timber” surely reflects our all-too-human desire not only for seamless interfaces and swipeable apps, but also for places of disturbance, delight, random noises and chance encounters.</p>
<p>As the US urbanist Jane Jacobs observed many decades ago, good places are nourished by diversity and difference, not uniformity and efficiency.</p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>Further reading:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-might-jane-jacobs-say-about-smart-cities-58278">What might Jane Jacobs say about smart cities?</a></em></p>
<hr>
<p>We need, therefore, to ensure the new-found insights generated by all of our cities’ data works in the service of good places. How can this be done?</p>
<p>For a start, putting data to use may lead to a very analogue solution. For example, more fine-grained urban data that alerts us to temperature anomalies in different places should be used not only to monitor, but also to cool. This means more trees, not just more sensors.</p>
<p>Many cities have begun to design <a href="http://www.jcdecaux.com/blog/multi-faceted-bus-shelters-paris">smart bus stops</a> equipped with heat-responsive water misters and blinds, so these become places of respite and shelter for weary travellers. This approach uses digital technologies to artificially “switch on” natural services like water-cooling and shade in places that have, as a result of the use of materials like bitumen and concrete, become urban heat islands, exposing some of our most vulnerable to extremely hot conditions.</p>
<p>Digital technologies can also help us navigate and experience places through the events and characters that have shaped their unique identities. Digital overlays, soundscapes and augmented media can provide us with interactive experiences of the the built environments of today and their past “lives”. </p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>Further reading:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/let-cities-speak-reclaiming-a-place-for-community-with-sounds-76998">Let cities speak: reclaiming a place for community with sounds</a></em></p>
<p><em><strong>Further reading:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/psychogeography-a-way-to-delve-into-the-soul-of-a-city-78032">Psychogeography: a way to delve into the soul of a city</a></em></p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196843/original/file-20171129-28869-134mtwi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196843/original/file-20171129-28869-134mtwi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196843/original/file-20171129-28869-134mtwi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=924&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196843/original/file-20171129-28869-134mtwi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=924&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196843/original/file-20171129-28869-134mtwi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=924&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196843/original/file-20171129-28869-134mtwi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1161&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196843/original/file-20171129-28869-134mtwi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1161&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196843/original/file-20171129-28869-134mtwi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1161&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Digital lighting technology allows residents of a building slated for demolition to express how they feel.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jessica Hromas</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These uses of technology allow for different, perhaps more intimate, interactions between people and places. Crucially, <a href="http://www.esemprojects.com/project/last-drinks/">augmented experiences of the history of a place</a> can help us recover what has been lost through decades of urban transformation.</p>
<p>Digital technologies can also be used to disrupt official narratives of place. At Sydney’s Waterloo public housing tower, slated for demolition in a new phase of urban renewal, community artists worked with public housing tenants to create a large-scale digital artwork that expresses the residents’ emotional connections to their homes. </p>
<p>Embedded digital technologies were used to subvert the usual mechanistic processes of community consultation managed by development agencies. The spectacular piece of digital art worked to highlight that residents should not be forgotten in the renewal process. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196844/original/file-20171129-28899-dofw18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196844/original/file-20171129-28899-dofw18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196844/original/file-20171129-28899-dofw18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196844/original/file-20171129-28899-dofw18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196844/original/file-20171129-28899-dofw18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196844/original/file-20171129-28899-dofw18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196844/original/file-20171129-28899-dofw18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196844/original/file-20171129-28899-dofw18.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Feeling blue: Waterloo towers resident Fiona in her apartment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nic Walker</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>Further reading:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-live-here-how-do-residents-feel-about-public-housing-redevelopment-83422">We Live Here: how do residents feel about public housing redevelopment?</a></em></p>
<hr>
<p>Clearly, the possibilities of digital technologies can be used to confound and enlarge our experiences of and connections to place.</p>
<p>As McLuhan and Mitchell would no doubt have realised by now, with the rise of digital technologies public spaces have become more, not less, important to the experience of cities. As we design the digital interfaces and data-driven services to support our places and spaces, the evolving possibilities of place and digital publics will no doubt continue to surprise.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The Conversation is co-publishing articles with <a href="http://www.alva.uwa.edu.au/community/futurewest">Future West (Australian Urbanism)</a>, produced by the University of Western Australia’s Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts. These articles look towards the future of urbanism, taking Perth and Western Australia as its reference point, with the latest series focusing on the public domain. You can read other articles <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/future-west-30248">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87173/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Barns periodically consults to organisations involved in smart city strategies, including Arup Pty Ltd, CSIRO Data 61, and Urban Growth NSW. She is a member of the Smart Cities Council Australian and NZ (SCCANZ) Built Environment Task Force and leads a digital placemaking practice called Esem Projects. Between 2014-17 her postdoctoral research relating to digital strategies in the built environment was supported by the UK Urban Studies Foundation. </span></em></p>Public spaces have become more, not less, important to our experience of cities in the digital era. These technologies can be used to confound and enlarge our experiences of and connections to place.Sarah Barns, Engaged Research Fellow, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/871742017-12-07T19:18:23Z2017-12-07T19:18:23ZLooking beyond the sandstone: universities reinvent campuses to bring together town and gown<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196874/original/file-20171129-28846-zdgw1w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">RMIT University transformed the look and function of its city campus as part of its New Academic Street project.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tess Kelly</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Curtin University has a <a href="http://about.curtin.edu.au/policy-governance/master-plan/">redevelopment plan</a> to transform 114 hectares of its Bentley campus in Perth into a “<a href="http://about.curtin.edu.au/who/centre-of-innovation/">city of innovation</a>”. Its <a href="http://mobilityatcurtin.com.au/Curtin%20IT&MP%20Briefing%20Paper.pdf">stated vision</a> is to provide an “urban context that supports constant exchange between education, research, industry and government … where knowledge and innovation extend beyond buildings”. </p>
<p>Also in Perth, the University of Western Australia is heading towards the tail end of its decade-long <a href="http://www.cm.uwa.edu.au/plan/campus-plan-2010">Campus Plan 2010</a>. Its ambitions are to create a “university in a town” that cultivates a distinct sense of place while knitting itself into the local community. The project hinges on adaptable spaces that promote social contact. </p>
<p>In Victoria, Melbourne’s laneway culture and the idea of the 24-hour city inspired RMIT University’s A$220 million <a href="http://nas.rmit.edu.au/">New Academic Street</a>. In Canberra, the Australian National University’s A$220 million <a href="http://www.reunioncourt.com.au/">revitalisation of Union Court</a> has kicked off with a pop-up village, with student accommodation, a student services hub, learning spaces and an events centre to come.</p>
<h2>What’s driving this transformation?</h2>
<p>Historically, European ideas of the campus as a place apart, shielded from the unruly city, shaped Australia’s “sandstone” university campuses. Postwar planning continued the separation of the campus from the city by putting it in the suburbs. </p>
<p>However, in an increasingly deregulated global market, universities must change tack and become more inclusive. Competition to attract the best and brightest students and researchers is increasing. Universities are vying for industry and social partnerships, research grants and a seat at the policy table. The digital revolution has also transformed study habits.</p>
<p>In this climate, being able to create an engaging experience on a real-world campus can set an institution apart, potentially offering social and educational benefits that can’t be had online or on other universities’ campuses. </p>
<p>The focus on the public realm taps into today’s urban planning orthodoxies of porous boundaries and <a href="http://www.bealsandthomas.com/designing-open-space-program-program/">programmed public spaces</a> combined with statement architecture. Campus-centred public programming might involve inviting the “neighbours” over not only for public lectures, but also for summer day parties and winter footy matches. Private-sector tenants might include farmers’ markets and lifestyle retailers, making the quad more like a local high street. </p>
<p>With its public programming, mixed-use planning and the insertion of small-to-medium private enterprises, campus design strategy has begun to mirror many Australian urban regeneration strategies. We can already see an “urbanisation” of campus buildings. In particular, new student accommodation resembles share houses, boutique hostels or luxury condos.</p>
<h2>Campuses are going downtown</h2>
<p>As well as bringing urban design principles onto campus, universities are taking the campus to the city. Different schools, research clusters and faculties are being dispersed into the city. </p>
<p>Curtin University <a href="https://www.campusreview.com.au/2016/04/curtin-opens-new-perth-city-law-school-premises/">Law School</a> is nestled in Perth’s legal district, exposing students to the cut and thrust of the judicial world. Similarly, Newcastle University relocated its Faculty of Business and Law from the main Callaghan campus to its A$95 million <a href="https://www.newcastle.edu.au/about-uon/our-environments/new-space">NeW Space CBD campus</a>.</p>
<p>These satellite campuses in city centres are also developing a civic sensibility. </p>
<p>A key international example can be found in the United States. In 2016, the <a href="https://law.asu.edu/about/new-building">Beus Center for Law and Society</a> (BCLS), the new home of Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, opened in downtown Phoenix, next to the legal and government precincts. (The main campus is in suburban Tempe.) </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196876/original/file-20171129-28892-1gfkad8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196876/original/file-20171129-28892-1gfkad8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196876/original/file-20171129-28892-1gfkad8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196876/original/file-20171129-28892-1gfkad8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196876/original/file-20171129-28892-1gfkad8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196876/original/file-20171129-28892-1gfkad8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196876/original/file-20171129-28892-1gfkad8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196876/original/file-20171129-28892-1gfkad8.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law’s new home, the Beus Center for Law and Society, is in downtown Phoenix.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Arizona State University</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The mission of the law college is to “raise the bar” through ethical legal practices. This includes helping the local community – many of whom are struggling with poverty and a lack of citizenship documentation – to understand their rights and how the law shapes society.</p>
<p>The college invites the neighbourhood into a space that, for most, is intimidating. Lines between campus and city are made intentionally hazy through the form and function of spaces, programming and public-facing services. The campus houses small to medium-sized social enterprises, including the Arizona Justice Project, which reviews and assists in cases of innocent or wrongly imprisoned individuals.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196877/original/file-20171129-28852-1mxxb8v.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196877/original/file-20171129-28852-1mxxb8v.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/196877/original/file-20171129-28852-1mxxb8v.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196877/original/file-20171129-28852-1mxxb8v.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196877/original/file-20171129-28852-1mxxb8v.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196877/original/file-20171129-28852-1mxxb8v.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=673&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196877/original/file-20171129-28852-1mxxb8v.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=673&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/196877/original/file-20171129-28852-1mxxb8v.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=673&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">More than 90% of students at the Beus Center for Law and Society take part in pro bono activities and public service.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Arizona State University</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The college encourages students to engage with the community. More than 90% of them take part in pro bono activities and public service. Some work with review teams at the Arizona Justice Project.</p>
<p>In a climate of economic, social and environmental challenges, universities are well placed to take on this kind of public leadership role. By reorienting a networked research culture towards the broader community, universities can become catalysts for social development.</p>
<h2>Creating a critical mass of innovation</h2>
<p>Another way universities can increase their impact is by physically clustering together students, researchers, social-impact businesses and startups. The <a href="https://mid.org.au/">Melbourne Innovation Districts</a> partnership between the University of Melbourne, RMIT University and the City of Melbourne was announced in August 2017. The initiative seeks to drive investment in the knowledge economy by leveraging the knowledge in Melbourne’s northern CBD.</p>
<p>The district, which includes the two universities’ main campuses, accounts for 21% of knowledge-sector jobs in the city. According to the <a href="https://economicdevelopment.vic.gov.au/about-us/news/launchvic-maps-victorias-startup-ecosystem">Mapping Victoria’s Startup Ecosystem report</a>, commissioned by LaunchVic and released in August 2017, Victoria is home to most of the startups in Australia that have a value of more than A$1 billion. However, only 34% of Victorian startups partner with universities or research institutions. </p>
<p>An explicit ambition of Melbourne Innovation Districts is to attract more small businesses, startups and social enterprises to build the talent pool that feeds innovation. Public spaces and resources designed with civic participation in mind – cycling networks, free Wi-Fi and smart-sensor technologies – are part of the plan.</p>
<h2>Transformation starts with procurement</h2>
<p>The project shows how universities might employ innovative processes to create innovative places. Universities need only look in their own backyards for expertise in designing campuses. </p>
<p>Importantly, procurement processes could better reflect the aspirations of the diverse neighbourhoods and innovation districts universities seek to emulate. The focus should be on the value of emergent and smaller players in driving change. </p>
<p>Australia’s design sector is largely made up of small-to-medium-sized businesses. However, risk-averse processes mean they are rarely involved in campus planning in a meaningful way.</p>
<p>Campus procurement could build in mechanisms, such as large offices partnering smaller offices, to help smaller, younger and newer practices to scale up. Redefining risk to include them in funded competitions and merit-based tender selection would support a local industry while capturing new ideas. </p>
<p>Innovation in procurement would help reshape universities as open platforms for shared discovery. This would expand the opportunities to plan memorable, distinctive campuses textured with local character.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The Conversation is co-publishing articles with <a href="http://www.alva.uwa.edu.au/community/futurewest">Future West (Australian Urbanism)</a>, produced by the University of Western Australia’s Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts. These articles look towards the future of urbanism, taking Perth and Western Australia as its reference point, with the latest series focusing on the public domain. You can read other articles <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/future-west-30248">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87174/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bree Trevena does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>European ideas of the campus as a place apart shaped Australia’s “sandstone” universities. Now universities are adopting urban regeneration strategies, bringing the city to the campus and vice versa.Bree Trevena, PhD Researcher, Research Unit in Public Cultures, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/871722017-12-05T19:21:54Z2017-12-05T19:21:54ZPeople love parklets, and businesses can help make them happen<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197509/original/file-20171204-5424-qf1n3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Wray Avenue Solar Parklet by Seedesign Studio is in Fremantle. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jean-Paul Horré</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As councils across Australia strive to enhance their <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/healthy-liveable-cities-44685">liveability</a>, parklets are proving popular among city communities. A poll of 300-plus citizens gathered for the inaugural Perth City Summit in August found parklets are the street activation people would most like to see. But why are they so desirable?</p>
<p>San Francisco is central to the parklet story. In 2005, the design collective <a href="http://rebargroup.org/">Rebar</a> turned a parking space into a “park” for two hours as a comment on the use and control of public space in the city. This was followed in 2006 by the installation of more than 40 temporary parks for <a href="http://parkingday.org/">PARK(ing) Day</a>, now an annual international event. </p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>Further reading:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-day-for-turning-parking-spaces-into-pop-up-parks-65164">A day for turning parking spaces into pop-up parks</a></em></p>
<hr>
<p>By 2010, San Francisco had introduced a policy to help create parklets. This has set an important precedent for parklet policies in Australia and internationally.</p>
<p>There are now more than 50 parklets across San Francisco. According to its <a href="http://pavementtoparks.org/">Pavements to Parks</a> program, these parklets have “appeared … under the sponsorship of nonprofits, small businesses, neighborhood groups, and others”. </p>
<p>This account conveys a strong sense of democracy and accessibility: anyone can install a parklet in their city, and apparently many do. The Deepistan National Parklet (aka “the Deeplet”), the parklet installed by Deep Jawa outside his home in the Mission District, is a celebrated example.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197502/original/file-20171204-5381-1d3jxg5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197502/original/file-20171204-5381-1d3jxg5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197502/original/file-20171204-5381-1d3jxg5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197502/original/file-20171204-5381-1d3jxg5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197502/original/file-20171204-5381-1d3jxg5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197502/original/file-20171204-5381-1d3jxg5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197502/original/file-20171204-5381-1d3jxg5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197502/original/file-20171204-5381-1d3jxg5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Deepistan parklet is a celebrated example created by a community-minded individual.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ari/9899826405">Steve Rhodes/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/markhogan/6342797343/in/photolist-cSxoUj-oiLKhp-oiLJjn-oyepLE-oiLL5X-oC24uz-oAewcQ-oA4izh-g5Pxxr-g5PmK4-g5PJg9-g5PD1w-cw3iB5-cSxv7d-fik1aM-fAoeeo-cSxqz9-cSxtWW-ae8M3Y-cSxgAW-cSxuv7-cSxkXm-cSxuN5-dh1GEn-dh1GpD-cSxsjY-ayQJn6-cSxsVU-aEuuzV-ayQJjZ-ayQJpB-anPFwN-dpBGWK-aEuuET-as3qhq-arZMWp-dh1GxP-cEDKbu-aaVBBb-arZNr4-arZT1n-UTTLxW-dgSksz-dpBRLC-oAeuHC-ecFQx5-dpBHvp-dpBSn9-aBPZR9-arZNCK">Mark Hogan/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The neglected role of business</h2>
<p>We hear much less about the businesses behind parklets. Cafes, bakeries, bars and pizza shops have installed almost all of the 50-plus parklets in San Francisco. Deepistan is exceptional not merely for its topiary dinosaur but for its non-commercial nature. </p>
<p>This is not surprising, since the proponent pays for installation and maintenance. And the costs are significant (typically these can be well over A$20,000).</p>
<p>The term “parklet” can be traced to San Francisco (it was coined by City planner Andres Power as a catchier name for Rebar’s proposed “walklet”). But there are many other precedents for the intervention itself. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197505/original/file-20171204-5385-pc1w30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197505/original/file-20171204-5385-pc1w30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197505/original/file-20171204-5385-pc1w30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197505/original/file-20171204-5385-pc1w30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197505/original/file-20171204-5385-pc1w30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197505/original/file-20171204-5385-pc1w30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197505/original/file-20171204-5385-pc1w30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197505/original/file-20171204-5385-pc1w30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rebar’s temporary parklet in 2005, the first of many to show vividly how much space we set aside for private cars.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Perhaps the most obvious, given the strong connection between parklets and cafes, is the long-standing use of footpaths and roadways as restaurant dining areas. The <a href="https://www.vanscafe.com.au/whats-new/2017/10/3/happy-1st-birthday-to-our-parklet">parklet outside Vans Cafe</a> in Cottesloe, for example, was approved under an <a href="https://ablis.business.gov.au/service/wa/permit-for-an-outdoor-eating-area-in-a-street-or-public-place-alfresco-dining-/19265">alfresco dining licence</a>. Converting a parking space into a sitting space is hardly revolutionary.</p>
<p>Yet advocates of parklets rarely make this connection. The story of parklets as entirely new, stemming from Rebar’s DIY park, is far more appealing, suggesting a bottom-up, creative and democratic remaking of the public realm. The link to one of the world’s most innovation-rich cities doesn’t hurt, either.</p>
<p>The reluctance of planners and policymakers to connect parklets to business also reflects concerns about the commercialisation and commodification of the city. The problems of privately owned public spaces (“POPOs” – provided by large developers in exchange for variations to planning rules) are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/jul/24/revealed-pseudo-public-space-pops-london-investigation-map">well documented</a>, particularly the issues of high levels of management and surveillance.</p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>Further reading:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/private-events-help-fund-public-parks-but-theres-a-cost-too-21343">Private events help fund public parks, but there’s a cost too</a></em></p>
<hr>
<p>Parklets, however, are not privately owned public spaces. Parklets are installed on public land, are temporary and cannot be controlled by the business that installed them. Each bears a sign proclaiming the public nature of the space. Anyone can use parklets, whether they buy something or not.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197268/original/file-20171201-30919-17b8dbt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197268/original/file-20171201-30919-17b8dbt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197268/original/file-20171201-30919-17b8dbt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197268/original/file-20171201-30919-17b8dbt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197268/original/file-20171201-30919-17b8dbt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197268/original/file-20171201-30919-17b8dbt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197268/original/file-20171201-30919-17b8dbt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Parklets are only temporary structures paid for and built by the proposer.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">SDOT Photos/Flickr</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One might critique parklets for their scale, their distribution or their use. They are tiny and do very little to meet important needs for play, exercise or engagement with nature. Some appear a little neglected; many are in areas that are already leafy.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197506/original/file-20171204-5420-170vqza.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197506/original/file-20171204-5420-170vqza.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197506/original/file-20171204-5420-170vqza.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197506/original/file-20171204-5420-170vqza.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197506/original/file-20171204-5420-170vqza.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197506/original/file-20171204-5420-170vqza.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=975&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197506/original/file-20171204-5420-170vqza.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=975&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197506/original/file-20171204-5420-170vqza.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=975&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">San Francisco’s Parklet Manual gives detailed instructions on creating a parklet.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://pavementtoparks.org/parklets/">City of San Francisco</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In San Francisco, some parklets have been rejected for fear they will contribute not to community empowerment but to gentrification.</p>
<h2>Why so popular?</h2>
<p>So how can we explain the popularity of the parklet? Perhaps because parklets support, and build off, the kinds of places people like – and these aren’t just <a href="https://theconversation.com/green-space-how-much-is-enough-and-whats-the-best-way-to-deliver-it-77393">green spaces</a>.</p>
<p>As US urban activist and writer <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-might-jane-jacobs-say-about-smart-cities-58278">Jane Jacobs</a> explained so powerfully, cities need more than parks and plazas: commercial activity is a crucial component of public life. Cafes are increasingly important sites for community interaction as other places for local exchange disappear, including banks, post offices, corner delis and newsagents, on top of the local hardware, haberdashery and other specialist shops lost to competition from larger retailers and the digital marketplace. Parklets present some hope for walkable, local commerce.</p>
<p>Or perhaps their popularity has more to do with the lack of options for public participation in shaping the city. Parklets may be led by businesses, but they are local businesses, sometimes supported with public or crowdsourced funds, and parklet policies mean that the spaces cannot be private. Opportunities for participation are often much greater than for the larger public spaces created by professionals. They also show vividly how much space we waste on private cars.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197510/original/file-20171204-5406-10zff7z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197510/original/file-20171204-5406-10zff7z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197510/original/file-20171204-5406-10zff7z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197510/original/file-20171204-5406-10zff7z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197510/original/file-20171204-5406-10zff7z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197510/original/file-20171204-5406-10zff7z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197510/original/file-20171204-5406-10zff7z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/197510/original/file-20171204-5406-10zff7z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">North Perth’s Angove Street Off-cut Parklet, designed by NOMA.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.nomastudio.com.au/work/15-masterplanning/77-angove-street-offcut-parklet.html">NOMA</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>After parklets, the second-most-desired street activation, according to the Perth City Summit poll, was “creative installations”, followed by street events and murals. In comparison, parklets offer a more tangible and accessible option. </p>
<p>Clearly, we can’t rely on businesses alone to provide adequate and appropriate public spaces. The role of local and state governments in providing a high-quality public realm continues to be important. But parklets show that businesses are not all seeking to play the system. As we think about public life, parklets might provide a useful model to build on.</p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>Further reading: <a href="https://theconversation.com/street-life-how-do-you-revive-a-dull-urban-area-23181">Street life: how do you revive a dull urban area?</a></strong></em></p>
<hr>
<p><em>The Conversation is co-publishing this and other articles with <a href="http://www.alva.uwa.edu.au/community/futurewest">Future West (Australian Urbanism)</a>, produced by the University of Western Australia’s Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts. These articles look towards the future of urbanism, taking Perth and Western Australia as its reference point, with the latest series focusing on the public domain. You can read other articles <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/future-west-30248">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87172/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amelia Thorpe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Many parklets are privately funded, but these projects often allow for more public participation than more traditional public spaces.Amelia Thorpe, Senior Lecturer and Director of Environmental Law Programs, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/783372017-06-08T19:26:41Z2017-06-08T19:26:41ZThere’s a city in my mind …<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/172211/original/file-20170605-31053-11i54x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bicycles are the main form of transport around the Burning Man Festival and are recycled or gifted afterwards.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/9756642@N02/8046490863/in/photolist-dg3np6-fLRP5s-dg3pFW-dg3nre-dg3jJM-dg3pYf-dg3ptq-dg3udo-dg3tQg-dg3kzc-fLSbwJ-7ERTu5-r5erM6-32Fio9-anyFwk-8C1WWE-8BWEja-8BXSGn-8BZRXE-8BXbUk-8BXSb6-fLzjqi-5fCYGx-anBuHs-5fCYnz-g9aEAV-fBzpxn-fLzjRT-8BZSqo-fLRV8L-5vVEVE-5iVPCk-4qXuZF-o5A318-8LhH8h-71JCxR-6XjKYy-71JRG4-71PmaC-71JPfi-71Prth-71JEp6-fMRDZu-dcnd6s-dcncXN-8C14ZC-5vVwpG-6X9UBB-71NKfU-nLjvky">stuartlchambers/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>On the alkali flats of north-western Nevada’s <a href="http://www.americansouthwest.net/nevada/black-rock-desert/">Black Rock Desert</a>, the featureless yellow-packed playa (desert basin floor) stretches to the horizon. Under a 38-degree sun, the dry air peels back the cuticles and cracks the skin. Swirling particles signal the dust storms that will block the throat and scratch the eye, taking visibility down to less than a metre. </p>
<p>Black Rock seems an unlikely place for almost 70,000 people to converge on an annual festival with no programmed events, no line and nothing for sale. Yet, every August, <a href="https://burningman.org/event/brc/">Burning Man</a> brings a temporary self-governing city to the desert.</p>
<p>In the space of 30 years, Burning Man has transformed from a small community festival into a “must do” on the global event tourism circuit. It draws partygoers, experimentalists, activists, committed “Burners” and experience-seekers looking to tick “The Burn” off their bucket lists. </p>
<p>The ten days of self-curated art, community and self-expression in the desert is also big business. In 2015, according to the <a href="https://burningman.org/culture/history/brc-history/afterburn/">After Burn Report</a>, attendees spent an average of AU$2,600 during the festival. And 20% of them came from outside the US.</p>
<h2>Volunteer-powered governance</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/172212/original/file-20170605-31050-1xqsuv9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/172212/original/file-20170605-31050-1xqsuv9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/172212/original/file-20170605-31050-1xqsuv9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=704&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172212/original/file-20170605-31050-1xqsuv9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=704&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172212/original/file-20170605-31050-1xqsuv9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=704&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172212/original/file-20170605-31050-1xqsuv9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=885&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172212/original/file-20170605-31050-1xqsuv9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=885&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172212/original/file-20170605-31050-1xqsuv9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=885&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Burners enjoy refreshments at the Dust City Diner.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/thelastminute/33246005571/in/photolist-SDQtbB-SgEEvG-SCT8jd-REyfF2-RBjT1x-Shh4gb-SiqnxE-RASg3n-SGHfHB-RC6bAW-SGUJDV-SQYTLR-SFthRP-SDDW8A-SgTYFJ-SMbJp5-RxQPtY-Si93du-Ry9Qvw-SGoMFg-STKFBD-ShY137-SjreDf-SCFPwG-RxWEFA-Rzddwy-SEk3NR-ShPDGJ-SB8JmG-RAu36W-RzLai5-SNxuoG-SDDh7K-Si6bJo-SLUTJu-SgWT7G-RE4xvn-ST2qrx-SS9jo2-SDsuwY-Sir8au-SiB4Qy-Si5HSN-RzBqpL-RzByqW-RBq4b2-RBMev8-SQWhBg-SRHLea-RAikE5">Duncan Rawlinson/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Burning Man’s secret of success and point of difference from other festivals worldwide is the temporary suspension of patrons in a mental and physical space outside their everyday reality. This requires a different type of governance that permits all sorts of activities. </p>
<p>Creating a universal culture of permission and managing a population the size of Greater Bunbury while complying with policy and regulatory conditions is no mean feat. </p>
<p>A not-for-profit based out of California, Burning Man runs primarily on volunteer power. Legal teams negotiate everything from special recreation permits with the federal Bureau of Land Management to helping to secure thousands of temporary food establishment permits with the Nevada State Health Division so festival goers can gift food between each other.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/172346/original/file-20170605-16898-1f8l3cn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/172346/original/file-20170605-16898-1f8l3cn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/172346/original/file-20170605-16898-1f8l3cn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=715&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172346/original/file-20170605-16898-1f8l3cn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=715&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172346/original/file-20170605-16898-1f8l3cn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=715&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172346/original/file-20170605-16898-1f8l3cn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172346/original/file-20170605-16898-1f8l3cn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172346/original/file-20170605-16898-1f8l3cn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Department of Mutant Vehicles oversees the art cars, such as Neverwas Haul at the 2013 event.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/thelastminute/9697269996/in/photolist-fLV3wh-d8ieK7-dc5gQZ-fLBN6M-fmvqg2-fLV715-d8ijHN-fLUSok-aRxULc-4BFDaG-oMpq58-cXRF8d-fmR3Vy-5jr14g-fmRbWQ-a6uPzb-fEUgdK-9NJybd-32KbPG-pk4ozw-aRwJ54-6YEbaK-fLuwGK-fmvpVP-p4Cv3g-oMoRub-6WMPtG-fKbpyf-qqeh73-fLUiCQ-am4dVf-5mMBrA-6YbneM-fmRhU7-kcC1fV-db8wVQ-56Cdg4-oL2KwX-fmKTmu-fLUW7j-g12WLM-kcD8Wp-oRoFCm-8iqs1b-6XJrJ4-fMz5hP-fJ5HHD-5fHkNo-dj5dsU-anyw74">Duncan Rawlinson/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sustaining Black Rock City in the harsh Nevada desert is challenging. The temporary autonomous zone is built and maintained through self-regulating urban planning, community services, project grants, public infrastructure, emergency protocols and safety plans. </p>
<p>The Black Rock City Department of Public Works oversees way-finding and street surveying. The Department of Mutant Vehicles oversees the art cars – pirate ships, dustbowl-era shacks and flamethrowing octopi – that glide past pedestrians and cyclists.</p>
<p>The festival is in many ways an innovation lab for rethinking cities. Infrastructure and services are provided, creating a scaffold for civic engagement as Black Rock City citizens co-create, maintain and dismantle a city in the space of two weeks. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/172215/original/file-20170605-31028-1xcq8ry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/172215/original/file-20170605-31028-1xcq8ry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/172215/original/file-20170605-31028-1xcq8ry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172215/original/file-20170605-31028-1xcq8ry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172215/original/file-20170605-31028-1xcq8ry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172215/original/file-20170605-31028-1xcq8ry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172215/original/file-20170605-31028-1xcq8ry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172215/original/file-20170605-31028-1xcq8ry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A mini-city grid is built, maintained for two weeks, and then dismantled.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/thelastminute/33264506481/in/photolist-SFthRP-SDDW8A-SgTYFJ-SMbJp5-RxQPtY-Si93du-Ry9Qvw-SGoMFg-STKFBD-ShY137-SjreDf-SCFPwG-RxWEFA-Rzddwy-SEk3NR-ShPDGJ-SB8JmG-RAu36W-RzLai5-SNxuoG-SDDh7K-Si6bJo-SLUTJu-SgWT7G-RE4xvn-ST2qrx-SS9jo2-SDsuwY-Sir8au-SiB4Qy-Si5HSN-RzBqpL-RzByqW-RBq4b2-RBMev8-SQWhBg-SRHLea-RAikE5-RxR43m-SMbLMS-RAnGvA-RymoRG-SQoPzx-RBWZBY-SBWndq-RxVDH5-SF42rZ-SjKq7U-SLPFfm-RAPpLk">Duncan Rawlinson/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Ten principles of temporary urbanism</h2>
<p>Volunteer-provided tools are in place to help local communities bring to life various cultural and social enterprise programs. </p>
<p>These are guided by the festival’s ten principles. These principles, enshrined by festival founder and Burner guru Larry Harvey, wouldn’t be out of place on the wall of any civic urbanism devotee: radical inclusion, gifting, decommodification, radical self-reliance, radical self-expression, communal effort, civic responsibility, participation, immediacy and leaving no trace.</p>
<p>Black Rock City’s remote location means the majority of festival-goers drive, often cross-country. Around one-third fly in. Power-hungry generators scatter the playa and mutant vehicles leave diesel fumes in their wake. </p>
<p>The cost and impact of ten days’ worth of living is apparent after each festival. Burning Man has recognised this impact and has voiced a commitment to reducing the festival footprint. </p>
<p>The “leave no trace” principle incorporates MOOPing, or removing all Matter Out Of Place. MOOP is anything not found on arrival, including grey water, dust dunes and plant matter. Magnet sweepers, rakes and rebar-removing grips are all part of MOOP kits.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/172214/original/file-20170605-31005-ec768t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/172214/original/file-20170605-31005-ec768t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/172214/original/file-20170605-31005-ec768t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=200&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172214/original/file-20170605-31005-ec768t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=200&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172214/original/file-20170605-31005-ec768t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=200&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172214/original/file-20170605-31005-ec768t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172214/original/file-20170605-31005-ec768t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172214/original/file-20170605-31005-ec768t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The ‘leave no trace’ principle means nothing that wasn’t there before the festival is left behind.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/thelastminute/33261351211/in/photolist-SFc7UB-SNh8MS-RC1R6G-SEwjhz-Sh11b5-RzNpUL-SHaBin-SNezrU-SACRF9-RBRt4U-RBqwan-RC3r3s-RD7dPp-SEAcBH-SNh4US-SEviqB-SEQQLK-SMuG85-SGbVt4-SD4qqh-SPSZS7-SRoye6-SUuEKT-SBBvvA-SC6yty-SgWRVy-SBzCqb-SR1wMT-SMM9ss-Sgx5Fw-SQVUG5-SfY5QL-ST5Ve6-SBbcF7-SD2cFT-SRRck8-RxW4AW-SQFXo4-RALo9D-RADSN6-STzfbt-SfYgmq-RBSjTH-SPyqm5-RArXyJ-SM9Koy-SiPY2y-SPC8zG-SFPRca-SE1HvZ">Duncan Rawlinson - Duncan.co - @thelastminute/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Spreading to Australia</h2>
<p>The culture cultivated at Burning Man has spread as far afield as Australia. In April 2017, Western Australia hosted its fourth Burning Man offshoot event, <a href="http://blazingswan.com.au/">Blazing Swan</a>, at Jilakin Rock City. The eastern seaboard has its own <a href="http://burningseed.com/">Burning Seed</a>.</p>
<p>Burning Man’s increasing popularity also delivers increasing returns. Organisers put the annual economic benefit to Nevada at US$45 million. Reno-Tahoe International Airport estimates a US$10 million annual contribution as Burners flow through to Reno, stocking up on supplies and stopping for a well-earned shower.</p>
<p>The festival has no doubt brought Nevada valuable exposure along with the spending. Nearby Reno has leveraged Burning Man’s civic, cultural and innovation ethos to recast itself as a liveable, progressive city with a burgeoning start-up and maker scene. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/172221/original/file-20170605-31010-o7c10b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/172221/original/file-20170605-31010-o7c10b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/172221/original/file-20170605-31010-o7c10b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172221/original/file-20170605-31010-o7c10b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172221/original/file-20170605-31010-o7c10b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172221/original/file-20170605-31010-o7c10b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172221/original/file-20170605-31010-o7c10b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/172221/original/file-20170605-31010-o7c10b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Welcome to Gerlach.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://twitter.com/northviews4team">Northview S4 Team/Twitter</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The festival has also become an important partner for Gerlach, the 200-person community closest to Black Rock City. Located next to a former gypsum quarry, the town’s welcome sign would be at home outside many remote Australian mining communities: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Welcome to Gerlach. Attitude: Good. Population: Wanted.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The impact of Burning Man includes seasonal employment and direct support for Gerlach’s social infrastructure. <a href="http://www.blackrocksolar.org/">Black Rock Solar</a>, established at Burning Man, brought the festival’s gift economy to everyday life in rural Nevada. It has provided free or low-cost renewable energy to local schools, towns and Native American communities. </p>
<p>Burning Man is also a gateway to Nevada’s remote natural attractions. Some 17% of festival goers visit other parks as part of their trip. </p>
<p>For remote Western Australian towns and cities, unique events could act as a springboard, enticing tourists to launch themselves into all that the state has to offer.</p>
<p>Local and state governments across Australia have been actively building calendars of tightly curated, highly programmed arts and sporting events to lure tourists. Burning Man models an opportunity for governments to support the vision of local social entrepreneurs and not-for-profits in co-creating context-specific, unique experiences for the public good. </p>
<p>A re-imagined role for government might involve helping local populations to shape leisure landscapes by enabling paths through the thicket of policy and regulatory barriers. Government might even gain clues from an experimental utopian festival about innovations in everything from sustainable living to urban governance.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The Conversation is co-publishing articles with <a href="http://www.alva.uwa.edu.au/community/futurewest">Future West (Australian Urbanism)</a>, produced by the University of Western Australia’s Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts. These articles look towards the future of urbanism, taking Perth and Western Australia as a reference point. The newly released third issue is available <a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/http://www.lulu.com/shop/timothy-moore/future-west-03-leisure-state/paperback/product-23205823.html">here</a>. You can read other articles in the ongoing series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/future-west-30248">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/78337/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bree Trevena does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The annual Burning Man Festival creates a temporary city in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert. In many ways, it’s an innovation lab for rethinking cities.Bree Trevena, PhD Researcher, Research Unit in Public Cultures, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/783382017-06-01T20:09:22Z2017-06-01T20:09:22ZFlat white urbanism: there must be better ways to foster a vibrant street life<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171414/original/file-20170530-16272-sce73z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The flat white experience is so ubiquitous that it could be anywhere.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/woman-friends-cafe-seen-through-window-387398542?src=dTGMl-Lbhm8W2-dXfIhH2g-1-19">mavo from www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Iconic architectural pieces may attract large numbers of tourists but are not the only things that live in the memories of visitors to Australian cities. Everyday experiences also endure. In fact, eating is one of the top tourist activities. </p>
<p>It’s also where the money is spent. According to Tourism Research Australia’s <a href="https://www.tra.gov.au/Research/View-all-publications/All-Publications/Economic-reports/tourism-satellite-account-2015-16">Tourism Satellite Account 2015-16 report</a>, tourists spend the largest percentage of their money – about 21 cents in every dollar – on takeaways, restaurant meals and beverages.</p>
<p>It isn’t just international tourists searching for memorable cafe and dining experiences – leisure-seekers from nearby suburbs or towns are too. According to Food Industry Foresight’s <a href="http://www.fiforesight.com/fif-reports/australia/coffee-beverages-in-australia.aspx">Coffee & Beverages In Australia</a> annual tracking study, Australians drink about two coffees out per week. That equates to about 1.8 billion espresso-based coffees a year, costing A$7.3 billion.</p>
<p>So that cafes, restaurants and bars remain competitive, the architecture becomes part of the attraction. This has led to some ubiquitous design signifiers: white subway tiles, reclaimed timber, austere pendant lighting, white anodised SHS steel and exposed brick.</p>
<p>Additionally, cafe names often echo a civic rhetoric – see Common Ground, Public House, New School Canteen. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171282/original/file-20170529-25227-1t5ib4x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171282/original/file-20170529-25227-1t5ib4x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171282/original/file-20170529-25227-1t5ib4x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171282/original/file-20170529-25227-1t5ib4x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171282/original/file-20170529-25227-1t5ib4x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171282/original/file-20170529-25227-1t5ib4x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=630&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171282/original/file-20170529-25227-1t5ib4x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=630&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171282/original/file-20170529-25227-1t5ib4x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=630&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cafes, for example Fitzroy’s New School Canteen, often include a civic language in their names.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Google Streetview</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The replication of the cafe typology – each must have the right owner, the right coffee, and the right baristas, business name and interior designer – can be as tedious as the desire of city authorities to have a leisure landscape, a stadium, or an event to fill it.</p>
<p>Cities use these precincts and events as strategic tools to project an attractive image of themselves as they compete for tourist dollars, business investment, professional talent and the coveted high ranking in <a href="https://theconversation.com/liveable-sydney-has-clear-winners-and-losers-78030">liveability indexes</a>. </p>
<p>And Australia has many tourist leisurescapes under construction. There’s <a href="http://www.darlingsq.com/">Darling Square</a>, a A$3.4 billion neighbourhood near Sydney’s Darling Harbour; Perth’s <a href="http://www.mra.wa.gov.au/projects-and-places/elizabeth-quay">Elizabeth Quay</a>, a mixed-use development of office, entertainment and residential buildings around a 2.7-hectare artificial river inlet; and the <a href="http://www.goldcoastculturalprecinct.info/">Gold Coast’s expanded cultural precinct</a> of 16.9 hectares, with Stage 1 to be delivered in time for the 2018 Commonwealth Games. And each comes with those ubiquitous cafes.</p>
<h2>Leveraging the lure of the cafe</h2>
<p>Property developers have recognised how to leverage the popularity of this “flat white tourism”. A nearby “cappuccino” strip can increase land values. It also helps with marketing apartment buildings: the promise of a cafe that anchors a new development is enticing for home buyers and investors. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171284/original/file-20170529-25236-153dlxx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171284/original/file-20170529-25236-153dlxx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=799&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171284/original/file-20170529-25236-153dlxx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=799&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171284/original/file-20170529-25236-153dlxx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=799&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171284/original/file-20170529-25236-153dlxx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1004&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171284/original/file-20170529-25236-153dlxx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1004&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171284/original/file-20170529-25236-153dlxx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1004&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Artist complex in Melbourne, designed by Rijavec Architecture, includes ground-level apartments alongside a corner cafe.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Google Streetview</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Local councils also see cafes as desirable. To maintain street life, planning regulations often require active, public-facing street fronts, rather than blank walls, car parks, gardens or fences. The aim is to accommodate activity that encourages pedestrian interaction and casual surveillance. </p>
<p>Paired with changing consumer habits (such as online and mall shopping), the result is that many high streets are now dominated by the cafe, a sort of “high street lite”. The cafe appears to be a market-driven solution to achieve an active street front in Australian cities. This is flat white urbanism.</p>
<h2>Consider the alternatives</h2>
<p>Australians are not just consuming coffee. In fact, people are not just passively consuming cultural or leisure activities (such as going to bands or watching sport). Australians are making, doing and playing; active participation is on the rise around the country. </p>
<p>For example, the Australia Council study <a href="http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/workspace/uploads/files/research/aca_221751_research-fact-sheet-54911b235537d.pdf">Arts in Daily Life: Australian Participation in the Arts</a> highlighted that about one in three Australians is involved in creating visual art or craft. The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/4159.0">General Social Survey, 2014</a> shows that 31% of Australians are also volunteering. This has put pressure on council services and raised questions about how councils can help enable community activity.</p>
<p>The availability of affordable and accessible space is a looming issue in major Australian cities. There is demand for more diverse uses at ground level – studios, live-work apartments, community rooms, kindergartens, ateliers, small-scale light industrial zones, education facilities. </p>
<p>But the desire among lessors for the maximum rental return means less profitable businesses or civic users can’t afford street-fronting leases.</p>
<h2>A way to fund diverse activity</h2>
<p>The concept of the developer contribution offers an opportunity to reimagine the ground plane of apartment buildings, to diversify away from look-alike cafes. The developer contribution is a percentage of a building budget that goes to community infrastructure (for the health, safety or wellbeing of the community). </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171416/original/file-20170530-16280-rk6bbj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171416/original/file-20170530-16280-rk6bbj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/171416/original/file-20170530-16280-rk6bbj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171416/original/file-20170530-16280-rk6bbj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171416/original/file-20170530-16280-rk6bbj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171416/original/file-20170530-16280-rk6bbj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171416/original/file-20170530-16280-rk6bbj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/171416/original/file-20170530-16280-rk6bbj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Berlin’s many street-level artist workshops and studios attract visitors from far and wide.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/la-citta-vita/5852181395/in/photolist-9V8XDe-7CDZaQ-9bc5pH-9bbA54-o6ynd8-aoshFb-9bck5c-97QhkZ-CxDRG8-bWehfM-nJAjyZ-djxuRy-5ssqM3-q6v5cS-97TpcS-F9hu35-TbH7he-2Taoof-q6v5td-pe5scM-bmEeev-qiW2ra-9qyLpz-bKMNZM-fHzVDf-9beGXN-CF3jrt-cCUqqL-91q2wf-9bby5i-9nMntc-dTEVjJ-9bfkcU-9bzoCH-bUEYyb-aBi88s-7p3n4w-94b5dp-doUxrV-9nMYkK-dTE3vS-9HMEA6-9mYfJV-4qqNBU-aCv8r4-9bzwMP-dTyq3H-dTzhQk-dTEMN1-9bf5xy">La Citta Vita/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At present, this money is generally channelled via council towards building libraries, multipurpose community centres, maternity health centres, sporting facilities or neighbourhood parks with play equipment. Cultural infrastructure seldom comes into the frame.</p>
<p>It is at the level of developer contribution that local councils can intervene. This could be through an ad-hoc process of negotiating more floors for the development in return for providing community space. Or it could be through rezoning, which is tied to developer contributions. </p>
<p>For example, developers could be granted a larger floor-area ratio through rezoning if they give a percentage of the building over to community use. This could include social housing.</p>
<p>A redefinition of what comprises community infrastructure could underpin this shift. This might extend to redefining public art contributions – developers are often required to provide a percentage of their project budget to public art. Would a subsidised artist studio be more valuable than a sculpture?</p>
<p>Urban policymakers have to be careful to maintain the uniqueness and distinctiveness of a place for both locals and tourists. Responding to the proliferation of cafes by creating incentives for, or regulating, other uses could be one way to diversify street life. </p>
<p>Then, cafes might not only give the appearance of a cultural scene, or of it being made somewhere nearby, or of it happening on the first floor. It is happening next door. This brings benefits to both the local and non-local coffee tourist.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The Conversation is co-publishing articles with <a href="http://www.alva.uwa.edu.au/community/futurewest">Future West (Australian Urbanism)</a>, produced by the University of Western Australia’s Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts. These articles look towards the future of urbanism, taking Perth and Western Australia as its reference point. The newly released third issue is available <a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/http://www.lulu.com/shop/timothy-moore/future-west-03-leisure-state/paperback/product-23205823.html">here</a>. You can read other articles in the ongoing series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/future-west-30248">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/78338/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Timothy Moore does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The ubiquitous cafes across Australian cities attract locals and tourists alike, but surely there’s more to thriving neighbourhoods than a flat white.Timothy Moore, PhD Candidate, Melbourne School of Design, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/664062016-11-25T02:50:45Z2016-11-25T02:50:45ZReinventing density: bridging the live-work divide<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140040/original/image-20161003-15278-11zevcg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Regulating for live/work spaces in San Francisco has enabled many new housing types to develop. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Andréanne Doyon</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This is the fifth and final piece in our series, <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/reinventing-density-33081">Reinventing density</a>, co-published with <a href="http://www.alva.uwa.edu.au/community/futurewest">Future West (Australian Urbanism)</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Since the beginning of the 20th century the single-function building typology – for example, the office, school, apartment, institution or retail complex – has been subject to regulations requiring <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Living_Over_the_Store.html?id=JFYBtwAACAAJ&redir_esc=y">separate spaces</a> for <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/A_Pattern_Language.html?id=hwAHmktpk5IC">“working” and “living”</a>. </p>
<p>Within this framework, paid labour seldom took place inside the home. Today, people use space differently, which means legislation must change to support different ways of living and working in the one building. </p>
<p>The post-industrial city, which has existed since the late 20th century, has changed the way people live and work. </p>
<p>In North America, with the decline of the manufacturing sector in many cities and the “discovery” of the inner city by the 1970s, it became fashionable for people to live in former manufacturing spaces that had been converted for residential use. This <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Live_Work_Planning_and_Design.html?id=EEleOnWf204C&redir_esc=y">trend emerged</a> in New York and then in San Francisco a decade later. </p>
<p>By the 1990s most cities in North America boasted converted <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Loft_Living.html?id=wxkEDCUkTwsC">loft districts</a> where people were, potentially, both living and working. </p>
<p>The early adopters of the contemporary live/work movement were <a href="http://www.relianceproperties.ca/livework-building/arc">artists and craftspeople</a>. Other groups that have since taken advantage of live/work dwellings are entrepreneurs and the self-employed. They may be freelancers who do not keep regular office hours or need permanent office space. </p>
<p>The availability and affordability of <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Wired_to_the_World_Chained_to_the_Home.html?id=aqriFwmxUr8C&redir_esc=y">computers, advances in telecommunications</a> and tax deductions for home offices have made the live/work option a practical and economically savvy alternative for many.</p>
<h2>Movement calls for planning reform</h2>
<p>When the contemporary live/work movement gained traction in the 1980s and 1990s, it <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Loft_Living.html?id=wxkEDCUkTwsC">challenged</a> the North American urban planning system. New legislation <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Live_Work_Planning_and_Design.html?id=EEleOnWf204C&redir_esc=y">allowed for mixed use</a>, blending residential, commercial, cultural, institutional and, where appropriate, industrial uses. </p>
<p>This included “<a href="http://www.theworkhome.com/">home occupation</a>”, which incorporated the right to pursue small-scale work activities at home. This model usually placed restrictions on the number of employees and commercial or client visits to the premises.</p>
<p>The term “live/work” signifies that the building or unit is primarily used for residential purposes, but that working is permitted. “Work/live” means the work component takes priority over the residential. In urban planning legislation, live/work is <a href="http://guidelines.vancouver.ca/L002.pdf">often associated</a> with residential and mixed-use zones and codes, whereas work/live is associated with commercial, industrial or mixed-use zones and codes.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140039/original/image-20161003-7750-1yvwg9j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140039/original/image-20161003-7750-1yvwg9j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140039/original/image-20161003-7750-1yvwg9j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140039/original/image-20161003-7750-1yvwg9j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140039/original/image-20161003-7750-1yvwg9j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140039/original/image-20161003-7750-1yvwg9j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140039/original/image-20161003-7750-1yvwg9j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140039/original/image-20161003-7750-1yvwg9j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Urban renewal in San Francisco’s SoMa district was driven by the live-work movement.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Andréanne Doyon</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The main difference between live/work and work/live and home occupation is the “disturbance factor” – that is, how intrusive the activities in the building are for neighbours. </p>
<p>In Australia, home occupations are generally permitted in current residential and mixed-use zones as long as they <a href="http://planningschemes.dpcd.vic.gov.au/schemes/vpps/52_11.pdf">do not disturb</a> the neighbours. </p>
<p>While artist communities and creative entrepreneurs in Australia have been blurring the boundaries between living and working for decades, live/work (or work/live) as a formalised land use does not exist.</p>
<p>The adaptive reuse of vacant or underused buildings and lots is a strand of the live/work, work/live movement. Locations such as Collingwood in Melbourne, Northbridge in Perth and Surry Hills in Sydney are all home to numerous <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/what-housing-crisis-a-new-breed-of-nomads-creates-a-cultural-shift-20150601-ghecnt.html">adaptive reuse projects</a> and people working in the creative economies. Councils often turn a blind eye to the buildings’ unregulated use.</p>
<p>However, Australia is yet to see the development of new land use or mixed-use live/work zones such as those in North America. Since the 1990s, live/work has also been formalised in Western Europe. By the 2000s, the <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/City_as_Loft.html?id=CQXuugAACAAJ&source=kp_cover&redir_esc=y">movement had taken hold</a> in places such as Eastern Europe, Russia and China.</p>
<h2>What are the live/work benefits?</h2>
<p>As a land-use and building typology, live/work can support urban neighbourhoods through providing a diversity of uses, which can be flexible over time. It intersects with housing, job, transportation and infrastructure planning to support an integrated approach to urban planning. </p>
<p>The live/work ethic advocates for mixing stores, offices and housing. This can help make neighbourhoods <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Live-Work-Architecture-Home-based/dp/0415585481">busier and more productive</a>, meaning they may be livelier and safer. </p>
<p>Live/work offers <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Fundamentals_of_Sustainable_Dwellings.html?id=TLr6uoZZX8cC&source=kp_cover&redir_esc=y">multiple sustainability benefits</a>. These include a reduction in vehicle use, improved air quality, less dependency on natural resources and reduced sprawl. It can also support and promote efficient land use by putting maximum floor area within a given envelope. </p>
<p>Increased choice as to how and where people live and work, as well as the accommodation of different lifestyles and new demographics, can result in a built environment that is more responsive to the changes in cities that occur over time.</p>
<h2>What changes are needed?</h2>
<p>The City of Perth encourages <a href="http://www.perth.wa.gov.au/static_files/cityplanningscheme2/scheme_text/Schedule%201%20-%20Scheme%20Use%20Areas.pdf">residential uses within commercial precincts</a> – for example, in West Perth – but what happens when you want to work in your own home in the city or the suburbs? </p>
<p>How many workers can you have? Can you put up signage? What services are prohibited? How easy or expensive is it to change the use of a building through the planning system? What spaces and safety conditions need to be adhered to? </p>
<p>The WA <a href="https://ablis.business.gov.au/WA/pages/17606eff-efee-4da1-a7ef-06fb4df528c1.aspx">planning scheme stipulates</a> that home occupation means that the business cannot employ non-household members. It also cannot occupy over 20m² or have a physical retail component. A “home business” cannot employ more than two people, be larger than 50m², or have a physical retail component.</p>
<p>With a shift in the attitudes of Australian federal and state governments towards innovation and creativity, planning regimes also need to be more creative to support living and working conditions for the 21st century. An increase in densities presents an opportunity to explore further experiments in live/work.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The Conversation is co-publishing articles with <a href="http://www.alva.uwa.edu.au/community/futurewest">Future West (Australian Urbanism)</a>, produced by the University of Western Australia’s Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts. These articles look towards the future of urbanism, taking Perth and Western Australia as its reference point. You can read other articles <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/future-west-30248">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66406/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andréanne Doyon works for the University of Melbourne and RMIT University. She received funding from the University of Melbourne to conduct this research. </span></em></p>Changes in how we live and work call into question current planning regulations relating to mixed-use development.Andréanne Doyon, Research fellow, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/664082016-11-24T19:25:27Z2016-11-24T19:25:27ZReinventing density: bending the rules can help stop urban sprawl<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/145568/original/image-20161111-15727-14h9t9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A quirk in the planning rules enabled the Primaries Warehouse in Fremantle to be redeveloped as a model of progressive higher-density design.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stuart Smith/Panoramio</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This is the fourth piece in our series, <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/reinventing-density-33081">Reinventing density</a>, co-published with <a href="http://www.alva.uwa.edu.au/community/futurewest">Future West (Australian Urbanism)</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>The story of Perth’s low-density composition and growth is well understood. The increasingly urgent need to develop infill housing for a growing population that results in a more compact city form have been well communicated and form an inevitable part of the discussion about density. In the last decade, this reasoning has become broadly accepted.</p>
<p>However, understanding the problem is one thing; exploring its potential solutions is another. Economics, stigma, inertia and layers of legislation mean Perth is <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-cut-urban-sprawl-we-need-quality-infill-housing-displays-to-win-over-the-public-63930">substantially failing</a> to meet the state government <a href="https://www.planning.wa.gov.au/publications/3.5million.asp">target of 47% infill</a> for new residential development across the metropolitan area by 2031.</p>
<p>The primary mechanism that local governments have used to implement the top-down long-term vision for more infill housing is “upcoding”; that is, identifying and increasing sites with higher development potential. This has a number of consequences:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>increasing friction between supporters of market-driven speculation and those calling for affordable housing;</p></li>
<li><p>the entrenchment of NIMBYism;</p></li>
<li><p>built-form policies that prevent sites from reaching their potential; and</p></li>
<li><p>questioning of whether infill density is improving or dismantling the spatial and cultural qualities of our suburbs.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>It is debatable whether more or less regulation might help to achieve the infill targets. On the one hand, further top-down regulation may be needed to force targets to be met. On the other, the bluntness of the instruments used for housing delivery may prevent innovative approaches to density and development from appearing.</p>
<p>Is there an alternative? Can regulation ever be expected to deal adequately with the complexities of how people could, should and want to live together? </p>
<p>Can current regulation become an instrument to support non-standard approaches to achieving density? Can individual buildings be prototypes that permit a range of possibilities for planning legislation? Could density conditions be negotiated rather than preordained? And, if they can be, what might happen?</p>
<h2>A fresh take on density</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140046/original/image-20161003-9475-1o641vn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140046/original/image-20161003-9475-1o641vn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140046/original/image-20161003-9475-1o641vn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140046/original/image-20161003-9475-1o641vn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140046/original/image-20161003-9475-1o641vn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140046/original/image-20161003-9475-1o641vn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=768&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140046/original/image-20161003-9475-1o641vn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=768&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140046/original/image-20161003-9475-1o641vn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=768&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Near the famous cappuccino strip: a 1995 newspaper ad for The Primaries.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fremantle City Library History Centre</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It is worth considering a project where these questions have come into play.</p>
<p>Built in 1923 as a wool and hide store, the <a href="http://inherit.stateheritage.wa.gov.au/Public/Inventory/Details/d6bce507-b82f-4d98-8db4-82ab5cc4902e">Primaries warehouse</a> in Fremantle was used to stored wool for 70 years until it was purchased for conversion into residential units. In 1993, approval was granted for 17 dwellings on the site. This was in addition to 23 dwellings that had been approved three years prior and subsequently built.</p>
<p>The resultant 40 grouped dwellings doubled the allowable density of the R35 site (the <a href="https://www.planning.wa.gov.au/residential-design-codes.asp">R35 code</a> stipulates a minimum site area of 220m² per dwelling). This was made possible through a density bonus, granted under a clause of the town planning scheme relating to “places, buildings and objects of historical or scientific interest”. </p>
<p>Council could relax any provision of the scheme, including the density of a site, where part of an existing building deemed to be significant was being preserved. In this instance, it was proposed to retain the roof structure and external walls of the 6,070m² warehouse. As a result, the site density was varied considerably, as were the required setbacks and the private open space requirements.</p>
<p>Brian Klopper, a local architect becoming increasingly known for his canny, idiosyncratic residential projects, was engaged to design both stages of the development. Stage 2 sold in just eight weeks. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140045/original/image-20161003-15278-mqi6jk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140045/original/image-20161003-15278-mqi6jk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140045/original/image-20161003-15278-mqi6jk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=828&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140045/original/image-20161003-15278-mqi6jk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=828&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140045/original/image-20161003-15278-mqi6jk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=828&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140045/original/image-20161003-15278-mqi6jk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1040&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140045/original/image-20161003-15278-mqi6jk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1040&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140045/original/image-20161003-15278-mqi6jk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1040&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Site plan showing stage 2 of the warehouse conversion.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fremantle City Library History Centre</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Within the boundary perimeter walls, Klopper inserted three rows of grouped housing and two large open courts. The courts function as inner streets, open to the sky. They allow for pedestrian and car access, for open car parking, for shared gardens, for each dwelling to address.</p>
<p>The houses are built in rows, with party walls at right angles to the perimeter walls and terminated on the inner court ends by full-height curtain glass walls. This is a terrace-house typology, expanded vertically and flooded with light.</p>
<p>Multifunctional and multifarious, the two-and-a-half-storey units have adaptable spaces. Occupants are able to use these as houses or for office or retail purposes, with little or no modification.</p>
<p>The most compelling aspect of the Primaries project, with the most enduring relevance, is its deft balancing of communality and privacy. It is a remarkable exemplar of medium-density development because it maintains the ideals of an individual house – privacy, comfort and customisability – within the compact dimensions of a collective residential cluster. </p>
<p>The defining feature of the inner courts is public space. Connectivity, so often suppressed in multi-unit developments, is enhanced.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140047/original/image-20161003-23434-xhmq4s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140047/original/image-20161003-23434-xhmq4s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140047/original/image-20161003-23434-xhmq4s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140047/original/image-20161003-23434-xhmq4s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=430&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140047/original/image-20161003-23434-xhmq4s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140047/original/image-20161003-23434-xhmq4s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140047/original/image-20161003-23434-xhmq4s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=540&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Private and common space are balanced, with shared courts retaining the roofing framework from the old warehouse.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Fremantle City Library History Centre/Mark Brophy Estate Agent</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Flexible rules expand possibilities</h2>
<p>This is a propositional project. It proposes a way of living in the city and of approaching density. The density bonus provision allowed the developer, architect and planners to establish the rules and conditions of the site, rather having to follow rules.</p>
<p>Negotiated conditions were necessary due to the unique nature of the warehouse. It’s worth considering that if the warehouse had not existed on the site, the scheme, even in identical form, would have been unlikely to be approved.</p>
<p>It’s also worth reconsidering subdivision. We are accustomed to subdivision being about land; to density codes being related to minimum site areas and plot ratios. Perhaps density is more about people than buildings; about occupation, not containers. </p>
<p>We may need to consider new ways of subdividing all sorts of buildings, rather than land. And we may need to build things that are subdivisible from the outset.</p>
<p>It’s possible to imagine other projects initiating progressive planning conditions. It’s possible to imagine height and setback provisions being varied for projects that demonstrate exceptional solar access and ventilation. It’s possible to imagine density bonuses based on performance, adaptability, communality or affordability. </p>
<p>With these sorts of expanded parameters for density bonuses, at once specific and wide-ranging, initiated and tested by project, new forms of housing may emerge that more effectively serve our contemporary, changing city.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The Conversation is co-publishing articles with <a href="http://www.alva.uwa.edu.au/community/futurewest">Future West (Australian Urbanism)</a>, produced by the University of Western Australia’s Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts. These articles look towards the future of urbanism, taking Perth and Western Australia as its reference point. You can read other articles <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/future-west-30248">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66408/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennie Officer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Exceptional projects can emerge when regulations are sensibly relaxed due to context. A Fremantle project is a model of progressive higher-density possibilities resulting from flexible planning rules.Jennie Officer, Senior Lecturer in Architecture, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/664102016-11-23T19:23:15Z2016-11-23T19:23:15ZReinventing density: co-living, the second domestic revolution<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/145250/original/image-20161109-19097-1c8vi3x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C386%2C3003%2C1987&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Collective Old Oak co-living block in London has more than 500 apartments with bedrooms and bathrooms. All other spaces are shared.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5046380">David Hawgood/Geograph</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This is the third piece in our series, <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/reinventing-density-33081">Reinventing density</a>, co-published with <a href="http://www.alva.uwa.edu.au/community/futurewest">Future West (Australian Urbanism)</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Many housing types are totally at odds with how people live today because people don’t have as many material goods as they used to. </p>
<p>Those under 30 may not own much at all. Music is digitised and streamed (Sonos, Spotify), treasured photo albums live in the cloud or within applications (Dropbox, iPhoto), tools are pooled (Open Shed), vehicles and rides are shared (Flexicar, BlaBlaCar, Uber), there’s no landline phone or TV cable, kitchen appliances are redundant with the ubiquity of food delivery services (Foodora, Deliveroo) and pets are borrowed (DogVacay, BorrowMyDoggy). </p>
<p>The young are also likely to be renting their accommodation. Data from the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research reveal that barely <a href="http://fbe.unimelb.edu.au/exchange/edition3/income-wealth-stall">50% of Australians lived in a house they owned</a> in 2014. If this trend continues, many of today’s young Australians will never own their own home.</p>
<p>With transformations in digital technologies and housing-price pressures changing living habits, people will not only possess fewer physical objects in the future, but new apartment dwellers will be more likely to occupy less space at a later age. These <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/opinion/bernard-salt-demographer/australian-house-sizes-diminish-after-gfc-peak/news-story/572e608f79e416d5798764144b1a64e2">private domestic spaces are decreasing in size</a> to become more efficient, hopefully more affordable and, for some restless millennials, more desirable.</p>
<h2>Corporatising the co-living model</h2>
<p>One model to emerge in the trend towards downsizing private domestic space is branded co-living spaces. Examples include <a href="https://www.thecollective.co.uk/">The Collective</a> (London), <a href="http://livezoku.com/">Zoku</a> (Amsterdam) and <a href="https://www.roam.co/">Roam</a> (London, Madrid, Miami, San Francisco, Tokyo, Ubud). In the corporatised co-living model, occupants rent private bedroom space (some bedrooms are as small as ten square metres) on a rolling contract for weeks or months, but share living and working spaces. </p>
<p>These collective spaces are often programmed with extracurricular activities such as yoga, business workshops, cooking classes and guest talks that promote social exchange between renters. </p>
<p>Systems of logistics, such as apps and chat platforms, facilitate the sharing of objects and space. Access to the co-living space is granted if you are part of a tribe (students, communes, families or business people). </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141173/original/image-20161011-3909-jygem4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141173/original/image-20161011-3909-jygem4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141173/original/image-20161011-3909-jygem4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141173/original/image-20161011-3909-jygem4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141173/original/image-20161011-3909-jygem4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141173/original/image-20161011-3909-jygem4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141173/original/image-20161011-3909-jygem4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141173/original/image-20161011-3909-jygem4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">China’s You+ has 25 branded branches.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.youplus.cc/?p=web&c=shop&a=get&shop_id=9">You+</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One of the global market leaders in co-living arrangements is the Chinese <a href="https://www.youplus.cc/">You+</a>. The company has built over ten co-living spaces and claims to house <a href="http://qz.com/706409/chinas-co-living-boom-puts-hundreds-of-millennials-under-one-roof-heres-what-its-like-inside-one/">more than 10,000 people across 25 branches</a>. Private bedrooms (with bathroom) range in size from 20 to 50 square metres. The minimum stay is six months at an average monthly rent of A$470. </p>
<p>At You+, <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-12-02/why-china-s-millennials-are-happy-to-own-nothing">people over 45 are discouraged</a>. Couples with children or those who are anti-social are not permitted. Tech entrepreneurs tend to be given preference.</p>
<p>Subscribing to a co-living or dormitory arrangement such as You+ can mean lower rental costs (relative to renting a single-bedroom apartment on an above-average income), a surfeit of potential friends and a flexible rental contract. For some, this may be a genuinely desirable option. For others it may be the only option in a competitive rental market at a time when there are few affordable housing options.</p>
<h2>Blurring the public-private divide</h2>
<p>As private interior space contracts and shared domestic spaces become more common, the public realm is also changing.</p>
<p>Formerly private activities such as working and communication are occurring more frequently outside of the home, while the public sphere is taking on characteristics of interior or domestic settings: intimate spaces, interior furnishings and finishes, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocket_park">pocket parks</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerrilla_gardening">guerrilla gardening</a>. The idea of what constitutes a home may be changing and expanding to consider urban space.</p>
<p>A lot of hyperbole surrounds the branded co-living spaces like You+ that have emerged under the so-called <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/sharing-economy-7841">sharing economy</a> – also known as the communal, collaborative, inclusive, gig or social economy. But there is a tension between the realities of the model and the benevolence of the act of sharing. </p>
<p>At the behest of the property owner, co-living spaces tend to have less fixed furnishings and cheaper construction. They also have more occupants because typical apartment spaces (living room, laundry, kitchen) are compressed. Behind You+ and its ilk there are venture capitalists looking for high returns.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141175/original/image-20161011-3903-1iz37i7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141175/original/image-20161011-3903-1iz37i7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/141175/original/image-20161011-3903-1iz37i7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141175/original/image-20161011-3903-1iz37i7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141175/original/image-20161011-3903-1iz37i7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141175/original/image-20161011-3903-1iz37i7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141175/original/image-20161011-3903-1iz37i7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/141175/original/image-20161011-3903-1iz37i7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A dormitory room at You+ in Guangzhou.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.youplus.cc/?p=web&c=shop&a=get&shop_id=9">You+</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Co-living arrangements are transforming the physical typologies and financial models of housing and are the latest in a long tradition of collective housing arrangements, from the kibbutz to student dormitories to share houses, <a href="http://theconversation.com/reinventing-density-how-baugruppen-are-pioneering-the-self-made-city-66488">baugruppen</a> and boarding houses. </p>
<p>With lone-person households to account for <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4102.0Main+Features20Dec+2010">more than a quarter</a> of all Australian households by 2031, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, we need to rethink how we build collective and individual space in a denser city that reflects how many people want to live today – and tomorrow. </p>
<p>We can see that market and societal demands are pushing people towards sharing space, but many co-living arrangements do nothing to improve housing affordability in the long term.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The Conversation is co-publishing articles with <a href="http://www.alva.uwa.edu.au/community/futurewest">Future West (Australian Urbanism)</a>, produced by the University of Western Australia’s Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts. These articles look towards the future of urbanism, taking Perth and Western Australia as its reference point. You can read other articles <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/future-west-30248">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66410/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Timothy Moore does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>While some forms of co-living seek to match modern lifestyles and a desire to downsize, other profit-driven models simply exploit a lack of affordable housing alternatives.Timothy Moore, PhD Candidate, Melbourne School of Design, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/664882016-11-22T02:41:35Z2016-11-22T02:41:35ZReinventing density: how baugruppen are pioneering the self-made city<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/145201/original/image-20161109-19060-1q8vu1h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Apartment layouts at Ritter Strasse 50, initiated by ifau and Jesko Fezer with Heide and Von Beckerath, are highly individualised.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Andrea Kroth</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This is the second piece in our series, <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/reinventing-density-33081">Reinventing density</a>, co-published with <a href="http://www.alva.uwa.edu.au/community/futurewest">Future West (Australian Urbanism)</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Profit-driven developments shape the housing markets of most major cities today. However, new models exist that offer greater choice and lower costs, foster cohesive neighbourhoods and enable adaptable, customised living solutions.</p>
<p>These alternatives have been diverse and of a high architectural standard. They also allow self-determination: they are initiated by the people who will dwell in them.</p>
<p>Baugruppe – German for “building group” – stands for a long tradition of self-initiated, community-oriented living and the shared responsibility of building. The concept has taken off in Berlin. There is no “typical model” – every project differs in its financing, social make-up, the wishes and desires of the group, and the project’s resulting architectural and urban qualities.</p>
<p>The most significant and innovative built examples, particularly in Berlin, have been initiated by architects for a specific group of clients who were all looking to live in the buildings. </p>
<p>On the surface, these are practical solutions, where single-family homes are stacked and combined to optimise the use of an urban site. </p>
<p>On closer inspection, it is clear that close collaboration between architects and clients has resulted in projects packed with special features and spaces that foster social interaction – such as <a href="http://www.archdaily.com/593154/r50-nil-cohousing-ifau-und-jesko-fezer-heide-and-von-beckerath">Ritter Strasse 50</a> and <a href="http://www.archdaily.com/587590/coop-housing-project-at-the-river-spreefeld-carpaneto-architekten-fatkoehl-architekten-bararchitekten">Spreefeld</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140057/original/image-20161003-8030-ji86qa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140057/original/image-20161003-8030-ji86qa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140057/original/image-20161003-8030-ji86qa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140057/original/image-20161003-8030-ji86qa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140057/original/image-20161003-8030-ji86qa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140057/original/image-20161003-8030-ji86qa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140057/original/image-20161003-8030-ji86qa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Communal spaces throughout baugruppe Spreefeld include playrooms, office space, terraces and a teenager club.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Andrea Kroth, Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Baugruppe adds to urban vitality by considering social issues of inclusion and community and by incorporating mixed-use elements that fuel urban interaction. Green, open and community spaces have proven vital parts of good neighbourhoods and are important here. Common spaces such as rooftop terraces, function rooms, playrooms, guest rooms and even saunas also help to bring people together.</p>
<p>Every baugruppe project in Berlin has a shared garden, which is often also open to the public.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140056/original/image-20161003-23434-17orwct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140056/original/image-20161003-23434-17orwct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140056/original/image-20161003-23434-17orwct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140056/original/image-20161003-23434-17orwct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140056/original/image-20161003-23434-17orwct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140056/original/image-20161003-23434-17orwct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140056/original/image-20161003-23434-17orwct.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Permeable solitary blocks through to the River Spree create public access at Spreefeld.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Andrea Kroth, Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The entire neighbourhood profits from the green and surrounding urban spaces. The experience helps foster a sense of community identity and encourages people to take responsibility for the place they live in.</p>
<h2>Affordable and sustainable</h2>
<p>Long-term affordability helps to create stable neighbourhoods. Alternative models for financing and ownership have offered a new level of long-term affordability within a non-profit ideology.</p>
<p>In collective projects, the future users decide what to invest in and where money can be best saved. This redefines the quality-to-price relationship. </p>
<p>One example of this is the co-op association <a href="http://www.archdaily.com/587590/coop-housing-project-at-the-river-spreefeld-carpaneto-architekten-fatkoehl-architekten-bararchitekten">Spreefeld</a>. This project diverges from the traditional owner-occupier baugruppe model: here, a land grant or a leasehold contract guarantees the long-term use of land in return for rent. It also ensures that what is built and established there meets certain criteria and ideals.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140058/original/image-20161003-9918-3ssn0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140058/original/image-20161003-9918-3ssn0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140058/original/image-20161003-9918-3ssn0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140058/original/image-20161003-9918-3ssn0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140058/original/image-20161003-9918-3ssn0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140058/original/image-20161003-9918-3ssn0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140058/original/image-20161003-9918-3ssn0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140058/original/image-20161003-9918-3ssn0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Architect Florian Koehl worked closely with owners to design fold-out balconies at Strelitzer Strasse 53.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Andrea Kroth, Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Personalised solutions, and spaces that can be adapted to suit changing needs over time, allow people with special needs to find a place in the city. For example, these spaces can allow multi-generation living, barrier-free standards, or an environmentally aware way of life.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://fatkoehl.com/index.php?article_id=6">Strelitzer Strasse 53</a> project, on which architect Florian Koehl worked closely with the owner group, includes fold-out balconies, as city planning regulations prohibited real ones.</p>
<p>This inspired many other baugruppen to try new ideas. Such projects show the architect’s role expanding from that of designer to that of initiator, developer, moderator of engagement processes and project manager.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140052/original/image-20161003-9918-39a44q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140052/original/image-20161003-9918-39a44q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140052/original/image-20161003-9918-39a44q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140052/original/image-20161003-9918-39a44q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=476&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140052/original/image-20161003-9918-39a44q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140052/original/image-20161003-9918-39a44q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140052/original/image-20161003-9918-39a44q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">At Urban Living 01, Abcarius and Burns Architecture Design created an operable facade to get around a ban of balconies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Andrea Kroth, Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Baugruppe projects are leading the way in environmental sustainability by employing, for example, high-rise timber construction or passive design. Users and owners willingly explore new technology, carefully balancing its pros and cons. Several different types of multi-storey wooden construction solutions are now certified in Germany as a result of baugruppe experimentation.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140059/original/image-20161003-23434-szibyf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140059/original/image-20161003-23434-szibyf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140059/original/image-20161003-23434-szibyf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140059/original/image-20161003-23434-szibyf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140059/original/image-20161003-23434-szibyf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=596&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140059/original/image-20161003-23434-szibyf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=596&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/140059/original/image-20161003-23434-szibyf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=596&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Balconies become backyards at 3xGruen, by Atelier Pk, RoedigSchop and Rozynski-Sturm Architects.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stefan Mueller, Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Co-operating to create better lives</h2>
<p>It is time that our cities are determined by the people who live in them. High-quality solutions that improve the surrounding communities should become standard. This requires the architectural profession, as well as policymakers, to value such solutions.</p>
<p>Often, the largest challenge for groups is buying a site. Specifically, they must organise the loan quickly enough to beat other investors to the table. Governments could allow payment on a site to be deferred until the groups are fully formed and have planning approval.</p>
<p>By designating public land for development, the social, cultural and urban planning goals of the city can be realised through private initiatives and long-term self-administration.</p>
<p>Goals such as social mix, mixed use, environmental standards or non-profit constraints can all be regulated within land allocation policies. England, Finland and many other countries are re-establishing policy to facilitate baugruppe building.</p>
<p>Baugruppen can help cities meet the challenge of providing an adequate supply of suitable, affordable housing in a sustainable way. By transforming themselves from consumers into pioneers, the people who make up the collectives have succeeded in developing affordable projects that allow a high quality of life and add value to the community.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The Conversation is co-publishing articles with <a href="http://www.alva.uwa.edu.au/community/futurewest">Future West (Australian Urbanism)</a>, produced by the University of Western Australia’s Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts. These articles look towards the future of urbanism, taking Perth and Western Australia as its reference point. You can read other articles <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/future-west-30248">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66488/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kristien Ring does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Citizens can switch from being consumers to pioneers who drive new designs for living. The German baugruppe model is a leading example.Kristien Ring, Assistant Professor, University of South Florida, and 2016 Visiting Fellow, Institute of Advanced Studies, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/664112016-11-20T19:04:50Z2016-11-20T19:04:50ZReinventing density: overcoming the suburban setback<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/145385/original/image-20161110-25052-1d1p473.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Officer Woods’ competition entry shows how the wasted spaces of suburban road verges and front yards could be put to much better uses.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Officer Woods</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This is the first piece in our series, <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/reinventing-density-33081">Reinventing density</a>, co-published with <a href="http://www.alva.uwa.edu.au/community/futurewest">Future West (Australian Urbanism)</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>The suburban street setback is enshrined in most residential planning policies, including Western Australia’s <a href="https://www.planning.wa.gov.au/residential-design-codes.asp">Residential Design Codes</a>. These dictate that all dwellings are constructed at a uniform distance from the kerb. </p>
<p>In low-rise suburban areas, the street setback is occupied by arid grass, wheelie bins, concrete driveways and buried conduits. Often as wide as a tennis court, it’s usually a lifeless expanse. At the property owner’s discretion, the semi-private space of the setback may be enclosed by a hedge, low brick wall or paling fence, or left to bleed out into the adjacent public “nature strip”.</p>
<p>Why does this space exist? What practical function or cultural role does it serve? </p>
<p>In his 1983 novel Mr Palomar, Italo Calvino <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books?id=ftXqVP9CZi0C&pg=PA26&lpg=PA26&dq=lawn%E2%80%99s+purpose+is+to+represent+nature&source=bl&ots=-gEL16NdYv&sig=CyqMihg7KJ5YttUrpLkLFMmyHGk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj7jKmH7pvQAhVIy1QKHZHjB-oQ6AEIITAC#v=onepage&q=lawn%E2%80%99s%20purpose%20is%20to%20represent%20nature&f=false">explains</a> that, while the suburban lawn itself is an “artificial object”, the “lawn’s purpose is to represent nature”. </p>
<p>However, according to Thomas Schumacher’s essay, Buildings and Streets: Notes on Configurations and Use (from the 1986 book <a href="https://architecture.mit.edu/publication/streets">On Streets</a>), the primary purpose is not symbolic, but defensive. Schumacher writes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The lawn does not function to enclose or define street space but only to isolate the street from the house. It is a no-man’s land, a miniature moat and city wall preventing access or use except at intervals. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Peter G. Rowe provides a third explanation in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Modernity-Housing-Peter-G-Rowe/dp/0262181517">Modernity and Housing</a> (1993). While the front lawn of the suburban house belongs to the owner, explains Rowe, utility companies and municipal authorities usually hold easements over multiple adjoining lawns in a complex interweaving of individual and collective ownership.</p>
<p>The origins of the street setback are virtually inseparable from those of suburbia itself. In 1775, influential English landscape architect <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/gardens-to-visit/everything-you-need-to-know-about-capability-brown/">Lancelot “Capability” Brown</a> was hired to work alongside his adversary, the architect <a href="https://global.britannica.com/biography/William-Chambers-British-architect">William Chambers</a>, on rebuilding Dorset’s Milton Abbey estate. Their client, Joseph Damer, had purchased the estate and adjacent 600-person town, and asked Brown and Chambers to relocate the town further away from his new home.</p>
<p>The new village was arrayed along a single six-metre-wide road. Broad grassy verges either side of the road created a separation of 24 metres between house facades. </p>
<p>The product of a compromise between proximity and privacy, between efficient planning and the picturesque, Milton Abbas established suburban parameters that have varied little in the 240 years since.</p>
<h2>Rethinking the ‘nature strip’</h2>
<p>Enter Fremantle architectural practice Officer Woods and its project, Civic Suburb. </p>
<p>The 2011 Think Brick Australia <a href="https://www.australiandesignreview.com/news/2314-think-brick-awards-winners-announced">About Face</a> competition invited six architectural practices to demonstrate how brick could be creatively deployed in imagining “the future of the Australian suburb”. In response, Officer Woods decided to confront the underutilised space of the street setback. </p>
<p>Where others saw only a barren verge, the Fremantle architects envisioned a staging ground for suburban transformation.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/145386/original/image-20161110-25070-14cxp2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/145386/original/image-20161110-25070-14cxp2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/145386/original/image-20161110-25070-14cxp2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145386/original/image-20161110-25070-14cxp2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145386/original/image-20161110-25070-14cxp2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145386/original/image-20161110-25070-14cxp2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145386/original/image-20161110-25070-14cxp2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145386/original/image-20161110-25070-14cxp2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">From lifeless lawns to multi-use spaces.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Officer Woods</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Nominally located in the Perth suburb of Melville but widely applicable, Civic Suburb proposes to insert roofed vehicular “forecourts” into the nature strip, alternating with walled communal gardens. When the cars are away, these forecourts act as flexible enclosures for impromptu neighbourhood gatherings. </p>
<p>By placing the cars on the street edge, Officer Woods shows how the concrete driveways of Melville’s battle-axe blocks could be reclaimed as linear green space. Empty garages could be converted into multipurpose “front rooms” housing shopfronts, living spaces, offices or granny flats. The separation of house and car also shrewdly anticipates the eventual <a href="https://theconversation.com/driverless-cars-will-change-the-way-we-think-of-car-ownership-50125">obsolescence of the private automobile</a>. </p>
<p>Finally, capitalising on the increased activity of commerce and street life, second-storey “suburban apartments” could be built on top of predominantly single-level homes. This would add capacity without diminishing valuable open space.</p>
<h2>Making suburban density desirable</h2>
<p>In line with the competition brief, the forecourts, walled gardens and front rooms of Civic Suburb are imagined in solid brickwork. These brick elements are depicted in a beguiling array of forms, patterns and hues. </p>
<p>While it’s hard to imagine typical suburban denizens erecting such artful and elaborate structures, it’s important that we not miss the wall for the bricks. The significance of this project lies not in its aesthetic qualities, but rather its spatial and strategic dimensions. </p>
<p>The escalating pressure of increasing populations, changing demographics and property speculation on the scale and character of Australia’s suburbs is matched only by the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-06/donna-faragher-overturns-town-of-cambridge-infill-housing-plans/7819318">intensity of resident opposition</a>. Sunlight and privacy are key concerns. </p>
<p>Anticipating this “not in my backyard” backlash, Civic Suburb doesn’t challenge the suburban backyard at all: it takes on the front yard instead. Most architect-designed suburban projects are clandestine additions at the rear, hidden from the street. Civic Suburb puts the area’s gradual transformation front and centre.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/145551/original/image-20161111-15699-1w9sbmo.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/145551/original/image-20161111-15699-1w9sbmo.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/145551/original/image-20161111-15699-1w9sbmo.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=214&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145551/original/image-20161111-15699-1w9sbmo.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=214&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145551/original/image-20161111-15699-1w9sbmo.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=214&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145551/original/image-20161111-15699-1w9sbmo.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=269&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145551/original/image-20161111-15699-1w9sbmo.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=269&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145551/original/image-20161111-15699-1w9sbmo.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=269&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Civic Suburb plans show the untapped potential of all the space between houses occupied by the street setback.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Officer Woods</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The value of such an overt strategy becomes clear in light of Perth’s current predicament. According to various metrics, Perth is Australia’s least dense city. If not for a handful of low-rise North American centres, Perth might be the least dense city in the world. </p>
<p>With this in mind, you might imagine how an expected <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/3222.0Main%20Features112012%20(base)%20to%202101?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=3222.0&issue=2012%20(base)%20to%202101&num=&view=">doubling of Perth’s population</a> by 2050 could transform the sprawling city into a model of dense urbanism. Instead, according to the <a href="https://www.planning.wa.gov.au/publications/3.5million.asp">Perth and Peel@3.5 million</a> report, 53% of the 800,000 new homes to be built by 2050 have been allocated fringe greenfield sites. </p>
<p>The future Perth will look a lot like the present one, only larger and more spread out. Evidence of both political ploys and careless inaction, Perth’s increasing expansion demands alternative visions.</p>
<p>It’s important to understand why greenfield subdivision is such an expedient option. Most suburban redevelopment relies on acquisition and consolidation of multiple residential lots, or rezoning of commercial land. The replacement of individual properties and local businesses with collective housing complexes can lead to a loss of communal diversity and streetscape variation. </p>
<p>Furthermore, to justify the huge expense of creating larger sites out of separate titles, private developers build as big and as cheaply as possible, forever impacting neighbourhood character.</p>
<h2>DIY urbanism</h2>
<p>Civic Suburb is a compelling proposition. It shows how underutilised suburban land could be intensified as an alternative to greenfield expansion and how this could occur without developers and consolidated lots.</p>
<p>An exercise in “do-it-yourself urbanism”, the project imagines an iterative increase in suburban density at the scale of the suburban plot – individual homeowners carry out the changes. It intensifies the use of existing spaces rather than relying on the acquisition of new land.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/145387/original/image-20161110-25081-abblsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/145387/original/image-20161110-25081-abblsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/145387/original/image-20161110-25081-abblsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145387/original/image-20161110-25081-abblsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145387/original/image-20161110-25081-abblsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145387/original/image-20161110-25081-abblsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145387/original/image-20161110-25081-abblsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/145387/original/image-20161110-25081-abblsp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Shared ownership of communal carports and street gardens would need to be negotiated.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Officer Woods</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While Officer Woods did not specify how shared ownership of communal carports and street gardens would be negotiated (it was only a competition entry, after all), such mechanisms exist. </p>
<p>So-called “cluster planning” initiatives allow for the transfer of conventionally subdivided or publicly owned land into common property, owned and maintained by a collective body corporate. </p>
<p>The transfer of ownership from local government to private citizenry is no simple matter. And the atomised nature of suburbia itself embodies a general aversion to sharing, which will have to be overcome.</p>
<p>In the 1950s, when suburbs like Melville last underwent rapid expansion, an average household numbered five occupants. Today, that <a href="http://profile.id.com.au/australia/household-size?WebID=140">average has nearly halved</a>. The result is a disconnect between outward appearance and inner reality. Walking down a typical suburban street, we encounter large, multi-roomed dwellings whose many windows do not reflect the number of occupants. </p>
<p>In this context, greater density might not mean an increase in built area. Instead, it could involve compartmentalisation into spaces better suited to smaller households and changing living conditions. A brave incursion into the no-man’s land of the street setback, Civic Suburb offers a compelling vision for incremental suburban transformation at the scale of the individual plot.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The Conversation is producing articles with <a href="http://www.alva.uwa.edu.au/community/futurewest">Future West (Australian Urbanism)</a>, by the University of Western Australia’s Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts. These articles look towards the future of urbanism, taking Perth and Western Australia as its reference point. You can read other articles <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/future-west-30248">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66411/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The front yards, footpaths and verges of Australian suburbs are spaces overdue for reinvention.Grace Mortlock, Research Assistant and Tutor, School of Architecture, University of Technology SydneyDavid Neustein, Associate, School of Architecture, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/639922016-09-20T19:53:55Z2016-09-20T19:53:55ZCreate to regenerate: cities tap into talent for urban renewal<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135706/original/image-20160829-17859-kz0vn1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">At Tolhuistuin, the government provides the land, old building stock and a maintenance budget for a fixed period while the creatives develop the precinct themselves.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/crossmediaweek/8022949675/">Maurice Mikkers/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The creative industries – ranging from game development to architecture, media, design and the arts – are a hot issue in urban development. </p>
<p>Creative businesses, almost by definition, are innovative. They drive new ideas, people and technologies into the market from the experimental edge. It follows, then, that strategies to make a state, city or town more creative can fuel cultural development, urban regeneration and economic growth.</p>
<p>The logic flows: attracting creative talent is increasingly tied to competing in global markets. Places with a creative industries base attract businesses and skilled workers from other knowledge-intensive industries like health, science, engineering and technology. This realisation has prompted regional governments across the globe, including some in Western Australia, to implement policies to make themselves more creative.</p>
<p>Australia’s creative industries <a href="https://www.sgsep.com.au/projects/valuing-australias-creative-industries">contribute A$90 billion to the economy</a> every year. While making a city “more creative” has obvious economic rewards, gaps can emerge between policy and reality. </p>
<p>Creative businesses often struggle in the face of rising rents and development pressures. They may have difficulty in accessing property, finance and business advice. </p>
<p>The sector is also characterised by freelance, part-time and portfolio work. This means financial insecurity, uncertain employment and demanding working conditions are real challenges for a large proportion of its workers.</p>
<h2>What do creative industries need to thrive?</h2>
<p>Many cities, including some Australian state capitals, have to unpick the mechanics of city regeneration, which complicate creative industry development, through investment. </p>
<p>This public investment is often most visible in designated innovation or cultural precincts. The large public institutions and signature buildings typically found in these areas make plain governments’ involvement. </p>
<p>However, iconic architecture and major events alone aren’t enough to build robust creative economies. The creative economy in Australia is underpinned by the 98% of creative businesses with fewer than 20 employees. This sector plays an outsized role in innovation, experimentation and new ideas.</p>
<p>When municipal or state governments join forces with these smaller creative communities to shape urban regeneration the results can be far-reaching, although government’s role is often less visible.</p>
<p>The creative sector <a href="https://theconversation.com/gaming-trends-show-cities-need-to-rethink-how-they-tap-into-creative-economy-63322">feeds on</a> affordable commercial space, physical and digital connectivity and a critical mass of like-minded but diverse neighbours. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/small-is-beautiful-artist-run-collectives-count-but-theyre-facing-death-by-a-thousand-cuts-52684">Small-to-medium creative enterprises</a> are often deeply embedded in their local contexts. They are also highly networked, using formal and informal platforms to match ideas with potential collaborators, as well as private, government and third-sector investors.</p>
<p>Creating clusters from scratch is notoriously difficult. Building on latent and emerging clusters by leveraging existing property assets and local knowledge is far simpler. It also usually works a lot better. </p>
<p>This approach sounds intuitive, but often doesn’t happen. The reason is a heavy stakeholder focus on building something new, as well as control over land and property use.</p>
<h2>Lessons from Amsterdam and Toronto</h2>
<p>Amsterdam’s municipal council has introduced economic, cultural and spatial development policies that involve partnering small-to-medium creative entrepreneurs to rehabilitate brownfield sites. Creative-led partnerships have developed clusters at <a href="http://deceuvel.nl/en/">De Ceuvel</a>, <a href="http://www.ndsm.nl/en/over-ndsm/">NDSM Wharf</a> and <a href="http://www.whatsupwithamsterdam.com/tolhuistuin/">Tolhuistuin</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135707/original/image-20160829-17880-aaovnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135707/original/image-20160829-17880-aaovnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135707/original/image-20160829-17880-aaovnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=720&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135707/original/image-20160829-17880-aaovnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=720&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135707/original/image-20160829-17880-aaovnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=720&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135707/original/image-20160829-17880-aaovnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=905&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135707/original/image-20160829-17880-aaovnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=905&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135707/original/image-20160829-17880-aaovnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=905&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tolhuisen is home to the world’s first 3D-printed canal house, a publicly accessible ‘Research & Design by Doing’ project initiated by DUS Architects.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Timothy Moore</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The municipality has ceded some of its usual powers to the sector, with responsibility for delivery and success shared. </p>
<p>At Tolhuistuin, the council provides the land, old building stock and a maintenance budget for a fixed period while the creatives develop the precinct themselves (under the watch of a board). The outcome is a new asset-based blueprint for sustainable mixed-use urban development. </p>
<p>Tolhuistuin’s early seeded clusters set the stage for larger projects. These include the <a href="https://www.eyefilm.nl/en/about-eye">Eye Film Institute</a>, the <a href="http://adamtoren.nl/site/">A’DAM Toren</a> and the redevelopment of the <a href="http://theprotocity.com/adaptionadoptionamsterdam-noord/">Van Der Pek</a> and <a href="http://repository.tudelft.nl/islandora/object/uuid:3cda2bbc-93e1-4991-a654-bd88bc28fac0?collection=education">Overhoeks</a> precincts.</p>
<p>This all builds on the municipality’s longstanding <em>broedplaatsen</em> (breeding ground) program. This promotes creative clustering in underutilised buildings across the city by releasing 10,000m² of studio space per year. </p>
<p>The creative industries are empowered to take the lead in developing these projects. Amsterdam council unlocks funding sources and offers expert advice on bureaucratic and legal processes.</p>
<p>In Canada, <a href="http://www1.toronto.ca/City%20Of%20Toronto/City%20Planning/SIPA/Files/pdf/S/SECTION37_Final_JK.pdf">Section 37 of the Ontario Planning Act</a> has helped transform private, government and creative sector partnerships. It allows development regulations to be relaxed in <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/01/16/section-37-what-it-is-and-why-everybodys-fighting-about-it-keenan.html">exchange for community benefit</a>, which includes creating living spaces for creatives.</p>
<p>In the early 2000s, social enterprise <a href="http://www.torontoartscape.org/about-artscape">Artscape</a>, supported by the City of Toronto, leveraged Section 37 to develop <a href="http://www.torontoartscape.org/artscape-triangle-lofts">Artscape Triangle Lofts</a>, home to 68 creative live/work units and <a href="http://www.propellerctr.com/">Propeller Gallery</a>. An innovative affordable <a href="http://www.torontoartscape.org/our-programs">ownership and rental program</a> ensures a mix of uses and incomes in the building. </p>
<p>Toronto’s far-sighted policy decision helped the city retain and grow its creative community in the face of rising property prices. Today the sector contributes <a href="http://www.investtoronto.ca/Business-Toronto/Key-Business-Sectors/Creative-Industries.aspx">C$9 billion a year</a> to Toronto’s GDP and employs 130,000 people.</p>
<h2>Get in early, start small</h2>
<p>The takeaway from this is that constructing a creative economy means implementing long-term transitional strategies to build talent and capacity over time. This avoids the need for more interventionist, expensive and risky strategies down the line.</p>
<p>WA towns and cities have an enviable opportunity to set up the conditions for a healthy creative economy before regeneration of their older building stock comes to pass. Nurturing this sector through a mix of smaller policy interventions could be an affordable and effective way to kick-start sustainable creative economies. </p>
<p>More modest interventions allow the luxury of learning from failure and trialling more experimental ideas. These can then flow through to the wider creative ecology.</p>
<p>All ecologies rely on an ongoing interplay between the large, medium and small. Each brings something different to the table to create a whole greater than the sum of its parts. </p>
<p>This requires a policy mix that can support big-ticket projects along with investment in sustainable careers and spaces for small-to-medium creative enterprises. This is true creativity at work.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The Conversation is co-publishing articles with <a href="http://www.alva.uwa.edu.au/community/futurewest">Future West (Australian Urbanism)</a>, produced by the University of Western Australia’s Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts. These articles look towards the future of urbanism, taking Perth and Western Australia as its reference point. You can read other articles <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/future-west-30248">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63992/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bree Trevena is affiliated with Creative Victoria, Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources with the Victorian State Government.</span></em></p>When municipal or state governments join forces with smaller creative communities to shape urban regeneration the results can be far-reaching.Bree Trevena, PhD Researcher, Research Unit in Public Cultures, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/639262016-09-20T00:29:43Z2016-09-20T00:29:43ZFrom placeholder to pathfinder: innovative temporary site uses help us reimagine city spaces<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134872/original/image-20160822-30403-18x9aij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The closure of the Myer store would once have been a crippling blow for Fremantle, but now it is a site of new activity and possibilities.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">City of Fremantle</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Fremantle’s five-storey <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-13/myer-fremantle-store-closes/4259494">Myer department store closed</a> in 2013 after four decades of service. The demise of a mass-market store in the heart of Fremantle should have been a large blow to the retail and broader character of the area.</p>
<p>In the 20th century it would have been. But times have changed, in Australia and around the world. Rather than being left dormant while development plans were being drawn up, the building reopened as <a href="http://many6160.com/">MANY 6160</a> six months after Myer closed.</p>
<p>MANY 6160 is Australia’s largest temporary place activation, with more than 20,000m² of space dedicated to retail, production and events. It provides spaces for independent artists, designers, other cultural workers and small business enterprises. </p>
<p>In February 2016, MANY 6160 became home to Australia’s <a href="http://www.urbanwalkabout.com/australia/perth/fremantle/art/art-gallery/event/opening-of-success-gallery-in-fremantle">second-largest private gallery</a> (after <a href="http://www.mona.net.au/">Hobart’s MONA</a>). Called <a href="http://successarts.org/">Success</a>, it operates from the building’s basement.</p>
<p>The temporary use of space has become popular in cities and towns across the world. When properties have lost their capacity to be rented or sold at a profit, or are left vacant for redevelopment plans, they have the potential for interim uses while the owner waits for development or for property prices to warm up.</p>
<h2>How does temporary occupation work?</h2>
<p>The advantages of temporary occupation are many. It allows members of a community to come together to work, socialise or learn, unencumbered by market-rate rents. It taps into culture’s current interest in customisation, localisation and co-creation. At MANY 6160 you can buy everything from 3D-printed jewellery
to surfboards.</p>
<p>Temporary users can act as surveillance and maintenance providers for the property owner. At the same time, they bring cultural cachet to the space and adjacent area.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134873/original/image-20160822-30406-7j6yz3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134873/original/image-20160822-30406-7j6yz3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134873/original/image-20160822-30406-7j6yz3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134873/original/image-20160822-30406-7j6yz3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134873/original/image-20160822-30406-7j6yz3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134873/original/image-20160822-30406-7j6yz3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134873/original/image-20160822-30406-7j6yz3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134873/original/image-20160822-30406-7j6yz3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The production floor provides 4,000m² of workspace.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dave Sharp/vanityprojects.com.au</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Temporary occupation can bring about the challenging and redefinition of planning regulations and rental contracts. At MANY 6160, rental contracts are short – renters need give only 30 days’ notice to opt out. </p>
<p>With planning regulations tailored towards permanent occupation, the local council was slightly confounded as to how to determine the building class of the gallery in the basement. MANY 6160’s architect, <a href="http://www.architectureanddesign.com.au/news/post-architecture-injects-life-into-old-fremantle">Nic Brunsdon of Post-Architecture</a>, says:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The city would not sign off on it at first. We had to get an independent evaluation to certify the building. All you need is a piece of paper [of certification] rather than do something to address the code.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Brunsdon delights in this grey-area-ness:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s the place where no-one wants to be. It’s fertile ground. You need to revel in uncertainty and risk.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Recognising the benefits for users and owners, government agencies and developers are <a href="http://www.creativespaces.net.au/about-us">making it easier</a> for real estate to become available for temporary use. They can, for example, reduce the liability for building owners and provide incentives for owners and citizens to start up their own projects. </p>
<p>Space-brokering agencies have emerged in cities and towns across Australia – Adelaide, Townsville, Geelong, Newcastle and Parramatta – and further afield, in places like Christchurch, Singapore, Chicago and Dublin.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134752/original/image-20160819-6906-199iei5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134752/original/image-20160819-6906-199iei5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134752/original/image-20160819-6906-199iei5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134752/original/image-20160819-6906-199iei5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134752/original/image-20160819-6906-199iei5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134752/original/image-20160819-6906-199iei5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134752/original/image-20160819-6906-199iei5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134752/original/image-20160819-6906-199iei5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Temporary place activation enables diverse users to bring underutilised space to life.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dave Sharp/vanityprojects.com.au</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Perth has its own space-brokering service, <a href="http://spacemarket.com.au/">Spacemarket</a>, also available as an app since 2016. The service helps a diversity of tenants, from tech start-ups to community groups, to use the thousands of square metres of underutilised space in the Perth CBD. </p>
<p>It also partly solves a problem for commercial leases: vacancies fluctuate with market cycles; when vacancies are high, temporary occupation may be a solution.</p>
<p>While many local councils see the temporary use of space as a solution to providing cheap <a href="http://theconversation.com/gaming-trends-show-cities-need-to-rethink-how-they-tap-into-creative-economy-63322">spaces for creative workers</a>, in the long term it may not be so. Buildings will still be bulldozed or converted, rents will increase and tenancies will become affordable. </p>
<p>When this happens, those occupying the temporary space can get squeezed out, even though their presence and activity made the area culturally and economically valuable to start with.</p>
<p>This is a potential scenario for the creatives at MANY 6160. A A$220 million development <a href="http://www.fremantle.wa.gov.au/ksp">planned for Kings Square</a> may eventually force them to move on, despite the council’s ambitions to preserve the diversity of the temporary occupation in future.</p>
<h2>Temporary, but with a city-making legacy</h2>
<p>So, can temporary use influence local city-shaping and state decision-making in the long term, rather than simply being a stopgap? Can projects like MANY 6160 help to forge new approaches to urban design and planning?</p>
<p>The answer is yes. Temporary occupation creates opportunities for a new type of city-making. </p>
<p>With the current trend towards decreasing public expenditure on the built environment, the temporary use of space demonstrates alternative models of governance where developers, councils and citizens work together to resolve the issue of a lack of resources. The MANY 6160 project, in particular, demonstrates a shift in government behaviour towards incentivising and supporting citizens. </p>
<p>The City of Fremantle contributed $20,000 to the project. Citizens have put in thousands of hours of volunteer labour, along with the architects, who have borne start-up costs of more than $50,000. There is also the goodwill of building owner Sirona Capital.</p>
<p>A new world of cross-societal participation in urban design and planning has been opened up. However, the biggest advantage of temporary use has not been leveraged at the Fremantle site. The missed opportunity is an incremental approach to development, so that temporary occupation becomes a pivotal intermediate step towards long-term development. </p>
<p>In this scenario, the occupation of MANY 6160 could inform and influence the Kings Square development. Learnings from the temporary place activation – about the location, the community and other local factors – could contribute to the next iteration of the site. </p>
<p>The temporary project could be embedded within broader master plans and urban frameworks to test out experimental programs and governance models that could be brought into the long-term development.</p>
<p>The temporary occupation of space is ripe for exploration in Perth and other centres where the use of sites is constantly changing. When we cannot predict the future, let alone the next decade, interim use provides ways to reimagine buildings.</p>
<p>Citizens are increasingly demanding spaces for hours, days, weeks or months rather than years. This type of future city, contingent on mobility, requires a looser planning vision, one that allows for temporary occupation to inform future occupations, rather than merely being a placeholder for the development to follow.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The Conversation is co-publishing articles with <a href="http://www.alva.uwa.edu.au/community/futurewest">Future West (Australian Urbanism)</a>, produced by the University of Western Australia’s Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts. These articles look towards the future of urbanism, taking Perth and Western Australia as its reference point. You can read other articles <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/future-west-30248">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63926/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Timothy Moore does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The rise in temporary use of urban space requires a looser planning vision that can draw on this new type of city-making to inform longer-term developments.Timothy Moore, PhD Candidate, Melbourne School of Design, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/639302016-09-19T03:45:50Z2016-09-19T03:45:50ZTo cut urban sprawl, we need quality infill housing displays to win over the public<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134562/original/image-20160818-12281-1sp7ujy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The continued preference for detached housing in new suburbs is driving Perth's urban sprawl and means two-thirds of dwellings built over the next 15 years need to be on infill sites to meet the state's target. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/perthhdproductions/7471252326/in/photolist-bUFopa-cod82h-aXzLE-73sZQC">perthhdproductions/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>With state governments across Australia acknowledging the need to limit urban sprawl, fill the gaps within existing metropolitan areas and build higher-density housing on selected sites, many opportunities have opened up. Demonstration projects are key to ensuring quality outcomes, and government has a leading role to play.</p>
<p>The Western Australian target for urban infill is at the lower end compared to other states. In August 2010, the Department of Planning and the Western Australian Planning Commission released <a href="http://www.planning.wa.gov.au/publications/826.asp">Directions 2031 and Beyond</a>, a report that proposed a more consolidated Perth, with an infill target of 47% of new housing. </p>
<p>The report stated that 328,000 new dwellings would be needed by 2031. The 47% target translates to 154,000 of these. This target was a 50% increase on infill trends at the time.</p>
<p>In 2015, the same two government agencies released the draft document, <a href="http://www.planning.wa.gov.au/publications/3.5million.asp">Perth and Peel@3.5 million</a>, which again nominated the 47% infill target. However, the authors acknowledged that urban infill rates had reached only 28% in 2014. This means that, to reach the 47% goal, the required increase in infill has moved from 50% to 68% more than the actual infill numbers in the five years between the two reports.</p>
<h2>Filling the housing gap</h2>
<p>This is a substantial change, and one that will require significant shifts from “business-as-usual” approaches to housing delivery along with community acceptance of higher residential densities. Government can assist with these shifts and, in doing so, help to fill a conspicuous gap in the content of the reports.</p>
<p>This gap is the absence of anything more than the briefest of references to the nature of the housing that will provide the increased infill and density. There is no real discussion of housing types and design, methods of construction and delivery, or forms of ownership that may encourage a greater take-up of such housing.</p>
<p>Higher residential density and infill continue to face a level of community resistance. Some of this is justified, in that much of the completed suburban infill is of a poor quality and too fragmented to deliver the positive changes and level of amenity that higher density can bring.</p>
<p>A quick Google Maps scan across the middle suburbs of Perth shows the dominant form of suburban infill in the city. It is a compressed suburbia. Large houses are squeezed together onto sites, shrinking usable private outdoor space to leftover space, reducing access to sun and cross-ventilation, and diminishing existing tree canopy. Driveways, car courts and double garage doors engage with the street. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134568/original/image-20160818-12300-1cu08cx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134568/original/image-20160818-12300-1cu08cx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134568/original/image-20160818-12300-1cu08cx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134568/original/image-20160818-12300-1cu08cx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134568/original/image-20160818-12300-1cu08cx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134568/original/image-20160818-12300-1cu08cx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=663&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134568/original/image-20160818-12300-1cu08cx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=663&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134568/original/image-20160818-12300-1cu08cx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=663&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Standard industry infill strategies in middle-ring or greyfield suburbs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture, Monash University</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How do we improve infill?</h2>
<p>Looking at this prompts the question: how do we improve the standard? Researchers at Swinburne and Monash universities in Melbourne and at the Australian Urban Design Research Centre (AUDRC) at the University of Western Australia have proposed solutions. </p>
<p>The Monash project, <a href="http://www.ovga.vic.gov.au/images/Infill_Opportunities_-_Design_Research_Report_-_FINAL.pdf">Infill Opportunities: Design Research Report</a>, prepared for the Office of the Victorian Government Architect, explores how considered design strategies can contribute to better-quality infill redevelopment in the middle-ring suburbs. </p>
<p>The strategies include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>going above a single storey, with the height shifted away from site boundaries to reduce overlooking and shadow-casting of neighbours;</p></li>
<li><p>allocating usable private courtyards to each unit;</p></li>
<li><p>providing good solar access, cross-ventilation and outlook; and</p></li>
<li><p>developing a car-parking strategy that can change over time.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>In addition, the idea is for the units to have a degree of inbuilt flexibility so they can adapt to changing household circumstances. While this work remains diagrammatic, it nevertheless demonstrates that, with a clear focus on how design can enable amenity to be optimised, suburban infill can provide attractive housing options.</p>
<p>There are infill projects being built in Perth that demonstrate what is possible when real design intelligence is at play. </p>
<p>For example, LandCorp’s stage 1 development of <a href="http://www.knutsford.com.au/">Knutsford</a>, 1.5 kilometres from the centre of Fremantle, provides a mix of well-considered housing types. These feature good indoor-outdoor relationships and clever spatial strategies to enable a high degree of internal flexibility.</p>
<p>This housing is being offered to the market at very reasonable prices. In stage 1, 23 units were completed, with 33 being built in stage 2, all designed by Spaceagency.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134570/original/image-20160818-12312-1k1nv0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134570/original/image-20160818-12312-1k1nv0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134570/original/image-20160818-12312-1k1nv0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=279&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134570/original/image-20160818-12312-1k1nv0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=279&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134570/original/image-20160818-12312-1k1nv0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=279&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134570/original/image-20160818-12312-1k1nv0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134570/original/image-20160818-12312-1k1nv0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134570/original/image-20160818-12312-1k1nv0p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The streetscape of stage 1 at Knutsford, designed by Spaceagency, is free of driveways, with access at the rear.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Robert Frith</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We need more good examples like this, with a greater diversity of housing types. The potential that is implicit in higher-density housing – the opportunities for social engagement, sharing of facilities, fewer cars, richer urban potential, better public space and urban realm – needs to be made explicit. </p>
<h2>Time to revisit the display village</h2>
<p>For more than 50 years, display villages have been used to promote and sell detached project housing. These displays have enabled buyers to see what they are buying and to understand the potential of the broader setting of the house. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134572/original/image-20160818-12298-alttaj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134572/original/image-20160818-12298-alttaj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134572/original/image-20160818-12298-alttaj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=994&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134572/original/image-20160818-12298-alttaj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=994&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134572/original/image-20160818-12298-alttaj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=994&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134572/original/image-20160818-12298-alttaj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1249&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134572/original/image-20160818-12298-alttaj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1249&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134572/original/image-20160818-12298-alttaj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1249&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The quality of design helped stage 1 of Knutsford to sell within months.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Robert Frith</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Historically, display villages promoted, through built example, the houses that eventually formed suburbia. In the same way, a display village for higher-density housing units could promote options that are not currently on offer in the housing market. </p>
<p>Potential buyers would be able to experience and understand the qualities of the housing on display. A higher-density display village would demonstrate how, with intelligent design, these units can be spacious, adaptable and work effectively with outdoor space.</p>
<p>For Perth, such a display village would provide a valuable means for industry to innovate with housing types and forms of construction. A government imprimatur and the willingness to underwrite the first projects should ensure this outcome. </p>
<p>The village would offer design diversity in terms of type and form, construction innovation including modular and prefabrication techniques, use of new materials, and the ability to test new strategies for utilities and waste. </p>
<p>It would showcase design for low energy use on a precinct scale and for reduced car dependency. It would take advantage of Perth’s climate and allow a fluid relationship between indoors and outdoors, creating a sense of space, light and air.</p>
<h2>Infill can add value to suburbs</h2>
<p>Government and industry would plan and promote the project. Government would provide the land and industry would build the housing. The display housing would be open to the public for a period of time, then sold to individual buyers. </p>
<p>Affordability remains a major obstacle to broader acceptance of higher-density housing. This is because selling prices per square metre are considerably more than those of a detached new house on the suburban fringes. The display village could explore alternative forms of land and house delivery and ownership.</p>
<p>Higher-density housing isn’t necessarily a threat to the traditional Australian notion of suburbia. It need not be seen as a denigration of the values that recognise suburbia as having a particular quality that helps establish the idea of an Australian way of life based on the detached house and its backyard. There is a vast existing stock to ensure those values will remain in place. </p>
<p>The development of well-designed, high-performing and higher-density infill housing will, in fact, protect existing suburbs from the poorer-quality infill that is occurring, while allowing the benefits of an enhanced public realm to be shared.</p>
<p>The WA government has a major challenge in meeting its infill targets. It can help meet this challenge by initiating a government-assisted display village of quality higher-density housing. It would be the first state government in Australia to do so.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The Conversation is co-publishing articles with <a href="http://www.alva.uwa.edu.au/community/futurewest">Future West (Australian Urbanism)</a>, produced by the University of Western Australia’s Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts. These articles look towards the future of urbanism, taking Perth and Western Australia as its reference point. You can read other articles <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/future-west-30248">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63930/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Geoffrey London has in the past received Australian Research Council funding for housing-related research.</span></em></p>Government and industry need to demonstrate the benefits of well-designed higher-density housing. Rich residential display projects may be the ideal catalyst for creating smarter cities.Geoffrey London, Professor of Architecture, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/639322016-09-16T02:15:34Z2016-09-16T02:15:34ZHow Airbnb is reshaping our cities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134902/original/image-20160822-30406-zbkfsr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Melbourne is being transformed by high-rise apartments, with some even being purpose-built for the Airbnb market.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jlascar/11866185983/in/photolist-j5ziFv-hXAxVv-hYvvPk-gBt5E3-ggaWTT-hvrtKb-gjhens-fMf8VC-De35ec-DDgfpK-CQ8w9a-DKcVzW-CQ1UvE-DMwqGp-DmPdQ9-CRqhfj-DfrzmP-DEELT8-DLBcPN-uYHhTA-rpAEAK-s84Gxg-soxZkK-sootN3-s4SNK4-s661s5-rvMaLg-wsRHok-rahMFF-ypmGdM-qmaPN5-pFphoC-oN4aJE-pneF6Q-FWVPhB-Gsg925-GJ53Mq-GSm58V-GJ4Xtj-GsfXZG-FWVVgF-oaXhDF-osyq3W-nQZ3fa-kkiheM-iGLZi7-iGERaf-iKaRKV-hXzAMg-i1jxq8">Jorge Láscar/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Infrastructure in our cities – let’s call it the hardware – remains much the same as ever, but the software – the way we use it – is transforming rapidly. One piece of that software, <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/">Airbnb</a>, is dramatically reshaping the world’s cities. </p>
<p>The digital platform allows citizens to find and rent short-term accommodation from other citizens. Airbnb has the potential to rupture the traditional spatial relationship between tourist and local, making our cities more vibrant and diverse places to live in and to visit.</p>
<p>The question is: what opportunities and dangers does the platform present? What are the implications of repurposing existing residential infrastructure for short-term accommodation? What happens when the <a href="http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/about/global-annual-review-2015/colliding-megatrends/the-sharing-economy.html">global “sharing economy”</a> meets a city’s suburbs?</p>
<h2>Lessons from an early adopter</h2>
<p>Melbourne was an early adopter of Airbnb. It is also one of the top 10 cities for global travellers on Airbnb. What insights can be gathered from its experience?</p>
<p>According to Airbnb, three-quarters of listings worldwide are outside major hotel districts. Airbnb has three types of property listings: entire homes, private rooms and shared rooms.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134903/original/image-20160822-30393-rqzxy7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134903/original/image-20160822-30393-rqzxy7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134903/original/image-20160822-30393-rqzxy7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134903/original/image-20160822-30393-rqzxy7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134903/original/image-20160822-30393-rqzxy7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134903/original/image-20160822-30393-rqzxy7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=757&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134903/original/image-20160822-30393-rqzxy7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=757&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134903/original/image-20160822-30393-rqzxy7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=757&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Concentration of Airbnb entire-house rentals in Melbourne.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jacqui Alexander & Tom Morgan</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Entire homes make up over half the total number of Melbourne’s metropolitan listings. Data collected in January 2016 reveals that their distribution is relatively consistent with that of hotels and licensed accommodation, which exist in large concentrations in the CBD and inner city.</p>
<p>Many hosts who list entire homes lease or sublet when they go away. In Australia, tenants require permission from their landlord to sublet, so there is little risk for the landlord if they follow due process. But analysis by website <a href="http://insideairbnb.com/">Inside Airbnb</a> indicates that about 75% of entire-house listings in Melbourne are available for over 90 days per year. </p>
<p>Hosts with multiple properties manage about a third of all the entire-house listings in Melbourne. These operators hold an average of three properties, but some have dozens. Through Airbnb, these brokers are turning existing housing infrastructure into informal, distributed hotels while saving on capital costs, overheads and wages.</p>
<p>Globally, the Airbnb phenomenon has been blamed for <a href="http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-0513-yaffe-airbnb-ordinance-la-20160513-story.html">driving up rents</a>, <a href="http://observer.com/2016/07/airbnb-is-advertising-itself-as-a-solution-to-gentrification-to-avoid-regulation/">accelerating gentrification</a> and <a href="https://news.vice.com/article/airbnb-will-probably-get-you-evicted-and-priced-out-of-the-city">displacing local residents</a> by reducing available housing stock. </p>
<p>In Melbourne, the boom in high-density development in the CBD has resulted in an <a href="http://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/there-is-an-oversupply-of-apartments-in-melbourne/news-story/b8649a7420d55d53314a0f8094b3f2ef">excess of homogeneous apartment dwellings</a>. Bedrooms without natural light, as well as <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/bigger-apartment-call-lack-of-storage-and-space-the-chief-problem-for-highrise-dwellers-20151222-gltlcl.html">insufficient floor area, outdoor space and storage space</a>, characterise many of these developments, rendering them effectively unlivable for long-term residents. But these properties are attractive to itinerant tenants seeking affordable inner city accommodation. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134904/original/image-20160822-30393-1k3gf9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134904/original/image-20160822-30393-1k3gf9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134904/original/image-20160822-30393-1k3gf9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=614&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134904/original/image-20160822-30393-1k3gf9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=614&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134904/original/image-20160822-30393-1k3gf9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=614&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134904/original/image-20160822-30393-1k3gf9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=771&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134904/original/image-20160822-30393-1k3gf9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=771&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134904/original/image-20160822-30393-1k3gf9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=771&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Concentration of Airbnb shared-room rentals in Melbourne.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jacqui Alexander & Tom Morgan</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Shared rooms in Melbourne constitute only about 2% of all listings, but they are almost exclusively confined to the CBD. Box Hill (14 kilometres east of Melbourne), and Maidstone/ Braybrook (eight kilometres west of Melbourne) are secondary outlying hotspots. The majority of CBD listings are around new apartment towers near Southern Cross Station (at the western end of the CBD) and RMIT University. </p>
<p>A number of already small two-bedroom apartments in the Neo200, Upper West Side and QV1 towers are operating as gendered dormitories. These often sleep eight, with four to a room. Overloading these apartments creates potential fire-safety and hygiene-compliance issues.</p>
<p>Short-term letting via sites like Airbnb allows investors to earn up to three times the amount they’d receive in rent (the average cost to rent an entire home is AU$189 per night). Travellers benefit from competitive accommodation rates, cooking facilities, convenient locations and access to private pools and gymnasiums intended for residents.</p>
<p>Airbnb acknowledges that professional hosts with multiple listings are exploiting the so-called sharing economy, but has not yet taken steps to regulate this. Governments would do well to implement the long-awaited and much-needed <a href="http://architectureau.com/articles/victorias-draft-apartment-standards-released/">minimum design standards for apartments</a> to curb the construction of developments in the city that fail to cater for residents or which are purpose-built for the Airbnb market (a few local examples are already emerging).</p>
<p>Beyond the obvious need to protect the amenity of citizens, protection of the liveliness and heterogeneity of the city is essential to maintain the kind of <a href="https://theconversation.com/airbnb-social-media-and-the-quest-for-the-authentic-urban-experience-48889">“authentic” experience that appeals to Airbnb users</a> in the first place. Melbourne is beginning to follow the trajectory of international cities like London where the investor market, fuelled by capital gains tax exemptions, has pushed residents further and further out. Dispersing the concentration of entire-house and private-room rental is vital.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134906/original/image-20160822-30403-z59b94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134906/original/image-20160822-30403-z59b94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134906/original/image-20160822-30403-z59b94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134906/original/image-20160822-30403-z59b94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134906/original/image-20160822-30403-z59b94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134906/original/image-20160822-30403-z59b94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=757&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134906/original/image-20160822-30403-z59b94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=757&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134906/original/image-20160822-30403-z59b94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=757&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Concentration of Airbnb private room rentals in Melbourne.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jacqui Alexander & Tom Morgan</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>More promising is the dispersed pattern of private rooms in Melbourne. These represent around 45% of listings across the city. While private rooms are still concentrated in and around the CBD, diffuse listings across Melbourne’s middle-ring suburbs realise Airbnb’s ambition to enable access to the everyday spaces of cities.</p>
<p>This pattern makes sense given the mismatch between Australian house sizes, which remain <a href="http://www.elledecor.com/life-culture/fun-at-home/news/a7654/house-sizes-around-the-world/">the largest in the world</a>, and <a href="https://aifs.gov.au/facts-and-figures/households-australia">changing household structures</a> – most significantly, the decline of the nuclear family. An increase in housing diversity in the middle-ring suburbs is likely to facilitate more entire-house listings in these areas in the future.</p>
<p>We are also seeing evidence of Airbnb driving housing diversity. Annexed and granny-flat configurations are commonly listed in suburbs close to the Melbourne CBD like Brunswick and Caulfield. Loose-fit arrangements like these provide more flexibility to cater to both residents and visitors, and the by-product is slow but genuine “bottom-up” densification. </p>
<p>Government incentives for this kind of small-scale development would help to make this a viable (and, for many, welcome) alternative to densification through high-rise apartment development.</p>
<p>In 2015, <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/while-uber-is-illegal-airbnb-gets-government-help-20151206-glgm6j.html">Tourism Victoria entered into an agreement with Airbnb Melbourne</a> to promote buzzing inner-city suburbs Fitzroy and St Kilda as “sharing economy” hotspots. But the cost of renting in these suburbs is already exorbitant. Fitzroy was named the second-most-expensive suburb in Melbourne for apartment rental in 2015. </p>
<p>Instead, policymakers could encourage disruption in the suburbs that would benefit both sides.</p>
<h2>What can be done to capture local benefits?</h2>
<p>Airbnb claims that tourists who use the platform “stay longer and spend more”. Through taxation and additional revenue from the sharing economy, governments could fund more extensive and efficient transport networks to service both locals and visitors. Extending transport infrastructure would support the intensification of distributed neighbourhoods and maximise intermingling between tourists and locals.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134907/original/image-20160822-30396-1nz1j2k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134907/original/image-20160822-30396-1nz1j2k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/134907/original/image-20160822-30396-1nz1j2k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134907/original/image-20160822-30396-1nz1j2k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134907/original/image-20160822-30396-1nz1j2k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=897&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134907/original/image-20160822-30396-1nz1j2k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134907/original/image-20160822-30396-1nz1j2k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/134907/original/image-20160822-30396-1nz1j2k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1127&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Airbnb rentals in Perth.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jacqui Alexander</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Bottom-up densification could also be a way forward for Perth. The distribution of Airbnb accommodation towards Perth’s coastal suburbs highlights potential in this space: here, tourism-specific and local infrastructure can converge. This is an exciting prospect for a state that positions itself as a unique travel destination.</p>
<p>Airbnb emerges from the same cultural tendency as the <a href="https://theconversation.com/burger-fomo-the-peaks-and-pitfalls-of-retail-pop-ups-53448">pop-up shop</a> and <a href="http://theconversation.com/from-placeholder-to-pathfinder-innovative-temporary-site-uses-help-us-reimagine-city-spaces-63926">interim-use place activation</a>. Built environment professionals must recognise it as an urban issue and lead with a framework for targeted, productive disruption. </p>
<p>Airbnb can increase the density of people within existing building stock, while dispersing the positive effects of the tourist economy. This requires more imagination from planners and designers, who first and foremost must consider the interests of individual citizens, whether they are renters or home owners.</p>
<p>Can Airbnb be a part of the solution of <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-cut-urban-sprawl-we-need-quality-infill-housing-displays-to-win-over-the-public-63930">increasing urban infill</a> without compromising a minimum standard of living?</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The Conversation is co-publishing articles with <a href="http://www.alva.uwa.edu.au/community/futurewest">Future West (Australian Urbanism)</a>, produced by the University of Western Australia’s Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts. These articles look towards the future of urbanism, taking Perth and Western Australia as its reference point. You can read other articles <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/future-west-30248">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63932/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jacqui Alexander does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>If the sharing economy is here to stay, planners and designers must respond with imagination to spread the positive effects of the tourism economy for the benefit of residents as well as tourists.Jacqui Alexander, Lecturer in Architecture, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/639332016-09-14T20:15:23Z2016-09-14T20:15:23ZSquandering riches: can Perth realise the value of its biodiversity?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135460/original/image-20160825-6609-14ygful.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Suburban expansion on Perth’s fringe pushes into the SouthWest Ecoregion.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Richard Weller/Donna Broun</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Perth is not known as a model for suburbia and its suburban condition is similar to that of developed cities the world over. However, it does stand out in one respect: it sits in an exceptionally biodiverse natural setting. A strong, informed vision for this setting’s relationship with the city could help Perth become an exemplar for similarly positioned metropolises everywhere.</p>
<p>The greater Perth region has been designated the Southwest Australia Ecoregion (SWAE). This is one of only 35 “<a href="http://www.conservation.org/How/Pages/Hotspots.aspx">biodiversity hotspots</a>” in the world. </p>
<p>Reconciling future growth with biodiversity is a key issue for urban design and planning this century. Indeed, if current trends continue, <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/109/40/16083">global urban land cover will increase by 1.2 million square kilometres</a> (equivalent to half the area of Western Australia) by 2030. Much of this will happen in biodiversity hotspots.</p>
<p>This is important because it is estimated we will <a href="https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj8tOe3kebOAhXBHJQKHcpsAbAQFggiMAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.springer.com%2Fcda%2Fcontent%2Fdocument%2Fcda_downloaddocument%2F9783642209918-c1.pdf%3FSGWID%3D0-0-45-1194137-p174121660&usg=AFQjCNEHg_OEZKk_9S6WpDp3Rx3lfW5F7w&sig2=fRFvkIwmzsjpt7VOgXoC1A">lose nearly half of all terrestrial species</a> if we fail to protect the hotspots. We will also lose the <a href="https://theconversation.com/without-action-asia-pacific-ecosystems-could-lose-a-third-of-their-value-by-2050-63452">ecosystem services</a> upon which human populations ultimately depend. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135839/original/image-20160830-17872-18th3om.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135839/original/image-20160830-17872-18th3om.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135839/original/image-20160830-17872-18th3om.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=301&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135839/original/image-20160830-17872-18th3om.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=301&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135839/original/image-20160830-17872-18th3om.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=301&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135839/original/image-20160830-17872-18th3om.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135839/original/image-20160830-17872-18th3om.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135839/original/image-20160830-17872-18th3om.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">If we fail to protect the world’s 35 biodiversity hotspots we risk losing nearly half of all terrestrial species.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Conservation International</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>“Ecosystem services” may sound like abstract jargon, but it’s actually a term used to describe the services nature provides – such as clean air, water and food, and heatwave and flood mitigation. Without these, human life would be extremely unpleasant, if not unviable. </p>
<p>Perth has a reputedly strong planning system and is comparatively wealthy. If it can’t control its city form to protect biodiversity – compact cities generally being recognised as the best model for protecting land for conservation – then city administrators elsewhere, particularly in the developing world, are likely to struggle.</p>
<h2>Misreading the land</h2>
<p>The current treatment of the Australian environment has its roots in the European annexation of Australia, which has been characterised by catastrophic misreadings of the land. Governor James Stirling, who was singularly responsible for the European annexation of Perth, was the kind of man who saw what he wanted to see rather than what was there. In <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=AeYnAl3l92cC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Origins+of+Australia%27s+Capital+Cities&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi03JS63dvOAhXErJQKHRfbBcYQ6AEIGzAA#v=onepage&q=The%20Origins%20of%20Australia's%20Capital%20Cities&f=false">The Origins of Australia’s Capital Cities</a>, Geoffrey Bolton <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=AeYnAl3l92cC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Origins+of+Australia%27s+Capital+Cities&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi03JS63dvOAhXErJQKHRfbBcYQ6AEIGzAA#v=onepage&q=were%20misled%20by%20the%20tallness&f=false">writes</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>…arriving at the end of … an uncommonly cool, moist summer, [Stirling was] misled by the tallness of the northern jarrah forest and the quality of the alluvial soils close to the river into believing that the coastal plain would offer fertile farming and grazing. It was, Stirling wrote, equal to the plains of Lombardy; and he persuaded himself that the cool easterly land breeze of these early autumn nights must originate from a range of snowy mountains.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135463/original/image-20160825-6593-ohz8fm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135463/original/image-20160825-6593-ohz8fm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135463/original/image-20160825-6593-ohz8fm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=851&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135463/original/image-20160825-6593-ohz8fm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=851&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135463/original/image-20160825-6593-ohz8fm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=851&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135463/original/image-20160825-6593-ohz8fm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1070&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135463/original/image-20160825-6593-ohz8fm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1070&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135463/original/image-20160825-6593-ohz8fm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1070&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Vegetation of Southwest Australia Ecoregion near current-day Perth at the time of European settlement. Based on statewide mapping by John Beard between 1964 and 1981.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">DPAW</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135865/original/image-20160830-28253-mw3m6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135865/original/image-20160830-28253-mw3m6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135865/original/image-20160830-28253-mw3m6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=851&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135865/original/image-20160830-28253-mw3m6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=851&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135865/original/image-20160830-28253-mw3m6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=851&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135865/original/image-20160830-28253-mw3m6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1070&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135865/original/image-20160830-28253-mw3m6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1070&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135865/original/image-20160830-28253-mw3m6i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1070&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Remnant vegetation of SWAE near Perth in 2015.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">DPAW/WALGA, courtesy of AUDRC</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The results of such misinterpretations of the land were generally less poetic. Stirling sited the settlement of Perth on a narrow, constrained strip of land between swamps to the north and marshy river edges to the south. These low-lying areas fuelled plagues of mosquitos and, once polluted, deadly typhoid outbreaks.</p>
<p>In time, due to a lingering discomfort with Perth’s “unsanitary” wetlands, more than 200,000 hectares – an area equivalent to 500 <a href="http://www.bgpa.wa.gov.au/kings-park">Kings Parks</a> – were drained on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swan_Coastal_Plain">Swan Coastal Plain</a>. These biologically productive areas directly or indirectly support most of the coastal plain’s wildlife, so the effects on biodiversity have been catastrophic. </p>
<p>Furthermore, a perception of the Banksia woodland and coastal heath on Perth’s fringes as unattractive and useless has seen <a href="https://theconversation.com/ecocheck-perths-banksia-woodlands-are-in-the-path-of-the-sprawling-city-59911">much of it cleared</a> for the expansion of the city. Between 2001 and 2009, suburban growth consumed an annual average of 851ha of highly biodiverse land on the urban fringe.</p>
<p>The lesson from this experience is that any future growth in a biodiversity hotspot, or indeed elsewhere, has to be founded on the understanding that we cannot continue to bend nature to our will. We must learn how to work with it. </p>
<p>Within this humbling process, we need to recognise that working with the land is not an entirely pure or noble act; rather, it is imperative for humanity’s survival. As species and ecosystems become threatened and vanish, so too do the ecosystem services that support human wellbeing.</p>
<h2>Perth’s Green Growth Plan</h2>
<p>The release of the state government’s long-anticipated <a href="http://www.planning.wa.gov.au/publications/8220.asp">Perth and Peel Green Growth Plan for 3.5 million</a> may herald a <a href="https://theconversation.com/perth-green-growth-plan-puts-strategic-environmental-assessments-to-the-city-test-59167">shift in the relationship</a> between the city and the biodiversity hotspot. The plan encapsulates two broad goals:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>to protect fringe bushland, rivers, wetlands and wildlife in an impressive 170,000 hectares of new and expanded reserves on Perth’s fringe</p></li>
<li><p>to cut red tape by securing upfront Commonwealth environmental approvals for outer suburban development.</p></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135866/original/image-20160830-28260-gkdtep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135866/original/image-20160830-28260-gkdtep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/135866/original/image-20160830-28260-gkdtep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=851&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135866/original/image-20160830-28260-gkdtep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=851&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135866/original/image-20160830-28260-gkdtep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=851&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135866/original/image-20160830-28260-gkdtep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1070&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135866/original/image-20160830-28260-gkdtep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1070&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/135866/original/image-20160830-28260-gkdtep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1070&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Proposed new and existing reserves – light and dark green respectively – on Perth’s fringe (indicative only).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">DOP, courtesy of AUDRDC</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While ostensibly positive achievements, a question remains as to the implications of clearing a further <a href="http://www.planning.wa.gov.au/publications/8220.asp">9,700ha* (3% of the Swan Coastal Plain in the Perth and Peel region)</a> of remnant bushland which is not protected by the conservation reserves. </p>
<p>At the same time as the Green Growth Plan’s reserves to the north of the city create a largely legible and connected edge to the city, in the south the reserves are isolated and disconnected due to the extent of historic clearing. This potentially stymies the public’s ability to conceptualise the city’s edge, which leads them to care about it (like <a href="http://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2015-02-01/hundreds-of-protestors-march-in-protest-at-building-plans-for-green-belt-land/">London’s greenbelt</a>, for instance). </p>
<p>Finally, a question remains about how a plan that places restrictions on outer suburban development will accommodate the powerful local land development industry over time. This is a concern given the frequent “<a href="http://apo.org.au/resource/taming-urban-frontier-urban-expansion-metropolitan-spatial-plans-perth-1970-2005">urban break-outs</a>” – where urban development occurs outside nominated growth areas – between 1970 and 2005.</p>
<p>In 2003, the ABC asked revered Western Australian landscape architect Marion Blackwell, “Are we at home now in the land we live in?” She replied, “No, we’re not. We don’t know enough about it, and not enough people know anything about it.” </p>
<p>We still have work to do on our engagement with biodiversity in Western Australia, and Perth specifically, before we can become a model for future cities.</p>
<p><em>*This article was corrected on October 26 2016. The original article wrongly cited 45,000ha of remnant bushland, and has been corrected to 9,700ha. Secondly, the characterisation of the Green Growth Plan in the following paragraph has been clarified.</em></p>
<hr>
<p><em>The Conversation is co-publishing articles with <a href="http://www.alva.uwa.edu.au/community/futurewest">Future West (Australian Urbanism)</a>, produced by the University of Western Australia’s Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts. These articles look towards the future of urbanism, taking Perth and Western Australia as its reference point. You can read other articles <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/future-west-30248">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63933/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The Australian Urban Design Research Centre, which employs Julian Bolleter, receives funding from the Western Australian Planning Commission for undertaking specific research projects. However, these projects are not directly related to the content of this article.</span></em></p>If Perth can preserve the rich biodiversity of its setting, it will become a model for sustainable city development that fully connects with the value of natural ecosystem services.Julian Bolleter, Research Fellow, Australian Urban Design Research Centre, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.