tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/urban-renewal-16391/articlesUrban renewal – The Conversation2023-06-06T12:29:50Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2022302023-06-06T12:29:50Z2023-06-06T12:29:50ZA community can gentrify without losing its identity – examples from Pittsburgh, Boston and Newark of what works<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/526633/original/file-20230516-23757-xm3dyf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=26%2C16%2C3567%2C2549&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A street mural by Manuel Acevedo at Halsey Place in Newark, N.J.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.fourcornerspublicarts.org/projects#/the-gantalism-dedication-2019/ ">Anthony Alvarez</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>How can neighborhoods gentrify without erasing their heart and voice?</p>
<p>It’s an important question to ask now, I’d suggest, since many communities across the U.S. are at risk of losing their historical identities as new people and businesses move in, displacing residents and affecting the fabric of the community. This <a href="https://www.pps.org/article/gentrification">process is known as gentrification</a>, and while a neighborhood “upgrade” can bring new vitality, diversity and opportunity, that is a win only if existing residents and businesses are not forced or priced out.</p>
<p>How to have the positive effects without the negatives isn’t obvious. President Joe Biden’s 2023 budget proposes a US$195 million increase in the Community Development Block Grant program that targets development in 100 <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/briefing-room/2022/03/30/president-bidens-fy-2023-budget-advances-equity/">underserved communities</a>. By creating infrastructure that attracts new development, some of these projects will likely support gentrification.</p>
<p>I’m an <a href="https://sasn.rutgers.edu/about-us/faculty-staff/anthony-alvarez">educator</a>, arts administrator and public policy fellow who has worked with Fortune 500 companies and exhibited my own photography nationally. I teach fine arts classes at Rutgers in Newark, New Jersey, where I was raised.</p>
<p>As an artist, I believe that it is important to preserve diverse communities with unique characteristics. Public art is one way to highlight and honor our shared spaces <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0309-1317.2003.00492.x">even as we reshape them</a>. Art can help present the values that communities want to project and protect as a way of maintaining and creating great places to live.</p>
<h2>Defining spaces</h2>
<p>What makes a great place to live? </p>
<p>Or, as urban planner <a href="https://doi.org/10.1353/artv.2017.0009">Maria Rosario Jackson</a> – now serving as chair of the National Endowment for the Arts – asks: What makes “a just place where people can thrive”? </p>
<p>The answer is, many elements working together. Accessible transportation, diverse housing stock, good schools and jobs, to name a few. Places and spaces in which visitors and residents can convene and connect, be entertained, engage creatively, and find experiences that expand and challenge imaginations. </p>
<p>Public art projects are at the center of many revitalization projects, and they are crucial to the fabric and vitality of their communities. Consider as just one example <a href="https://undergroundinkblock.com/about-2">Underground at Ink Block</a> in Boston, a project that transformed an ordinary underpass into a place where neighbors come together to honor shared histories and play, connect and create community surrounded by outstanding street art. </p>
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<p>Successful projects like this one don’t just happen. Rather, urban planners and community leaders rely on proven techniques that bring them together with community members to practice what urban planners call placemaking, creative placemaking and placekeeping.</p>
<h2>First came placemaking</h2>
<p>Placemaking entered into the urban planning vocabulary in a <a href="https://www.arts.gov/about/publications/creative-placemaking">2010 white paper</a> by Ann Markusen and Anne Gadwa for The Mayors’ Institute on City Design. </p>
<p>More recently, the Project for Public Spaces published a <a href="https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/5810e16fbe876cec6bcbd86e/6335ddc88fbf7f29ec537d49_2022%20placemaking%20booklet.pdf">Primer on Placemaking</a> in 2022 titled “What if we build our cities around places?”</p>
<p>The paper argues that successful cities need destinations: strong communities with distinct identities to help attract new residents, businesses and investment. </p>
<p>Walkable, safe, comfortable and dynamic public spaces and buildings are key components to the creation of spaces where “people want to live, work, play and learn,” as Michigan State University <a href="https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/lpis_mark_wyckoff_authors_article_on_four_different_types_of_placemaking">urban planner Mark Wyckoff argues</a>.</p>
<p>Placemaking began as an economic development strategy focusing on “<a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/why-we-need-to-invest-in-transformative-placemaking/">economic districts</a>,” but recent shifts also call for thoughtful and <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/about-the-bass-center/">sensitive social impact</a> focusing on what residents and commuters want, like cultural activities, accessible parks, and healthy and sustainable food sold at farmers markets.</p>
<h2>Harnessing creativity</h2>
<p>Creative placemaking connects traditional economic placemaking with arts and cultural strategies. Markusen and Gadwa explain that creative placemaking involves partnering with the community to re-imagine a neighborhood while maintaining its social and cultural character. </p>
<p>Movements such as <a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/s/socially-engaged-practice">Socially Engaged Art</a> allow artists and community to come together in a public space that encourages conversation around a common goal. Rick Lowe’s <a href="https://projectrowhouses.org/">Project Row Houses</a> in Houston and the <a href="https://www.theastergates.com/project-items/dorchester-art-and-housing-collaborative-dahc">Dorchester Art and Housing Collaborative</a>’s Theaster Gates in Chicago are just two of many examples of this blurring of the lines between art, activism and economic development.</p>
<h2>Placekeeping</h2>
<p>More recently, the idea of placekeeping expands on these earlier concepts by recognizing that having communities at the table when revitalization projects are being planned is key to growing urban environments that have a good chance of keeping displacement at bay. Placekeeping emphasizes learning what is important to the fabric of the community and how to weave that into revitalization projects.</p>
<p>A former mayor of Oakland, California, Libby Schaaf, said <a href="https://www.cnu.org/publicsquare/2019/11/12/toward-placekeeping-how-design-dialogue-can-make-cities-better-everyone">in 2019</a>: “Placekeeping is about engaging the residents who already live in a space and allowing them to preserve the stories and culture of where they live.” </p>
<p>Oakland was one of the participants of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ <a href="https://www.bloomberg.org/press/bloomberg-philanthropies-launches-asphalt-art-initiative-providing-cities-how-to-guidance-to-transform-streets-and-public-spaces-with-artwork/">Asphalt Art Initiative</a>. This <a href="https://asphaltart.bloomberg.org/projects/">64-city program</a> has the goal of assisting “cities looking to use art and design to improve street safety, revitalize public spaces, and engage their communities.” </p>
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<p>Here in Newark, New Jersey, <a href="https://www.audible.com/about">Audible</a>, an audiobook and podcasting subsidiary of Amazon, has led a dynamic partnership with local leaders, elected officials, stakeholders, residents and artists called the <a href="https://www.archpaper.com/2022/06/newark-artist-collaboration-honors-the-citys-history-and-residents-through-13-just-unveiled-art-installations/">Newark Arts Collaboration</a>. The installation takes the form of 13 murals reflecting the vibrancy and histories of the city’s neighborhoods and the people within them. </p>
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<h2>Avoiding gentrification</h2>
<p>The best way of knowing what a community values is to ask the people who live there. </p>
<p><a href="https://nlihc.org/resource/gentrification-and-neighborhood-revitalization-whats-difference">Community benefits agreements</a> are contracts that bring community groups and stakeholders to a shared planning table. These agreements provide negotiated, binding contracts that help leverage tools such as <a href="https://www.ura.org/pages/lower-hill-lerta-greater-hill-district-neighborhood-reinvestment-fund">tax assistance programs and reinvestment funds</a> with concrete community investment plans. </p>
<p>For example, in Pittsburgh, community benefits agreements provided an opportunity for the community and developers to co-shape major revitalization projects beginning with the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9qqXHa3Gs0&list=PL45AA4AF0740EF212&index=1">PPG arena 2008</a> and expanding with the renovation of <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/hill-district-ura-concert-venue-lower-hill-district/">the historic New Granda Theater in 2023</a>.</p>
<p>Any anti-gentrification effort begins with an inclusive process. Under Mayor Michelle Wu, the city of Boston <a href="https://www.boston.gov/departments/arts-and-culture/allston-brighton-arts-culture-and-placekeeping">provides another example</a> of placekeeping by promising to learn “what exists, what is treasured and what contributes to the unique characteristics of Allston-Brighton,” a quickly developing neighborhood within the city.</p>
<p>Embracing the heart of the community, honoring its artistic expression, and creating access for the community was key in the development of <a href="https://www.evartscollective.com/frogtown-artwalk">Frogtown Arts Walk</a> in Los Angeles. And keeping this regeneration equitable is center to Newark’s <a href="https://newarkarts.org/newark-creates/">cultural plan</a>. </p>
<p>To quote Newark Mayor Ras Baraka: “Newark should be the place to be for artists. And, I want Newarkers to benefit from their presence.”</p>
<p><em>This story was updated to correct the number of Asphalt Initiative grants.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202230/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anthony Alvarez does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Art can help anchor places even as they are reshaped.Anthony Alvarez, Lecturer of Arts, Culture & Media, Rutgers University - NewarkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1939492022-11-21T04:32:23Z2022-11-21T04:32:23ZQueensland’s high-tech plan to make the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games smarter and greener<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495303/original/file-20221115-13-zhdrj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C80%2C3827%2C2784&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>With Brisbane to host the 2032 Olympic Games, Queensland is accelerating “smart” and “green” infrastructure projects right across the coast from Coolangatta to Coolum.</p>
<p>So what practical steps is the state government taking to bring Brisbane closer to being a smart city while managing rapid growth? And what differences can city residents realistically expect to see for themselves?</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/urban-planning-is-now-on-the-front-line-of-the-climate-crisis-this-is-what-it-means-for-our-cities-and-towns-193452">Urban planning is now on the front line of the climate crisis. This is what it means for our cities and towns</a>
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<h2>Exploiting a quarter century of technological progress</h2>
<p>Vastly more ambitious than the South Bank building boom, which preceded Brisbane’s World Expo 88 in the pre-internet era, Queensland’s current infrastructure programs are exploiting the last quarter-century of technological progress. </p>
<p>Think sensor-triggered street lights, automated air conditioning and watering of parks and green facades. Envision robots for cleaning and construction, satmaps, swipe cards and QR codes. Data technology will be embedded in 32 existing and planned Olympic venues, the future athletes’ village at Northshore Hamilton (near Breakfast Creek) and the international media centres. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495255/original/file-20221115-24-m8th6s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An artist's impression of the new 'data' city centre being developed at Maroochydoore by Walker Corporation with the Sunshine Coast City Council." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495255/original/file-20221115-24-m8th6s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495255/original/file-20221115-24-m8th6s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495255/original/file-20221115-24-m8th6s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495255/original/file-20221115-24-m8th6s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495255/original/file-20221115-24-m8th6s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495255/original/file-20221115-24-m8th6s.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495255/original/file-20221115-24-m8th6s.jpeg?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">An artist’s impression of the new ‘data’ city centre being developed at Maroochydoore by Walker Corporation with the Sunshine Coast City Council.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sunshine Coast City Council</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Technology will also underpin a substantial city centre at Maroochydore. Here, a mid-rise precinct will be powered via a solar farm at nearby Valdora, and will include fibre-optic telecommunications cables. In what may be a first for Australia, a new system will sluice garbage from chutes through <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-21/maroochydore-rubbish-revolution-envac-underground/7864272">underground vacuum pipes</a>.</p>
<h2>A ‘New Norm’ Olympics</h2>
<p>All Games facilities must align with a set of 118 reforms the International Olympic Committee (IOC) calls its “<a href="https://olympics.com/ioc/faq/roles-and-responsibilities-of-the-ioc-and-its-partners/what-is-the-new-norm">New Norm</a>” guidelines. </p>
<p>These were introduced in 2018 to improve energy efficiency, cost-effectiveness and long-term value from the huge development expenditure required of host governments. There had been concerns about integrity and wastefulness in the IOC’s old-school supervision of Games bidding and delivery processes.</p>
<p>Brisbane’s Games win is accelerating and expanding some major public mobility programs offering “turn up and go” transport routes for the 4.4 million people expected to live in South-East Queensland by 2031. </p>
<h2>Aerial taxis without pilots</h2>
<p>The most provocative proposal – still speculative – is to introduce <a href="https://www.austrade.gov.au/international/invest/investor-updates/wisk-s-self-flying-electric-air-taxis-to-land-in-australia">aerial taxis</a> to fly passengers without pilots, but remotely supervised, between future “vertiports”.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495254/original/file-20221115-12-m9bp2t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A prototype of the Wisk aerial taxi proposed to be flying passengers around south-east Queensland before the Brisbane Olympics." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495254/original/file-20221115-12-m9bp2t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495254/original/file-20221115-12-m9bp2t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495254/original/file-20221115-12-m9bp2t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495254/original/file-20221115-12-m9bp2t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495254/original/file-20221115-12-m9bp2t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495254/original/file-20221115-12-m9bp2t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495254/original/file-20221115-12-m9bp2t.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=377&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 prototype of the Wisk aerial taxi proposed to be flying passengers around South-East Queensland before the Brisbane Olympics.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wisk Aero</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>A prototype eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) aircraft is in Brisbane while its American manufacturer, Wisk Aero, seeks approval from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority to operate commercially before the 2032 Games. </p>
<p>Wisk (<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/10/3/23380518/wisk-aero-air-taxi-electric-autonomous-boeing-faa">backed by Boeing</a>) has completed more than <a href="https://wisk.aero/news/press-release/generation6/">1,600</a> test flights with six generations of aircraft. The Brisbane model has 12 lift fans on two 15-metre wings and is powered by a battery in the tail. </p>
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<p>Delegates at a recent Smart Cities Council transport workshop I attended noted the potential of autonomous aerial vehicles to change patterns of housing development beyond road and rail links. Even so, Queensland is rapidly expanding its terrestrial network.</p>
<h2>Land transport projects</h2>
<p>Brisbane’s <a href="https://crossriverrail.qld.gov.au/about/rail-route/#:%7E:text=The%20Cross%20River%20Rail%20route%20includes%20a%205.9%20Kilometre%20underground,information%20on%20Brisbane's%20first%20underground!">Cross River Rail</a> line is being extended northwards through a new twin tunnel under Brisbane River and four new underground stations at Boggo Road, Woolloongabba, Albert Street and Roma Street. </p>
<p>This project uses smart <a href="https://crossriverrail.qld.gov.au/news/first-mega-machine-ready-to-go/">tunnel-boring machines</a> to carve through the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-14/what-is-brisbane-tuff-volcanic-rock/12435462">tuff</a> (a type of volcanic rock, pronounced toof) that formed Brisbane’s geology more than 200 million years ago.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TpWitOUYlHY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<p>As well as supporting the new health, science and education precinct near Boggo Road, this rail extension will connect the city’s southern suburbs with the existing line north from Bowen Hills.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495258/original/file-20221115-24-hro79m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="One of the new articulated carriages on the G:Link light rail line at Southport on the Gold Coast." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495258/original/file-20221115-24-hro79m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495258/original/file-20221115-24-hro79m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495258/original/file-20221115-24-hro79m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495258/original/file-20221115-24-hro79m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495258/original/file-20221115-24-hro79m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495258/original/file-20221115-24-hro79m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495258/original/file-20221115-24-hro79m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=445&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One of the new articulated carriages on the G:Link light rail line at Southport on the Gold Coast.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">G:Link</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>And work continues on extending the Brisbane-to-Gold Coast light railway (also known as the <a href="https://ridetheg.com.au/">G:Link</a>). </p>
<p>This extension will provide eight new stations along a <a href="https://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/projects/gold-coast-light-rail">6.7km track from Broadbeach to Burleigh Heads</a>. The G:Link service uses German Bombardier Flexity carriages that are bi-directional and air-conditioned, with low-level floors matching station platforms and storage for wheelchairs, bikes, prams and surfboards. These are electric-powered via 750V overhead cables.</p>
<h2>Superfast bus charging</h2>
<p>More innovative is the Brisbane Metro project, which is being tested to potentially supply <a href="https://thedriven.io/2022/08/08/brisbane-confirms-order-for-60-all-electric-trackless-trams-with-flash-charging/">60 electric buses</a> (or “trackless trams”) to supplement the city’s existing fleet. These would be battery-powered by a combination of 600kW, six-minute, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KtciCz92VE">superfast “flash chargers”</a> at end-of-line stations and 50kW, overnight, slow chargers at depots.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495265/original/file-20221115-12-v17psy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Flash (super-fast) charging of a Metro bus via rooftop equipment docking with an overhead charging arm." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495265/original/file-20221115-12-v17psy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495265/original/file-20221115-12-v17psy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495265/original/file-20221115-12-v17psy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495265/original/file-20221115-12-v17psy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=470&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495265/original/file-20221115-12-v17psy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=591&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495265/original/file-20221115-12-v17psy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=591&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495265/original/file-20221115-12-v17psy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=591&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Flash (super-fast) charging of a Metro bus via rooftop equipment docking with an overhead charging arm.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Brisbane Metro.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Each bus can be recharged up to 85 times faster than an electric car at home – but the flash system degrades batteries more than slow charging overnight.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495260/original/file-20221115-24-d6ceu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Artist impression of a Brisbane Metro electric bus emerging from a city tunnel, with an older bus on the ramp." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495260/original/file-20221115-24-d6ceu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495260/original/file-20221115-24-d6ceu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495260/original/file-20221115-24-d6ceu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495260/original/file-20221115-24-d6ceu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495260/original/file-20221115-24-d6ceu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495260/original/file-20221115-24-d6ceu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495260/original/file-20221115-24-d6ceu0.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 impression of a Brisbane Metro electric bus emerging from a city tunnel, with an older bus on the ramp.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Brisbane City Council.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Healthy footbridges</h2>
<p>Although two of Brisbane’s four proposed “green bridges” for pedestrians and cyclists were <a href="https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/traffic-and-transport/roads-infrastructure-and-bikeways/green-bridges/st-lucia-to-west-end-green-bridge">paused</a> to prioritise flood recovery, new crossings from the city to Kangaroo Point and Newstead to Albion are expected to open in 2024. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495266/original/file-20221115-26-vliqyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Artist impression of the Kangaroo Point to Ann Street green bridge now under construction in Brisbane." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495266/original/file-20221115-26-vliqyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495266/original/file-20221115-26-vliqyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=225&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495266/original/file-20221115-26-vliqyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=225&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495266/original/file-20221115-26-vliqyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=225&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495266/original/file-20221115-26-vliqyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495266/original/file-20221115-26-vliqyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495266/original/file-20221115-26-vliqyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=283&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 impression of the green bridge between Kangaroo Point and Ann Street now under construction in Brisbane.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Queensland government.</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Kangaroo Point green bridge will include a <a href="https://brisbanedevelopment.com/updated-kangaroo-point-green-bridge-design-to-include-bar-restaurant/">restaurant overlooking the botanic gardens</a>. Newstead bridge will join the <a href="https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/traffic-and-transport/roads-infrastructure-and-bikeways/green-bridges">1.2km-long Lores Bonney Riverwalk</a>.</p>
<p>These are examples of a new phenomenon in public transport planning – to not merely move people between destinations but also boost their health and enjoyment outdoors.</p>
<p>As Corey Gray, global CEO of the Smart Cities Council, told me at the Smart Cities Council conference:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Smart cities are not ultimately about data and technology, but improving human systems.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/in-a-year-of-sporting-mega-events-the-brisbane-olympics-can-learn-a-lot-from-the-ones-that-fail-their-host-cities-187838">In a year of sporting mega-events, the Brisbane Olympics can learn a lot from the ones that fail their host cities</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193949/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Davina Jackson 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>What steps is the state government taking to bring Brisbane closer to being a smart city while managing rapid growth? And what differences can city residents expect to see for themselves?Davina Jackson, Visiting Scholar, Department of Architecture, University of CambridgeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1909082022-11-20T19:04:21Z2022-11-20T19:04:21ZRemaking our suburbs’ 1960s apartment blocks: a subtle and greener way to increase housing density<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496008/original/file-20221117-25-m3pm1a.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C369%2C2836%2C1910&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo: Matthew Darmour-Paul</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As cities grow, new buildings gradually replace the older ones. Ideally, the new buildings are higher quality, more sustainable and better suited to today’s needs. But there’s a risk current approaches to urban renewal will produce poorer amenities and buildings that are less flexible and more environmentally damaging than those they replace. </p>
<p>Take, for example, the 1960s <a href="https://assemblepapers.com.au/2019/07/16/six-pack-living-type-street-apartment/">walk-up apartment block</a>. These ageing buildings are often derided for being unattractive, utilitarian and cheap. </p>
<p>But these buildings also have design features we have come to celebrate: narrow footprints that allow cross ventilation, flexible floorplans, minimal use of shared walls, low-maintenance design and a modest human scale. We seldom find these features in apartment developments today.</p>
<p>As pressure to renew ageing apartment buildings mounts, we can expect calls to rezone and redevelop these areas at higher densities to make demolition and redevelopment financially viable. We propose a more subtle and sustainable way to remake these buildings. It’s one that will allow us to increase housing density while preserving neighbourhood character.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-city-policy-to-protect-the-brisbane-backyard-is-failing-150173">Why city policy to 'protect the Brisbane backyard' is failing</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Remaking Campsie and its old brick apartments</h2>
<p>The New South Wales government has identified the Sydney suburb of Campsie as a strategic growth hub in the <a href="https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/Plans-for-your-area/Priority-Growth-Areas-and-Precincts/Sydenham-to-Bankstown-Urban-Renewal-Corridor">Sydenham-to-Bankstown urban renewal corridor</a>. A projected 35,000 new homes will be required in the corridor over the next 20 years.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495561/original/file-20221116-15-338qll.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Map of Campsie showing locations of apartment blocks suitable for redevelopment" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495561/original/file-20221116-15-338qll.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495561/original/file-20221116-15-338qll.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=737&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495561/original/file-20221116-15-338qll.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=737&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495561/original/file-20221116-15-338qll.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=737&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495561/original/file-20221116-15-338qll.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=926&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495561/original/file-20221116-15-338qll.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=926&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495561/original/file-20221116-15-338qll.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=926&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Apartment buildings in Campsie identified as suitable for redevelopment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Like suburbs across Australia, Campsie has hundreds of brick apartment buildings developed in the 1960s and ’70s. How could these 350 or so housing apartment blocks (shaded areas on the map) be reimagined to provide more new homes? </p>
<p>We have come up with <a href="https://alastairswaynfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/The-Future-of-Living-goes-to-Campsie.pdf">a proposal</a> for subtle densification that could transform and preserve Campsie and the neighbouring suburbs of Belmore, Punchbowl and Earlwood. It could also be applied to suburbs with similar housing types across Australia. </p>
<p>Adaptive reuse reduces the damaging impacts of an all-new development. These impacts include emissions from demolition, construction and the energy used for making and transporting both the discarded and new building materials. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489985/original/file-20221017-11-rp2hoz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Street view of two 1960s apartment buildings before and after refurbishment" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489985/original/file-20221017-11-rp2hoz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489985/original/file-20221017-11-rp2hoz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=225&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489985/original/file-20221017-11-rp2hoz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=225&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489985/original/file-20221017-11-rp2hoz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=225&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489985/original/file-20221017-11-rp2hoz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489985/original/file-20221017-11-rp2hoz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489985/original/file-20221017-11-rp2hoz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=283&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 typical 1960s apartment blocks before and after proposed refurbishment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://alastairswaynfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/The-Future-of-Living-goes-to-Campsie.pdf">Image: The Future of Living goes to Campsie/Choirender</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-needs-construction-waste-recycling-plants-but-locals-first-need-to-be-won-over-161888">Australia needs construction waste recycling plants — but locals first need to be won over</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Four blocks remade as one</h2>
<p>Remaking this awkward yet quintessential housing type offers an alternative path to medium-density living. Let’s start by looking at these apartments not as individual buildings but as groups. Four similar adjoining blocks in an adequate state are perfect candidates for intervention. </p>
<p>We propose to remove the fences between the blocks and create a shared collective space to join them. This new timber structure hosts half-sunk parking and common areas for everyday life. It will include a light semi-outdoor pavilion that could be used for washing, exercising, reading, gardening, hobbies, daydreaming and cooking. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489986/original/file-20221017-23-1mj81z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The new common areas shared by the four redeveloped apartment blocks." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489986/original/file-20221017-23-1mj81z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489986/original/file-20221017-23-1mj81z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489986/original/file-20221017-23-1mj81z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489986/original/file-20221017-23-1mj81z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489986/original/file-20221017-23-1mj81z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489986/original/file-20221017-23-1mj81z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489986/original/file-20221017-23-1mj81z.png?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">Residents of the apartment blocks would share the new common areas.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://alastairswaynfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/The-Future-of-Living-goes-to-Campsie.pdf">Artist's impression: The future of living goes to Campsie/Choirender</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-coronavirus-must-not-stop-australia-creating-denser-cities-137487">Why coronavirus must not stop Australia creating denser cities</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>It’s a straightforward architectural strategy featuring: a new steel core with stairs and lifts shared between two blocks; semi-interior spaces carved out of the building’s façade; and balconies, winter gardens and new residential units added on top of the buildings. </p>
<p>These new timber structures provide the most generous space possible. And, by increasing the number of dwellings, they make refurbishment financially viable.</p>
<p>In summary, the refurbishment operates at five levels by: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>adding the common infrastructure at the heart of the four blocks</p></li>
<li><p>adding two new stairways</p></li>
<li><p>refurbishing the apartments while offering a mix of outdoor spaces, shaded areas and semi-outdoor terraces, allowing for different weather conditions and connecting seamlessly with indoor spaces</p></li>
<li><p>adding a layer of external spaces and winter gardens on the main facades</p></li>
<li><p>adding four new dwellings on the rooftop.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>With some adjustments, this subtle densification would also work for individual blocks or pairs of blocks.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489987/original/file-20221017-18-m2gf3o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Interior view of a rooftop unit" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489987/original/file-20221017-18-m2gf3o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/489987/original/file-20221017-18-m2gf3o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489987/original/file-20221017-18-m2gf3o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489987/original/file-20221017-18-m2gf3o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489987/original/file-20221017-18-m2gf3o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489987/original/file-20221017-18-m2gf3o.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/489987/original/file-20221017-18-m2gf3o.png?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">Inside one of four added rooftop units.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://alastairswaynfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/The-Future-of-Living-goes-to-Campsie.pdf">Artist's impression: The future of living goes to Campsie/Choirender</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/no-need-to-give-up-on-crowded-cities-we-can-make-density-so-much-better-131304">No need to give up on crowded cities – we can make density so much better</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Higher density doesn’t have to mean bigger buildings</h2>
<p>This approach challenges the idea that much bigger developments are needed to renew suburban housing and increase its density. This alternative strategy can retain existing buildings, their footprints and floor plans. </p>
<p>This renewal approach reduces costs and carbon footprints, while preserving the local social fabric. </p>
<p>Strata ownership does present challenges to this type of renewal – there may well be as many owners as there are units in these developments. Involving developers, local councils, designers, builders and communities in developing these strategies will be essential for success.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Zk4plgj2Cqc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The authors explain their idea to subtly increase housing density by adapting existing buildings.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/quality-of-life-in-high-density-apartments-varies-here-are-6-ways-to-improve-it-139220">Quality of life in high-density apartments varies. Here are 6 ways to improve it</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Successful renewal depends on local input</h2>
<p>In European cities like Berlin, Paris and Zurich, urban renewal projects are being publicly driven (on public and private property) with incentives to refurbish post-war housing. Municipal and European funds are supporting these upgrades. </p>
<p>There is a role for Australian local councils to promote alternative approaches to urban renewal that are more sustainable than conventional models. Local and state governments might even work together to encourage this more nuanced and localised model of regeneration. </p>
<p>These interventions must be planned at the neighbourhood scale. Local government would provide the framework via a sensitive and detailed master plan. </p>
<p>In our experience, developers typically need at least six to eight levels to be interested in redevelopment after demolishing a building in this sort of neighbourhood. We are arguing for more subtle densification: refurbishment that adds no more than one or two storeys to the building. This would allow neighbourhoods to maintain buildings at three to four levels, quite similar to the existing housing.</p>
<p>Because the walk-up apartment building is so common in Australian suburbs, this incremental change could have a significant wider impact. It is designed to engage local owners and preserve neighbourhood life, while updating old housing to today’s needs and energy standards.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190908/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Guillermo Fernández-Abascal received funding from Alastair Swayn Foundation to develop part of this research.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Urtzi Grau received funding from Alastair Swayn Foundation to develop part of this research.</span></em></p>Ageing brick apartment buildings of two to three storeys are being redeveloped in many suburbs. Typically, they are knocked down to be replaced by much bigger developments. But here’s an alternative.Guillermo Fernández-Abascal, Academic Fellow in Architectural Practice, University of SydneyUrtzi Grau, Senior Lecturer, Director of The Master of Architecture, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1925042022-11-14T00:30:22Z2022-11-14T00:30:22ZBell frogs, dugong bones and giant cauliflowers: water stories come to life at Green Square<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494783/original/file-20221111-21-8gu7av.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4031%2C2673&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sheas Creek runs into Alexandra Canal.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo: Ilaria Vanni</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Did you know the Sydney suburb Rosebery was home to the now-endangered <a href="https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedspeciesapp/profile.aspx?id=10483">green and golden bell frogs</a>? That enormous cauliflowers were nourished by fresh water springs? And that <a href="https://dictionaryofsydney.org/event/excavation_of_sheas_creek_1896">dugong bones</a> were found during excavation for the <a href="https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/from_sheas_creek_to_alexandra_canal">Alexandra Canal</a>?</p>
<p><a href="https://www.mappingedges.org/projects/water-stories-activating-water-civic-ecologies-in-green-square/">Research</a> has revealed these and other water stories in a project that maps and brings to life the histories and practices of water in Green Square. For Traditional Owners, the Country now known as Green Square is nadunga gurad, sand dune Country, known for millennia for its nattai bamalmarray, freshwater wetlands and ephemeral ponds.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/may-you-always-taste-the-sweetest-fruit-uncovering-the-history-and-hidden-delights-of-your-neighbourhood-179308">'May you always taste the sweetest fruit': uncovering the history and hidden delights of your neighbourhood</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Illustration of factories alongside a canal" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493410/original/file-20221103-22-1dn4qf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493410/original/file-20221103-22-1dn4qf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493410/original/file-20221103-22-1dn4qf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493410/original/file-20221103-22-1dn4qf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493410/original/file-20221103-22-1dn4qf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493410/original/file-20221103-22-1dn4qf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493410/original/file-20221103-22-1dn4qf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sawtooth factories on the Alexandra Canal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Illustration: Ella Cutler</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Green Square is Australia’s <a href="https://www.urbanagendaplatform.org/best-practice/i-green-square-rich-industrial-past-vibrant-sustainable-and-connected-community">largest urban renewal project</a>, spanning the inner eastern Sydney suburbs of Beaconsfield, Rosebery, Zetland, Alexandria and Waterloo. During the <a href="https://theconversation.com/no-not-again-a-third-straight-la-nina-is-likely-heres-how-you-and-your-family-can-prepare-188970">La Niña</a> event in 2021-22, the wetlands and ephemeral ponds became visible to Green Square residents and visitors over the first year of the research project. Yet the histories of water that shaped and continue to shape Green Square remained largely invisible. </p>
<p>Researchers from the University of Technology Sydney brought some of these stories to the surface in a storymap. We used a software package (ESRI’s ArcGIS) to integrate maps, archival text, expert voices, photos, videos and illustrations for the <a href="https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/cbfa956dc8744b4cbe7db5696eaff619">Water Stories</a> project. Telling these water stories allows us to explore the ever-changing relations between Country, development and urban imagination. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="ibis illustration" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493412/original/file-20221103-17-ghtx4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493412/original/file-20221103-17-ghtx4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=573&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493412/original/file-20221103-17-ghtx4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=573&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493412/original/file-20221103-17-ghtx4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=573&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493412/original/file-20221103-17-ghtx4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=720&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493412/original/file-20221103-17-ghtx4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=720&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493412/original/file-20221103-17-ghtx4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=720&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Australian white ibis is a common wetland bird in Green Square.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Illustration: Ella Cutler</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Where do these stories come from?</h2>
<p>We went to a range of archives. Some were official, such as the State Library of NSW, the National Library Trove, the City of Sydney Archives and strategy documents, the <a href="https://dharawalstories.com/dharawal-dictionary/">Dharawal Dictionary</a>, state government policy documents and federal and state parliamentary Hansards. And some were grassroots records, such as the online archive of FrogCall, the newsletter of the Frog and Tadpole Society. We also spoke to experts such as zoologists, engineers and landscape architects. </p>
<p>However, the largest archive we explored is Green Square itself. To understand Green Square as a living archive we identified “portals” in the landscape: visible objects that provide entry points into water stories. A pub, a plaque, a frog pond, a maintenance hole, a hoarding, a canal, a creek, a blue tongue lizard and a native flower are translated into the storymap as geolocated icons on a base map. Clicking on each of these icons transports you to a new story.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493408/original/file-20221103-18-vixwqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="hand-drawn map with illustrations drawn in circles" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493408/original/file-20221103-18-vixwqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493408/original/file-20221103-18-vixwqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493408/original/file-20221103-18-vixwqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493408/original/file-20221103-18-vixwqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493408/original/file-20221103-18-vixwqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493408/original/file-20221103-18-vixwqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493408/original/file-20221103-18-vixwqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&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 Water Stories map has nine ‘portals’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Illustration: Ella Cutler</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We pieced together fragments found in the archives into narratives that recover both well-known and little-known histories. These stories reveal the multiple and changing relations with water in this area.</p>
<p>What, for example, is the story of the pub? Perhaps you have been to the Cauliflower Hotel, one of the oldest pubs in Sydney. It was founded by George Rolfe, a well-known market gardener. Rolfe had prospered from growing a bumper crop of cauliflowers watered from springs during a drought.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/move-over-suburbia-green-square-offers-new-norm-for-urban-living-57633">Move over suburbia, Green Square offers new norm for urban living</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Stories of Country and colonialism</h2>
<p>For millennia this area was a refuge on the route between Sydney’s two harbours, Gamay (Botany Bay) and War'ran (Sydney Cove). The presence of water led settler-colonial land owners to choose this place. Thus began the colonial history of Green Square as a site of agriculture, manufacturing, industry and now residential development. </p>
<p>This narrative is dominant in contemporary descriptions of Green Square, but it is not the only direction these stories flow.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Green and gold frog on a log" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494778/original/file-20221110-23-dvznv7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494778/original/file-20221110-23-dvznv7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494778/original/file-20221110-23-dvznv7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494778/original/file-20221110-23-dvznv7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494778/original/file-20221110-23-dvznv7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=747&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494778/original/file-20221110-23-dvznv7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=747&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494778/original/file-20221110-23-dvznv7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=747&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The green and golden bell frog.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo: JJ Harrison/Wikimedia Commons</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The endangered green and golden bell frog, we discovered, prefers to make its habitat in disturbed landscapes, such as the water pooling from sand mining, rather than in custom-made nature reserves. This may dampen enthusiasm for the small frog pond established at <a href="https://foxrelocations.com.au/fun-things-to-do-in-kimberley-grove-reserve-in-rosebery-2018/">Kimberley Grove Reserve</a>. But it is important to understand the complexity of how such histories intersect if we are to make better decisions about cities in the face of climate change. </p>
<p>Some of the other stories surfaced by the project include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Gunyama, the name of the new aquatic centre means “stinky wind”, which could describe the smell of both ancient mangrove swamps and the noxious trades of the 1800s</p></li>
<li><p>a huge <a href="https://www.outdoordesign.com.au/news-info/stormwater-drain-keeps-green-square-dry/7754.htm">stormwater processing plant</a> lies underneath Green Square. Built as part of the development, it delivers up to 320 million litres of recycled stormwater each year to new buildings and open spaces.</p></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="three men, one digging" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493409/original/file-20221103-24-i5k0l7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493409/original/file-20221103-24-i5k0l7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=329&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493409/original/file-20221103-24-i5k0l7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=329&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493409/original/file-20221103-24-i5k0l7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=329&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493409/original/file-20221103-24-i5k0l7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493409/original/file-20221103-24-i5k0l7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493409/original/file-20221103-24-i5k0l7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dugong remains were found during excavation at Sheas Creek in 1896.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo: Australian Museum (AMS351/V9817)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/not-if-but-when-city-planners-need-to-design-for-flooding-these-examples-show-the-way-157578">Not 'if', but 'when': city planners need to design for flooding. These examples show the way</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>On the storymap, watery words from the Dharawal Dictionary guide your interactive experience, because the premise for telling these water stories is that we understand the city as Country. Country is often misunderstood as being synonymous with land, but it comprises every aspect of the “natural” environment and ecology, including water and relationships between water and land. </p>
<p>We understand water is always present, even if not visible. And that care for cities means care for Country, which also means care for water. </p>
<p>As we collect and rearrange stories, we also create new ones. We are interested in hearing how as a resident, worker or visitor to Green Square you perceive the presence and histories of water in the neighbourhood.</p>
<p>By sharing your own water story you can contribute to the living archive on the <a href="https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/cbfa956dc8744b4cbe7db5696eaff619">Water Stories website</a>. Simply click on the eel at the end of each story and add some text to share your story about how you experience water at Green Square.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The <a href="https://107.org.au/event/water-stories/">Water Stories exhibition</a>, featuring illustrations by Ella Cutler printed on site at the <a href="https://rizzeria.com/">Rizzeria</a>, opens November 16 at 6pm.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192504/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ilaria Vanni receives funding from The City of Sydney. She is a member of the Climate, Society and Environment Research Centre (C_SERC) and of the Creative Practice Research Group at the University of Technology Sydney.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexandra Crosby receives funding from The City of Sydney. She is member of The Frog and Tadpole Study Group of New South Wales (FATS) </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shannon Foster 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>Long before Green Square was a huge urban renewal project it was Country known to Traditional Owners for its wetlands. Until now, those water stories have remained largely invisible.Ilaria Vanni, Associate Professor, International Studies and Global Societies, University of Technology SydneyAlexandra Crosby, Associate Professor, School of Design, University of Technology SydneyShannon Foster, D'harawal Knowledge Keeper, PhD Candidate and Lecturer, School of Architecture, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1793082022-03-17T04:21:09Z2022-03-17T04:21:09Z‘May you always taste the sweetest fruit’: uncovering the history and hidden delights of your neighbourhood<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452702/original/file-20220317-8307-1c8rdmi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=30%2C18%2C3995%2C2999&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ilaria Vanni</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sydney’s Green Square is one of Australia’s biggest urban renewal projects. But it’s much more than a construction site. First Nations people know it by another name: nadunga gurad, or sand dune Country.</p>
<p>For millenia, the area has been known for its nattai bamalmarray: freshwater wetlands and seasonal ponds. This Country has always been an important refuge along the Songline routes that connect War'ran (Sydney Cove) to Gamay (Botany Bay).</p>
<p>To existing residents, Green Square is home. It’s also a place to walk, visit parks, shop, and talk to neighbours, shopkeepers and tradies.</p>
<p>But it can be hard to see the “green” in Green Square. It’s a disrupted place punctuated by huge pits in the ground, roadworks, scaffoldings, barriers and cranes. </p>
<p>We’ve been working on connecting residents, workers and visitors to the local environment. We hope our project becomes a template to help anyone engage more deeply with their neighbourhood. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="aerial view of park with apartments in background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452686/original/file-20220317-8184-83gcgk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452686/original/file-20220317-8184-83gcgk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452686/original/file-20220317-8184-83gcgk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452686/original/file-20220317-8184-83gcgk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452686/original/file-20220317-8184-83gcgk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452686/original/file-20220317-8184-83gcgk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452686/original/file-20220317-8184-83gcgk.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">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An image from 2013 showing plans for Green Square.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">City of Sydney</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>An atlas for change</h2>
<p>Green Square spans the inner east Sydney suburbs of Zetland, Beaconsfield, Rosebery, Alexandria and Waterloo. In 2020, the site was home to <a href="https://profile.id.com.au/sydney/population-estimate?WebID=340">34,000 people</a> and this number is growing rapidly.</p>
<p>During lockdowns last year, we and the charity <a href="https://107.org.au/">107 Projects</a> sought to connect residents, workers and visitors to nature and people in their suburb. It involved workshops, walks and a map for self-guided tours. We also collected stories in a <a href="https://www.mappingedges.org/projects/the-green-square-atlas-of-civic-ecologies/">book</a>, just released. It includes stories about:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>a <a href="https://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/community-gardens/green-square-growers">community garden group</a></p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/roseberyhoney/">beekeepers and honeymakers</a></p></li>
<li><p>public art and <a href="https://www.publicartsquad.com.au/">verge</a> gardeners</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.cityartsydney.com.au/artwork/while-i-live-i-will-grow/">artists</a></p></li>
<li><p>Australia’s leading <a href="https://www.ozharvest.org/">food rescue organisation</a>.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Atlases have historically been, and continue to be, tools of colonisation – cataloguing and archiving the status quo.</p>
<p>But done right, they can also help us understand places in new ways. In Australia, this includes recognising we are always on Indigenous Country.</p>
<p>In that vein, our atlas includes an important contribution by Shannon Foster, a registered Sydney Traditional Owner and local D’harawal eora Knowledge Keeper.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-arts-schools-matter-not-just-for-arts-sake-but-for-urban-renewal-in-sydney-and-other-cities-62901">Why arts schools matter, not just for art's sake but for urban renewal in Sydney and other cities</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="here" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452697/original/file-20220317-12901-1qviaj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452697/original/file-20220317-12901-1qviaj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452697/original/file-20220317-12901-1qviaj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452697/original/file-20220317-12901-1qviaj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452697/original/file-20220317-12901-1qviaj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452697/original/file-20220317-12901-1qviaj2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452697/original/file-20220317-12901-1qviaj2.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">Shannon Foster, middle, a Traditional Owner who contributed to the atlas.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jo Kinniburgh</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Ngeeyinee dingan duruwan bata</h2>
<p>Foster tells how, amid dense urban development at Green Square, unique plants from ancient ecosystems still emerge from undeveloped gullies. </p>
<p>These include paperbark trees, casuarina groves, clumps of kangaroo grass and lomandra, and regenerated areas of Eastern Suburbs Banksia Scrub.</p>
<p>As Foster says in this edited extract:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>One of my earliest memories of learning culture from my D’harawal eora father was about understanding plants and what you could and couldn’t eat. I was always amazed to realise that you could actually live off the gardens and earth around you. </p>
<p>Today, one of my favourite edible plants is bamuru (kangaroo grass), not just because you can make a delicious, gluten-free, light and tasty bread from it, but because it represents the un-forgetting of knowledges and stories that have been silenced and, sometimes, erased from our lives.</p>
<p>There are places across Sydney Country, especially on abandoned and neglected land, that bamuru and other edible crops like bundago (native daisy yam) flourish again. These plants begin to grow in vast fields, echoing their ancient, agricultural past and the careful management of Country by local custodians like my D’harawal eora family. </p>
<p>The awakening of these remnant crops is a reminder that Country is its own archive, holding seeds and stories as evidence that we do indeed exist and that we have long and complex relationships with Country that can never be erased.</p>
<p>Now, as I walk the streets of Green Square, I look for signs of old Country breaking through the centuries of colonial development. </p>
<p>I dream of this place as it was, sand dunes and wetlands, galumban gurad (sacred Country), and I marvel at the fragile seedlings who, against all odds, break through the oppressive concrete and pavers to stand tall, once again, with Country. </p>
<p>I also honour the same spirit in my elders and ancestors who have raised me to understand that it doesn’t matter how much concrete is laid down, Country is still here and is still nurturing and sheltering us, just as it always has been and always will be.</p>
<p>– Ngeeyinee dingan duruwan bata (May you always taste the sweetest fruit).</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Always was, always will be</h2>
<p>Foster reminds us no matter how much we build on Country, it has always been – and remains – vital to life and culture for local custodians.</p>
<p>More broadly, the atlas aims to show we can improve city life and the urban environment – just by how we interact with one another, and treat the plants, animals and insects around us.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/although-we-didnt-produce-these-problems-we-suffer-them-3-ways-you-can-help-in-naidocs-call-to-heal-country-163362">'Although we didn’t produce these problems, we suffer them': 3 ways you can help in NAIDOC's call to Heal Country</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="woman walks past verge garden" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452648/original/file-20220316-7879-1i6o3x4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=12%2C6%2C4013%2C3011&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/452648/original/file-20220316-7879-1i6o3x4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452648/original/file-20220316-7879-1i6o3x4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452648/original/file-20220316-7879-1i6o3x4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452648/original/file-20220316-7879-1i6o3x4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452648/original/file-20220316-7879-1i6o3x4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/452648/original/file-20220316-7879-1i6o3x4.jpeg?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">Small actions can improve city life and the urban environment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ilaria Vanni</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If this idea appeals to you, download a <a href="https://www.mappingedges.org/projects/the-green-square-atlas-of-civic-ecologies/">free copy of the atlas</a> and try these activities to help you “tune in” to your local area:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>find out whose Country are you on </p></li>
<li><p>save and exchange seeds from native plants and heirloom food varieties</p></li>
<li><p>get to know your local plant species, especially the endangered ones</p></li>
<li><p>make and maintain a verge garden</p></li>
<li><p>start or join a community garden</p></li>
<li><p>forage for wild foods, such as edible weeds</p></li>
<li><p>conserve water</p></li>
<li><p>create habitat for urban wildlife</p></li>
<li><p>spend time at nearby natural places such as ponds and parks</p></li>
<li><p>cut waste, to reduce pressure on city services and the planet</p></li>
<li><p>look for trees providing shelter on hot days.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>These small, slow actions help create connections to nature and place, and opportunities to meet and share with people in your community. These connections are vital to overcoming the downsides of urban renewal.</p>
<p>And as we remake urban places, we must remember: our neighbourhood always was, and always will be, unceded Aboriginal land.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/rosemary-in-roundabouts-lemons-over-the-fence-how-to-go-urban-foraging-safely-respectfully-and-cleverly-167883">Rosemary in roundabouts, lemons over the fence: how to go urban foraging safely, respectfully and cleverly</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179308/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shannon Foster is the founding partner and creative co-Director at bangawarra, Connecting with Country Spatial Design.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>The Green Square Atlas of Civic Ecologies was funded by the Council of the City of Sydney and supported by the University of Technology Sydney Climate, Society and Environment Research Centre (C-SERC).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>The Green Square Atlas of Civic Ecologies was funded by the Council of the City of Sydney and supported by the University of Technology Sydney Climate, Society and Environment Research Centre (C-SERC)
</span></em></p>Urban renewal can bring downsides as well as benefits. A new guide helps people connect more deeply with their suburbs.Shannon Foster, D'harawal Knowledge Keeper PhD Candidate and Lecturer UTS, University of Technology SydneyAlexandra Crosby, Associate Professor, School of Design, University of Technology SydneyIlaria Vanni, Associate Professor, International Studies and Global Societies, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1723932021-12-27T19:02:07Z2021-12-27T19:02:07ZTriumph of the mall: how Victor Gruen’s grand urban vision became our suburban shopping reality<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436231/original/file-20211207-140109-1jbz8gf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C21%2C4760%2C3516&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">GettyImages</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The holiday season is a time of merriment and joy, a time to gather with friends and family, when we’re encouraged to slow down and remember the simple things in life.</p>
<p>Ironically, it’s also when we spend hours in a car, driving to the mall for the sales and to spend those Christmas vouchers.</p>
<p>When it comes to mall irony, though, few people have felt it as profoundly as the “father of the suburban mall”, Victor Gruen, whose idealistic urban vision became the suburban reality we know today.</p>
<p>Gruen fled his native Vienna in 1938 after the rise of Nazism, eventually making his way to the United States. A trained architect, he was soon designing storefronts in New York. </p>
<p>But Gruen had a grander vision. He wanted to re-create in microcosm the walkable, diverse and liveable town centres he so loved in Vienna.</p>
<p>Part of his motivation was seeing how reliance on the automobile was affecting cities. In his classic book, <a href="https://archive.org/details/shoppingtownsusa00grue/mode/2up?view=theater&ui=embed&wrapper=false">Shopping Towns USA</a>, Gruen rails against the development of drive-by shopping centres focused on catering to passing motorists:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Suburban business real estate has often been evaluated on the basis of passing automobile traffic. This evaluation overlooks the fact that automobiles do not buy merchandise.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sZOZOH2RU1w?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>Driven to distraction</h2>
<p>Gruen was determined to get people out of, and away from, cars. He didn’t mince words in his dislike for automobiles, stating in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZOZOH2RU1w&ab_channel=guyjohn59">1964 speech</a> to the American Institute of Architects:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>One technological event has swamped us. That is the advent of the rubber-wheeled vehicle. The private car, the truck, the trailer as means of mass transportation. And their threat to human life and health is just as great as that of the exposed sewer.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>His first big attempt to get people out from behind the wheel and walking was Minnesota’s Southdale Center, hailed as the world’s first indoor shopping mall, part of an ambition to create a pedestrian-centred liveable community.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/amazon-and-tescos-checkout-free-stores-are-a-niche-idea-that-wont-save-the-high-street-173113">Amazon and Tesco's checkout-free stores are a niche idea that won't save the high street</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The original plan was for commerce to be broken up by numerous attractions like aviaries, fountains and works of art. The mall itself would be surrounded by residences, offices, medical facilities, schools and everything that made a community.</p>
<p>The mall was inward-looking, not to keep people focused on spending but to shelter pedestrians from cars and away from their fumes and noise.</p>
<p>Here’s the first painful irony, then. Rather than developing the new mixed-use centre envisioned by Gruen, the only thing built was the mall and car parks. The grand vision was reduced to a monoculture of big shopping brands surrounded by massive car parks, all accessible only by automobile.</p>
<p>What was meant as a refuge from the quickly dominating car culture instead became a shrine to automobilia.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436233/original/file-20211207-19-127pdex.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436233/original/file-20211207-19-127pdex.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436233/original/file-20211207-19-127pdex.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436233/original/file-20211207-19-127pdex.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436233/original/file-20211207-19-127pdex.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436233/original/file-20211207-19-127pdex.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436233/original/file-20211207-19-127pdex.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">Wanting to get people out of their cars, Gruen unintentionally gave them somewhere to drive to.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">GettyImages</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Triumph of commerce</h2>
<p>Irony struck again when many of Gruen’s original plans for interesting features in the mall were whittled away to make room for more stores and merchandise. As the original floor plan became more chaotic and stuffed with goods to buy, shoppers became confused, forgetting their intentions and dropping their spending inhibitions.</p>
<p>Developers and economists found that disorienting shoppers and presenting them with lots of things to buy resulted in much higher revenue. Though Gruen had planned for an efficient mall experience and despised the blatant money grab, the phenomenon was named after him. It’s now known as the <a href="https://gizmodo.com/the-cruel-irony-of-the-gruen-transfer-477602256">Gruen Transfer</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/burnout-by-design-warehouse-and-shipping-workers-pay-the-hidden-cost-of-the-holiday-season-172157">Burnout by design? Warehouse and shipping workers pay the hidden cost of the holiday season</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Gruen was disgusted by what suburban malls became and their impact on downtowns. He eventually disavowed malls and became involved in the US urban renewal movement to try to revitalise urban centres.</p>
<p>But he returned to the idea of the mall, creating a pedestrian-oriented redevelopment plan for Fort Worth, Texas, and several pedestrian-only corridors in cities across the US. By this time, Gruen had acquiesced to the idea that cars were likely the future for cities – most residents lived outside the CBD and needed to drive into downtowns. </p>
<p>His idea was to mitigate the impact of cars by planning for ring highways rather than bisecting dense urban developments with massive roads. He planned to use the highways in the way he’d first envisaged the mall, as a buffer between cars and people on foot.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436234/original/file-20211207-140267-dvwyjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436234/original/file-20211207-140267-dvwyjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436234/original/file-20211207-140267-dvwyjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436234/original/file-20211207-140267-dvwyjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436234/original/file-20211207-140267-dvwyjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436234/original/file-20211207-140267-dvwyjx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436234/original/file-20211207-140267-dvwyjx.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">Gruen was inspired by Vienna and ultimately returned there when his dreams were dashed in the US.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">GettyImages</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Return to Vienna</h2>
<p>Irony struck again. Gruen’s plans for Fort Worth were set aside. His plans to push cars out of downtowns largely failed. Urban renewal plans instead razed entire blocks of organic development for nondescript big-box stores and massive urban highways.</p>
<p>Worst yet, urban renewal became synonymous with the destruction of whole inner-city neighbourhoods to accommodate the car. Despite Gruen’s hopes and plans for the revitalisation of downtowns, many of the projects he was involved in led to a further decline in urban centres.</p>
<p>In 1964, Gruen lamented what had become of urban renewal, writing many cities:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>have misinterpreted the aims of urban renewal legislation by demolishing whole districts and by replacing lively environments, which could have been rehabilitated, with sterile, inhuman and poorly planned projects.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-high-streets-and-shopping-malls-face-a-domino-effect-from-major-store-closures-97263">How high streets and shopping malls face a 'domino effect' from major store closures</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Gruen perhaps saw the writing on the wall. His hopes of recreating Vienna had been dashed, so he returned to his hometown in the final decade of his life. Irony dealt him a final blow. Austria’s first and largest mall – Shopping City Süd – was already under construction just outside the old Vienna town centre.</p>
<p>While Gruen’s story is full of cruel twists, it’s not without the possibility of redemption. As malls across the globe die, many are being reborn as “<a href="https://theconversation.com/lifestyle-centers-reinvented-communities-or-dressed-up-shopping-malls-36752">lifestyle centres</a>”. These reimagined malls bring back the elements lost from Gruen’s original plans, adding people and services to once desolate shopping zones.</p>
<p>Alas, the impacts of recessions and a pandemic have slowed grand plans for mall revitalisation. So it remains to be seen whether, in the end, Gruen’s is a redemption story – or whether irony remains his legacy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172393/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Timothy Welch 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 you’re stuck in mall traffic this holiday season, spare a thought for Victor Gruen, whose grand urban vision turned into today’s suburban reality.Timothy Welch, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata RauLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1698222021-10-27T02:50:10Z2021-10-27T02:50:10ZCan artists revive dead city centres? Without long-term tenancies it’s window dressing<p>After 18 months of lockdown, the City of Melbourne is understandably anxious to get people back to the CBD and inner areas. Commercial vacancy rates are high, international student numbers have plummeted and the streets are dead. </p>
<p>The council’s $A2.6 million <a href="https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/news-and-media/Pages/Creatives-to-fill-shopfronts-and-bring-back-the-buzz.aspx">plan to provide</a> “creatives and entrepreneurs” with “flexible, short-term licence agreements” should, however, <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/empty-shops-an-opportunity-for-creative-revival-but-planning-is-key-20201022-p567im.html">ring alarm bells</a>. </p>
<p>You can’t just add instant culture to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1877916614000447">activate an area</a>. These kinds of efforts are not just exploitative, there is no evidence that they work. </p>
<p>Temporary use arrangements in Australia keep artists on the edge of being thrown out at any time. </p>
<p>As the council CEO Justin Hanney <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/one-in-five-cbd-shops-vacant-but-some-are-seizing-opportunity-20211019-p5915s.html">notes</a>, artists will have the space month-to-month and the properties can be “taken back by the landlords/owners at any point in time”. </p>
<p>Serious cultural producers will tell you one of the most important components of their ability to work is security of tenure.</p>
<p>Perhaps unwittingly, though, the shopfront program may hold promise. Economists predict the current <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/business/the-economy/short-term-pain-but-economists-predict-long-term-gain-for-melbourne-cbd-20211019-p5915h.html">economic slump</a> will persist for at least a year, meaning temporary users will likely be looking at a more meaningful time frame. </p>
<p>In addition, Lord Mayor Sally Capp’s <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/one-in-five-cbd-shops-vacant-but-some-are-seizing-opportunity-20211019-p5915s.html">extension of the program</a> to “performance, new retail pop-ups, entrepreneurial activities, even community radio stations” opens out the field.</p>
<p>The program is part of the joint state government and council <a href="https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/news-and-media/Pages/%24100-million-boost-to-Melbourne%E2%80%99s-reopening.aspx">A$100m recovery fund</a>, in addition to the state’s <a href="https://creative.vic.gov.au/news/2021/new-targeted-support-for-creative-workers-and-organisations">$A15 million package</a> to support the hard hit creative sector. </p>
<p>These are positive initiatives. In crisis there is opportunity. Now, let’s think about how best to use this opening. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-covid-all-but-killed-the-australian-cbd-147848">How COVID all but killed the Australian CBD</a>
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</em>
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<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427650/original/file-20211020-66011-1df64vw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="empty arcade in Melbourne's CBD" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427650/original/file-20211020-66011-1df64vw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/427650/original/file-20211020-66011-1df64vw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427650/original/file-20211020-66011-1df64vw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427650/original/file-20211020-66011-1df64vw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427650/original/file-20211020-66011-1df64vw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427650/original/file-20211020-66011-1df64vw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/427650/original/file-20211020-66011-1df64vw.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>
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<span class="caption">Melbourne’s streets emptied during the city’s lockdowns.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/melbourne-australia-12-april-2020-one-1702544935">Shutterstock.</a></span>
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<h2>What do artists actually need?</h2>
<p>Arts, music, performance and other cultural activities should be treated as neither saviours nor indicators of a city’s economic health. They exist in their own right, with many spin-off and flow-on effects for the city including associated anti-racist, anti-fascist, LGBTI+-welcoming, social, environmental and political activism. </p>
<p>The strength of a city’s cultural scene is not linked to its economic success. The exception is that the more successful the city becomes, the more the scene is at risk.</p>
<p>Some of the world’s best cultural scenes are in poorer cities: New Orleans, Chicago, Berlin. Some of the world’s best scenes that have since died were in cities that became rich: New York, London, Paris. In all of these cities, along with cities like Austin, Seattle, Brisbane and Melbourne, two key conditions existed for the seeds of those scenes to be sown. Plenty of space and cheap rent.</p>
<p>Cities known for their arts and cultural activity today make a point of supporting those scenes – such as in New Orleans with a stream of world famous festivals employing only local artists and paying them well – or still have land available for cultural use and cheap housing, such as in Chicago and Berlin.</p>
<p>But Berlin is changing rapidly. The city celebrated for its alternative scene is gentrifying, with vacancy rates shrinking and property prices and rents <a href="https://www.insidenetwork.com/the-berlin-real-estate-market-and-vacancy-rates/">increasing</a> (due more to the large tax incentives offered to companies to relocate to Germany’s capital than to any cultural activity). These trends place the scene <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2020/mar/15/club-closure-berlin-dance-east-west-germany-gentrification">under pressure</a>.</p>
<p>Cultural entrepreneurs are responding by <a href="https://www.holzmarkt.com/">buying their venues</a>, often with institutional assistance, before the land becomes too expensive. Housing activists are <a href="https://righttobuildtoolkit.org.uk/case-studies/spreefeld-genossenschaft-berlin/#">building their own co-ops</a>, and artists are campaigning effectively for <a href="https://www.themayor.eu/fr/a/view/hamburg-s-alliance-for-housing-is-here-to-fix-the-housing-crisis-8257?trans=en-US">more social housing</a>, <a href="https://www.thelocal.de/20210907/housing-is-a-human-right-rent-activists-step-up-pressure-ahead-of-german-elections">rent caps and freezes</a> and <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-09-23/berlin-referendum-targets-city-s-corporate-landlords">renationalisation</a> of private housing companies.</p>
<p>Most of these initiatives are aided by considerable financial or government support, with cultural producers and entrepreneurs recognised and respected members of civil society. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-help-artists-and-cultural-industries-recover-from-the-covid-19-disaster-149815">How to help artists and cultural industries recover from the COVID-19 disaster</a>
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<h2>What could Melbourne do?</h2>
<p>Melbourne’s large cultural scene has been fighting gentrification for decades. Organisations such as <a href="http://fairgo4livemusic.com/">Fair Go for Live Music</a>, <a href="https://www.bakehousestudios.com.au/slam">Save Live Australia’s Music</a> and most recently, <a href="https://www.saveourscene.com.au/">Save Our Scene</a> have clearly shown the threats from economic growth to local culture. Until very recently, government support has been sorely lacking. </p>
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<p>But in the current economic climate, with vacancy rates higher and property prices and rents lower than they have been for years in the inner-city and stricken CBD, a real opportunity exists to literally as well as metaphorically embed the scene in the city’s fabric. </p>
<p>Part of the $A100 million recovery fund should provide deposits and guarantees for artist and artist-collective purchases of inner-city property. That would take those places out of the market and secure a place for the arts for the long term. </p>
<p>The state government and council could broker secure, long-term leases for cultural producers, using influence and incentives to negotiate reasonable rentals that would give owners secure, long-term revenue streams. </p>
<p>They could help venues, performance spaces, galleries and cinemas to fully open up again. Permanent arts spaces could be secured in the <a href="https://www.nicholasbuilding.org.au/">Nicholas Building</a> – a hive of cultural production right on the doorstep of the Town Hall. </p>
<p>The Nicholas Building <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/oct/12/the-only-place-like-it-in-the-world-why-the-nicholas-building-is-the-creative-heart-of-melbourne">is on the market</a>, and artists fear they may lose it to development. Could it, instead, enter into public or collective ownership? </p>
<p>The pandemic-induced slump will pass and Australia’s cities will come to life again. They are stable and secure places to invest. Students will return, vacancies will decline and commercial and residential rents will increase, irrespective of the health of arts and culture.</p>
<p>Now is the time to act. If Melbourne’s state and city governments do not take the chance now to value what we are lucky to still have, we may lose it forever.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/169822/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Shaw has received funding from the Australian Research Council, the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services, and the ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin und Gerd Bucerius Gastwissenschaftsprogramm für Stadtforschung an der HCU (Fellows Program
for Urban Research at HafenCity University Hamburg) .</span></em></p>City centres have been hit hard by lockdown measures - but can artists and entrepreneurs really breathe life into the space?Kate Shaw, Honorary Senior Fellow, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1423812020-07-14T20:02:12Z2020-07-14T20:02:12Z‘Vertical cruise ships’? Here’s how we can remake housing towers to be safer and better places to live<p>After 3,000 people in nine public housing towers in Melbourne were <a href="https://theconversation.com/nine-melbourne-tower-blocks-put-into-hard-lockdown-what-does-it-mean-and-will-it-work-142033">placed under the harshest coronavirus lockdown</a> in Australia so far, acting Australian Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly referred to the towers on July 5 as “<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-06/why-melbourne-locked-down-public-towers-are-a-coronavirus-worry/12423934">vertical cruise ships</a>.” The statement was a reference to the danger of contagion in these overcrowded buildings. However, such terms play into a long, international history of vilifying public housing estates. </p>
<p>Legions of social housing towers, such as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/apr/22/pruitt-igoe-high-rise-urban-america-history-cities">Pruitt Igoe in St Louis</a> and the <a href="http://theprotocity.com/a-short-history-of-social-housing-in-glasgow/">Gorbals Public Housing Estate in Glasgow</a>, have been demolished since the early 1970s after being blamed for a wide range of social issues. But high density is not the problem. It is the way such buildings are designed, maintained and funded. </p>
<p>Blaming specific built forms distracts attention from <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-needs-to-triple-its-social-housing-by-2036-this-is-the-best-way-to-do-it-105960">decades of under-investment</a> in social housing. The result has been <a href="https://theconversation.com/focus-on-managing-social-housing-waiting-lists-is-failing-low-income-households-120675">tightly rationed</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/stimulus-that-retrofits-housing-can-reduce-energy-bills-and-inequity-too-138606">poorly insulated</a>, deteriorating and <a href="https://theconversation.com/overcrowding-and-affordability-stress-melbournes-covid-19-hotspots-are-also-housing-crisis-hotspots-141381">overcrowded</a> housing. Much of it is due for retrofitting or renewal.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/shh-dont-mention-the-public-housing-shortage-but-no-serious-action-on-homelessness-can-ignore-it-124875">Shh! Don't mention the public housing shortage. But no serious action on homelessness can ignore it</a>
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<p>In this article we discuss successful, safe and sustainable models of retrofitting social housing blocks.</p>
<h2>Are public housing towers obsolete?</h2>
<p>Most high-rise public housing estates across Melbourne (and indeed internationally) were built during the “<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/blueprintforliving/design-policy-stigma-lessons-from-golden-age-of-public-housing/7526844">golden age</a>” of public housing. This era began after the second world war and lasted until the 1970s. More than 60% of Victoria’s housing stock is<a href="https://www.audit.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/20170621-Public-Housing.pdf"> over 35 years old</a>. Much of it is in need of retrofit or renewal – it is impossible to ignore this looming requirement. </p>
<p>However, government responses thus far have been to allow the towers to <a href="https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/images/stories/committees/fcdc/inquiries/56th/ph/report/FCDC_PH_Report.pdf">quietly decay</a> or to demolish towers while transferring public land to private ownership with <a href="http://www.urbanalyst.com/in-the-news/victoria/1065-kensingtons-150m-public-housing-redevelopment-completed.html">nominal increases in social housing</a>. <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/research/ongoing/report-on-government-services/2020/housing-and-homelessness/housing">One in five</a> public housing tenants live in dwellings that do not meet acceptable standards in Australia. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-many-faces-of-social-housing-home-to-1-in-10-australians-133436">The many faces of social housing – home to 1 in 10 Australians</a>
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<h2>An alternative to demolition</h2>
<p>The Architects Journal of the United Kingdom is <a href="https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/introducing-retrofirst-a-new-aj-campaign-championing-reuse-in-the-built-environment/10044359.article">advocating retrofitting</a> of ageing housing stock because of its many social, economic and environmental benefits. We agree with this in many cases.</p>
<p>The substantial embodied energy in a salvageable building makes its destruction environmentally wasteful. Re-use also reduces the social displacement that occurs with demolition. And when the full cost of demolition is calculated, <a href="https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/socialpolicy/2019/10/16/beyond-bricks-and-mortar-housing-plus-and-the-wider-role-of-social-landlords-in-low-income-communities/">Anne Power</a> and others have shown retrofits are cost-effective. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-40301289">Grenfell Tower tragedy in 2017</a> put a spotlight on retrofit strategies. It exposed some of the broader tensions regarding repair and maintenance versus merely over-cladding to meet environmental targets or remove “eyesores” and <a href="https://theconversation.com/grenfell-tower-fire-tragedy-reveals-ugly-flaws-of-regeneration-agenda-79452">aid neighbourhood gentrification</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-still-live-here-public-housing-tenants-fight-for-their-place-in-the-city-107188">We still live here: public housing tenants fight for their place in the city</a>
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<h2>3 shining examples of retrofits</h2>
<p><strong>Grand Parc Bordeaux</strong></p>
<p><a href="https://www.dezeen.com/2019/05/08/mies-van-der-rohe-award-2019-winners/">Grand Parc Bordeaux</a> received the <a href="https://miesarch.com/work/3889">2019 Mies van der Rohe Award</a>, an annual European Union architecture prize. This transformation of three 1960s social housing blocks included the restoration and retrofitting of 530 apartments. </p>
<p>The project added deep winter gardens and open air balconies to the façade of each dwelling. Expansive glass sliding doors open from the apartments to the balconies. </p>
<p>Prefabrication of balcony modules enabled residents to stay in their apartments throughout construction. This approach avoided the large-scale displacement often associated with social housing renewal. The modules were crane-lifted into place, forming a free-standing structure in front of the housing block. </p>
<p>The retrofit also replaced lifts and renovated access halls. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mJiBScFcjUI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Grand Parc Bordeaux transformed an existing social housing block.</span></figcaption>
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<p><strong>DeFlat Kleiburg, Amsterdam</strong></p>
<p><a href="https://www.dezeen.com/2017/05/12/mies-van-der-rohe-award-nl-architects-xvw-architectuur-deflat-kleiburg-apartment-block-renovation-housing-estate-amsterdam-netherlands/">DeFlat Kleiburg</a> by NL Architects and XVW Architectuur won the <a href="https://miesarch.com/edition/2017">Mies van der Rohe Award in 2017</a>. This project is a retrofit of one of the largest housing blocks in the Netherlands, which was at risk of demolition. </p>
<p>The architects oversaw the refurbishment of the structure and communal areas. The project left an empty affordable shell for buyers to customise as they wished.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DfEc7dTlTU0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">DeFlat Kleiburg gave new life to a housing block that was facing demolition.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>Park Hill Estate, Sheffield</strong></p>
<p>In the United Kingdom, Sheffield City Council is undertaking a part-privatisation scheme with developer <a href="https://www.urbansplash.co.uk/blog/putting-on-her-new-frock-our-plans-for-park-hill-phase-2">Urban Splash</a> of the contentious <a href="https://www.archdaily.com/791939/ad-classics-park-hill-estate-sheffield-jack-lynn-ivor-smith">Park Hill Estate</a>. The late-1950s social housing blocks are being gutted to their concrete shells and new apartments developed within. </p>
<p>Architects Hawkins/Brown and urban designers Studio Egret West designed phase one. Mikhail Riches designed phase two, which is under way. </p>
<p>The project involves a significant change in tenure to a mix of one-third social to two-thirds private. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347022/original/file-20200713-30-1r800ke.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347022/original/file-20200713-30-1r800ke.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/347022/original/file-20200713-30-1r800ke.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347022/original/file-20200713-30-1r800ke.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347022/original/file-20200713-30-1r800ke.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347022/original/file-20200713-30-1r800ke.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347022/original/file-20200713-30-1r800ke.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/347022/original/file-20200713-30-1r800ke.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>
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<span class="caption">Park Hill Estate in Sheffield is being regenerated in stages.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/sheffield-uk-march-31-2019-construction-1368873893">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/public-housing-renewal-likely-to-drive-shift-to-private-renters-not-owners-in-sydney-133352">Public housing 'renewal' likely to drive shift to private renters, not owners, in Sydney</a>
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<h2>Public housing estates are part of a system</h2>
<p>The above examples reflect architectural approaches to preserving brutalist architecture. However, architecture is just one part of any social housing response. In Australia, any retrofit or redevelopment should aim to retain or increase the amount of social housing, given the <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/final-reports/315">huge shortfall</a>. </p>
<p>Vienna, Austria, has one of the most successful social housing systems in the world. <a href="http://habitat3.org/wp-content/uploads/Habitat_III_Country_Report_Austria_161011.pdf">Over 60% of the city’s population</a> live in social housing and have strong tenancy rights. Robust funding mechanisms supply and maintain access to affordable and high-quality housing. </p>
<p>The government funds about a quarter to a third of all housing in Vienna each year – <a href="http://www.housing-critical.com/home-page-1/privileged-but-challenged-the-state-of-social-h">up to 15,000 apartments a year</a>. Most subsidies are in the form of <a href="http://www.housing-critical.com/home-page-1/privileged-but-challenged-the-state-of-social-h">repayable, long-term, low-interest loans</a> to build new housing. The decade-long operation of the system means repaid loans can be used to finance new construction, decreasing the budgetary burden. </p>
<p>A developer competition process was <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/vienna-affordable-housing-paradise_n_5b4e0b12e4b0b15aba88c7b0?ri18n=true">introduced in the 1990s</a> to judge social housing bids. This means developers vie with each other to offer high-quality, energy-efficient homes. </p>
<p>For social housing to work, it must provide enough stock to meet housing needs. It must also receive enough funding to manage and maintain the housing. </p>
<p>Recent events have highlighted what multiple <a href="https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/images/stories/committees/fcdc/inquiries/56th/ph/report/FCDC_PH_Report.pdf">reports</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/voices-of-residents-missing-in-a-time-of-crisis-for-public-housing-93655">commentaries</a> and <a href="https://www.greenbans.net.au/">protest movements</a> have been saying for years: Australia’s ageing social housing stock requires immediate attention. Australians need much more new social housing.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-needs-to-triple-its-social-housing-by-2036-this-is-the-best-way-to-do-it-105960">Australia needs to triple its social housing by 2036. This is the best way to do it</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/142381/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katrina Raynor receives funding from the University of Melbourne's Hallmark Research Initiative for Affordable Housing. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alan Pert is Chair of The Hallmark Research Initiative for Affordable Housing at the University of Melbourne.
Alan Pert is also Chair of 'IBA Melbourne'</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Catherine Townsend receives funding from the University of Melbourne's Hallmark Research Initiative for Affordable Housing.</span></em></p>Much of our public housing stock is ageing and substandard. But we can learn from outstanding examples of retrofit projects that have transformed existing blocks into high-quality housing.Katrina Raynor, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Transforming Housing Project, The University of MelbourneAlan Pert, Professor in Architecture and Director, Melbourne School of Design, The University of MelbourneCatherine Townsend, PhD Candidate and Research Assistant, Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1333522020-07-07T19:51:43Z2020-07-07T19:51:43ZPublic housing ‘renewal’ likely to drive shift to private renters, not owners, in Sydney<p>A target of 70% private and 30% public dwellings is an accepted standard for public housing renewal projects in several Australian states. This level of private ownership is said to be necessary to counter stigma and the supposed demotivating impacts of concentrated disadvantage. When we looked at the impact of applying this <a href="https://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/development/strategic-plans-planning-controls/plans-policies-places-under-review/planning-proposal-request-waterloo-estate-south">model</a> to the planned Waterloo redevelopment in inner Sydney, the demographic projections were revealing. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-focus-of-stimulus-plans-has-to-be-construction-that-puts-social-housing-first-136519">Why the focus of stimulus plans has to be construction that puts social housing first</a>
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<p>Our <a href="https://www.sydney.edu.au/content/dam/corporate/documents/henry-halloran-trust/hht-social-mix-discussion-paper.pdf">analysis</a> shows the project would reduce the suburb’s proportion of social housing dwellings from 30% to about 17%. About 30% of households in the suburb would be owner-occupiers. Private renters might rise to more than 50% of households.</p>
<h2>Why set social mix targets?</h2>
<p>Social mix is often proposed as an antidote to a range of presumed problems associated with public housing estates. With the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-need-to-house-everyone-has-never-been-clearer-heres-a-2-step-strategy-to-get-it-done-137069">need</a> for a <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-focus-of-stimulus-plans-has-to-be-construction-that-puts-social-housing-first-136519">social housing stimulus package</a> receiving <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-lays-bare-5-big-housing-system-flaws-to-be-fixed-137162">attention</a>, and the Victorian government <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/victorian-government-undertakes-biggest-social-housing-spend-since-gfc-20200517-p54trk.html">announcing a A$500 million program</a>, it’s timely to revisit the mix of tenancies in estate redevelopments.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/class-divide-defies-social-mixing-and-keeps-public-housing-stigma-alive-81560">Class divide defies social mixing and keeps public housing stigma alive</a>
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<hr>
<p>State housing authorities favour a mix of public and private residential tenures when they redevelop large public housing estates. Authorities can then sell the majority of new dwellings to private owners and investors. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://theconversation.com/social-mix-in-housing-one-size-doesnt-fit-all-as-new-projects-show-80956">Kate Shaw</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/class-divide-defies-social-mixing-and-keeps-public-housing-stigma-alive-81560">Janet McCalman and Deborah Warr</a> have explained in The Conversation, the strategy doesn’t always work as promised. Drawing on extensive empirical research into mixed-tenure renewal neighbourhoods, the <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/book/6488/">evidence</a> shows simple mathematical “one size fits all” targets do not work. Decisions on the residential mix need to be sensitive to local settings and needs. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, an orthodoxy has emerged among some housing authorities that social housing tenants should make up 30% of households while 70% should be sold to owner-occupiers and investors.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/social-mix-in-housing-one-size-doesnt-fit-all-as-new-projects-show-80956">Social mix in housing? One size doesn't fit all, as new projects show</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The case of Waterloo</h2>
<p>In Waterloo, limitations of the fixed-ratio approach relate to the likely composition of the post-renewal resident population. </p>
<p>The Waterloo estate site now contains about 1,900 public housing units. The renewal plan proposes retaining this number in the context of a three-fold increase in dwellings with a 70:30 private-public tenure mix. This will result in a total of about 6,500 dwellings. </p>
<p>At the suburb or neighbourhood level, Waterloo had 6,151 dwellings in 2016. As the table below <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/">shows</a>, almost exactly 30% of these were let to social housing tenants.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335917/original/file-20200519-83393-1r3ikiz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335917/original/file-20200519-83393-1r3ikiz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335917/original/file-20200519-83393-1r3ikiz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335917/original/file-20200519-83393-1r3ikiz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335917/original/file-20200519-83393-1r3ikiz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335917/original/file-20200519-83393-1r3ikiz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335917/original/file-20200519-83393-1r3ikiz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335917/original/file-20200519-83393-1r3ikiz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=458&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Data: ABS Census 2016</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The table also shows the large variation in tenure mix across five Sydney suburbs and the Greater Sydney area. Some 44% of all dwelling stock in Waterloo was already rented privately. That’s almost 50% more than the Sydney-wide average of just under 30%.</p>
<p>Importantly, 63% of private dwellings in Waterloo are privately rented – double the Greater Sydney proportion. </p>
<p>Located close to three universities and the CBD, Waterloo is dominated by investor-owned rental housing. Future occupation is likely to follow this pattern. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-still-live-here-public-housing-tenants-fight-for-their-place-in-the-city-107188">We still live here: public housing tenants fight for their place in the city</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>More like 17% social housing</h2>
<p>State housing authorities measure tenure mix within public housing estates. But the <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/policy/ahuri-briefs/public-housing-renewal-and-social-mix">Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute</a> recommends measuring tenure mix at the neighbourhood scale. </p>
<p>Adding 4,500 new private households, while maintaining current social housing numbers, will reduce the proportion of social housing in the suburb of Waterloo to about 17%.</p>
<p>Projecting the current rate of renters in private dwellings onto the proposed 70:30 renewal mix might be expected to result in 63% of new private dwellings being privately rented. </p>
<p>The suburb would then comprise 52% private renters. Less than one-third of residents would be owner-occupiers. </p>
<p>The chart below <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/">shows</a> how applying the 70:30 target to redeveloping the public housing estate could actually reduce tenure diversity for Waterloo. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335920/original/file-20200519-83388-1vcuk6b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335920/original/file-20200519-83388-1vcuk6b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/335920/original/file-20200519-83388-1vcuk6b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335920/original/file-20200519-83388-1vcuk6b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335920/original/file-20200519-83388-1vcuk6b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335920/original/file-20200519-83388-1vcuk6b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335920/original/file-20200519-83388-1vcuk6b.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/335920/original/file-20200519-83388-1vcuk6b.png?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"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Data: ABS Census 2016</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/voices-of-residents-missing-in-a-time-of-crisis-for-public-housing-93655">Voices of residents missing in a time of crisis for public housing</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Many private renters struggle too</h2>
<p>The need for more social and affordable housing in well-serviced, inner-urban areas is <a href="https://cur.org.au/cms/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/understanding-the-assumptions-and-impacts-of-the-phrp-final-report-28-5-19.pdf">well recognised</a>. Getting the residential tenure mix right through renewal is key. </p>
<p>In the only <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/book/6488/">full-length book</a> on social mix in Australia, Kathy Arthurson notes social disadvantage occurs in both public and private rental housing. She <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=JHhZmYve5k4C&pg=PA1&dq=omission+of+private+rental+from+the+social+mix+literature+is+problematic&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjHmLT4177pAhXk7XMBHVxeCRoQ6AEIJzAA#v=onepage&q=omission%20of%20private%20rental%20from%20the%20social%20mix%20literature%20is%20problematic&f=false">writes</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The omission of private rental from the social mix literature is problematic, as in Australia and elsewhere most poor renters are in private rental and not in public housing.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/private-renters-are-doing-it-tough-in-outer-suburbs-of-sydney-and-melbourne-120427">Private renters are doing it tough in outer suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>A key element of the case for limiting social housing to 30% in redevelopment projects is the belief that any more would scare off potential private buyers and reduce developer returns. </p>
<p>However, an <a href="https://cur.org.au/cms/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/understanding-the-assumptions-and-impacts-of-the-phrp-final-report-28-5-19.pdf">RMIT evaluation</a> of the <a href="https://www.housing.vic.gov.au/public-housing-redevelopment">Victorian Public Housing Renewal Program</a> showed the presence of social housing had little effect on sales of private apartments in renewed inner-city public housing estates. </p>
<p>Another <a href="https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/images/stories/committees/SCLSI/Public_Housing_Renewal_Program/Kensington_estate_evaluation_Jan_2013.pdf">evaluation</a> of the Kensington renewal project in Carlton, Victoria, found strong investor sales but fewer owner-occupiers than anticipated.</p>
<h2>Key takeaways</h2>
<p>Recent research in <a href="https://cur.org.au/cms/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/understanding-the-assumptions-and-impacts-of-the-phrp-final-report-28-5-19.pdf">Melbourne</a> and <a href="https://www.sydney.edu.au/content/dam/corporate/documents/henry-halloran-trust/hht-social-mix-discussion-paper.pdf">Sydney</a> suggests the supposed benefits of social mix are based on owner-occupiers, not more transient private renters. </p>
<p>It also shows social mix renewals that apply a simplistic 70:30 target within a narrowly defined boundary around an “estate” risk seriously undervaluing large public housing assets.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/133352/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dallas Rogers recently received funding from The Henry Halloran Trust, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI), Urban Growth NSW/Landcom, University of Sydney, Western Sydney University, and Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Darcy has previously received funding from Australian Research Council and Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute. He is a member of the ALP. </span></em></p>Public housing renewal often aims for a 70:30 private-public mix of dwellings. Modelling shows applying this mix to Waterloo housing estate would cut the suburb’s social housing share from 30% to 17%.Dallas Rogers, Associate Dean, School of Architecture, Design and Planning, University of SydneyMichael Darcy, Adjunct Professor, School of Social Sciences, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1387422020-05-26T13:12:26Z2020-05-26T13:12:26ZLiverpool close to bankruptcy: how decades of stigma have pushed the city into financial ruin<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/337582/original/file-20200526-106848-cvwx7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C15%2C5099%2C3088&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/liverpooluk-august-28th-2018-homeless-tent-1182750481">Marbury/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Thanks in part to a rich cultural and sporting heritage Liverpool is an internationally renowned city. But the municipal authority has a <a href="https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/boris-johnson-will-look-liverpool-18234810?utm_source=sharebar&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=sharebar">£44 million (US$54m) funding black hole</a> and is on the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-52494414">brink of bankruptcy</a>. The city’s latest financial woes are a result of the coronavirus crisis, as the UK <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/may/10/the-guardian-view-on-municipal-england-the-great-betrayal">government backtracks</a> on promises of funding. </p>
<p>However, like the pattern of illness, the financial impact of the pandemic has not been evenly spread. It has amplified existing <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsinvolvingcovid19bylocalareasanddeprivation/deathsoccurringbetween1marchand17april">inequalities</a>, including in Liverpool, which has the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/835115/IoD2019_Statistical_Release.pdf">highest number of the most deprived areas</a> in the UK.</p>
<p>The disproportionate impact on Liverpool is the latest trial for the city, which has suffered repeated financial setbacks as a result of a long history of stigmatisation. My <a href="https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/sociology-social-policy-and-criminology/research/postgraduate-research-students/abigail-oconnor/">academic research</a> traces decades of stigma to explore how this affects urban deprivation and governance in Liverpool. </p>
<h2>History of stigma</h2>
<p>In the UK, Liverpool has long been portrayed as deviant and degenerate. The reporting of the <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/history/toxteths-toxic-legacy-liverpool-is-still-feeling-the-impact-of-the-toxteth-riots-2305044.html">1981 Toxteth riots</a> painted Liverpool as toxic and disorderly. This resurfaced in much media coverage of the Hillsborough disaster, which blamed Liverpudlians for the deaths of 96 innocent lives. This portrayal, not helped by the actions of the <a href="https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/hillsborough-devastating-failure-british-justice-17346617">criminal justice system</a> and UK governments, has left tangible scars in the city.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hillsborough-at-last-the-shameful-truth-is-out-58456">Hillsborough: at last, the shameful truth is out</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Such stereotypes have been coupled with degrading <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/223401832_The_Construction_of_Images_of_People_and_Place_Labelling_Liverpool_and_Stereotyping_Scousers">caricatures of the “scouser”</a> in TV and film, such as Harry Enfield’s infamous <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaccLMuLa7o">“calm down” sketch</a>. These portrayals determine understandings and treatment of the city today. </p>
<p>Liverpool is subject to what is known as a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/240641755_Territorial_Stigmatization_in_the_Age_of_Advanced_Marginality">“blemish of place”</a>. This means that vilification constructed by the media and in political and public life has resulted in real socio-economic decline. </p>
<h2>Political repercussions</h2>
<p>The reproduction of discrimination by government decision-makers has terrible consequences. Long-term stigmatisation can become a <a href="https://www.zedbooks.net/blog/posts/from-revolting-subjects-to-stigma-machines/">governing strategy</a>. Infamously, Margaret Thatcher’s administration advocated for the <a href="https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/the-leaving-of-liverpool/">managed decline of the city</a>. </p>
<p>This pattern has continued. Currently, ten of Liverpool’s 30 wards contain an area ranked among the most deprived 1% in England. Despite this, Liverpool has shouldered a <a href="https://www.centreforcities.org/press/austerity-hit-cities-twice-as-hard-as-the-rest-of-britain/">disproportionate level</a> of spending cuts enforced from central government. </p>
<p>Between 2010 and 2019, Liverpool’s budget <a href="https://liverpoolexpress.co.uk/liverpool-city-council-budget-factfile/">has been cut by 63%</a>. In real terms, this equates to more than £800 per household. This is compared to an increase in funding of more than £100 per household in Oxford, for example. While other cities such as Manchester and Nottingham have also experienced unequal distributions of cuts, Liverpool is substantially worse off.</p>
<p>These cuts have had <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/29/liverpool-northern-austerity-tory-cuts-council">significant impacts</a>. Liverpool has <a href="https://liverpoolexpress.co.uk/liverpool-city-council-budget-factfile/">suffered</a> more than 2,500 redundancies, a £350 million reduction in funding for educational programmes and a significant squeeze on social care and homelessness support. </p>
<h2>Turning to privatisation</h2>
<p>To cope with the desperate need for welfare provision among the city’s <a href="https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/support-for-liverpools-vulnerable-residents-at-risk-as-coronavirus-funding-falls-short-warns-mayor-66281">most vulnerable</a>, Liverpool’s leaders have been forced to embrace privatisation. The city has been seeking commercial investments, <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/austerity-local-council-sell-off-parks-public-buildings-funding-save-our-spaces-locality-a8404081.html">selling off assets</a> and outsourcing public services to private investors.</p>
<p>The failure of the controversial <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17255852">Housing Market Renewal</a> scheme is a case in point. The scheme saw working class communities moved out of their homes to allow for regeneration which never materialised, and left empty lots across the city. To remedy mass dereliction, Liverpool council sold vacant houses to owner-occupiers for <a href="https://liverpool.gov.uk/housing/homes-for-a-pound/">£1</a>. As further funding reductions gripped the city, streets remained abandoned, before being <a href="http://theflanagangroup.com/commercial-projects/flanagan-major-projects/tunstall-street/">possessed</a> by private investors to rent for profit. </p>
<p>The protection of public services has been largely replaced by an emphasis on the need to invest in productive capital, which promises to rescue the city from long-term decline. For example, council-led use of compulsory purchase orders in Anfield made way for Liverpool Football Club’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/gallery/2013/may/07/anfield-liverpool-in-pictures">stadium expansion</a>. This prioritisation of economic revival resulted in the uprooting of long-standing <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/david-conn-inside-sport-blog/2013/may/06/anfield-liverpool-david-conn">communities</a>. It was justified by the need to re-brand and renew another area left to decline by the Housing Market Renewal scheme.</p>
<p>The position of the city council has become clear. It has been managed into decline like a failing business by central government policy. It is at the mercy of private financial gains and now a global pandemic, to the continuing detriment of its people.</p>
<p>Liverpool cannot hope that the current government is free from the influence of its historic stigma. Boris Johnson, the UK prime minister, published an article when he was editor of The Spectator magazine that claimed that the city had an “excessive predilection for <a href="https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/bigley-s-fate">welfarism and victim status</a>”.</p>
<p>The council’s reserves were almost exhausted even before the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic. Now, as the city battles high rates of coronavirus infection, sustaining financial cuts risks further deaths as the council <a href="https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/support-for-liverpools-vulnerable-residents-at-risk-as-coronavirus-funding-falls-short-warns-mayor-66281">must choose</a> which vulnerable groups to support.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/138742/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Abi O'Connor receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council. </span></em></p>The city’s latest financial woes are a result of the coronavirus crisis.Abi O'Connor, PhD Researcher, University of LiverpoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1309192020-02-26T15:54:33Z2020-02-26T15:54:33ZGrassroots projects make urban sustainability a way of life<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316216/original/file-20200219-11000-mn6ki1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C11%2C3840%2C2144&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/community-smiling-multiethic-men-women-standing-1081282487">FrameStockFootages/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Urban grassroots initiatives do vital work raising awareness and taking action on sustainability issues. Run largely by volunteers, they fill important gaps left by the public and private sectors, addressing specific local concerns, empowering individuals and enabling community voices to be heard. But these groups can be limited by time pressures on volunteers, a low level of influence with local government and difficulties in public engagement and enlisting diverse members. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.westminster.ac.uk/news/westminster-research-project-london-soundings-showcases-sustainability-community-projects-across">research project</a>, London Soundings: London Creative Communities Towards Sustainability, is documenting the efforts of grassroots projects to promote sustainable living across London. We have investigated how a variety of groups has sought to solve problems that government fails to address, as well as the hurdles they face on the way. </p>
<p>The initiatives these groups are working on include climate change, <a href="https://plasticfreehackney.com/">environmental quality</a>, gender equality, <a href="https://www.growingcommunities.org/">sustainable local food</a>, local craft economies, recycling, <a href="https://gcda.coop/selce/">energy</a>, and <a href="https://sustainablehackney.org.uk/profiles/blogs/education-for-sustainability-efs">sustainable education</a>. </p>
<p>Neighbourhood grassroots groups battle to <a href="https://www.loughboroughjunction.org/stop-the-loughborough-junction-towers">preserve local identity</a>, <a href="https://www.walworthsociety.co.uk/post/walworth-society-february-meeting-plus-other-news">heritage</a>, and <a href="https://voice4deptford.org/">affordable housing</a>. They scrutinise <a href="https://www.peckhamvision.org/wiki/Planning#January_2019_London_Plan_EiP">planning permissions</a> and keep residents informed. </p>
<p>One example is <a href="https://deptfordaction.org.uk/">Deptford Neighbourhood Action</a> which represents a community located in a historic area on the banks of the Thames in south-east London. The group allows locals to have a voice on development designs and the provision of affordable homes, as well as developing their <a href="https://deptfordaction.org.uk/draftplan/deptford-neighbourhood-plan/">own policies</a>. These are outlined in a <a href="https://deptfordaction.org.uk/draftplan/">Neighbourhood Plan</a>, created currently under consultation. The right to create a Neighbourhood Plan, with input from the local planning authority, was brought in by the 2011 Localism Act. </p>
<h2>Preserving heritage</h2>
<p>The Neighbourhood Plan aims to promote the creation and preservation of affordable homes in the area. It also focuses improving local social, economic and environmental wellbeing, preserving historical places and memories and empowering communities living and working in the area. Proposed community projects include an annual survey of health and wellbeing in Deptford, a heritage trail and cycling route, the installation of air quality monitoring systems and a recycling incentive scheme. </p>
<p>The case of Deptford also demonstrates the limits of community action. Deptford Neighbourhood Action was involved in a <a href="https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/16606512.occupation-of-old-tidemill-wildlife-garden-continues-despite-council-order/">long campaign</a> to save the Old Tidemill wildlife garden from development. In 2019 the garden <a href="https://www.londonnewsonline.co.uk/land-regeneration-project-starts-at-the-old-tidemill-garden-in-deptford/">was demolished</a>, making way for 209 new homes. The loss devastated the local community.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317317/original/file-20200226-24701-c078ab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317317/original/file-20200226-24701-c078ab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317317/original/file-20200226-24701-c078ab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317317/original/file-20200226-24701-c078ab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317317/original/file-20200226-24701-c078ab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317317/original/file-20200226-24701-c078ab.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317317/original/file-20200226-24701-c078ab.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">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Deptford Neighbourhood Action community meeting.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">M.Tchapi</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In north-east London, the community group <a href="https://sustainablehackney.org.uk/">Sustainable Hackney</a> supports and coordinates local grassroots projects and has been pushing for increased sustainability in the borough since 2011. According to James Diamond, long-term environmental activist and Sustainable Hackney member: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s about community and personal relationships, in order to build a higher level of trust. It’s about how people can bring their skills together to respond to a local need in a way they couldn’t do individually. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Ongoing projects include <a href="https://sustainablehackney.org.uk/hackney-fixers">Hackney Fixers</a>, a group of volunteers who mend electronic items to stop them going to landfill, while the <a href="https://sustainablehackney.org.uk/work/hackney-food-partnership">Hackney Food Partnership</a> promotes local food growing and sustainable eating as well as attempting to tackle food poverty. </p>
<p>Hackney Council recently made a declaration on the <a href="https://hackney.gov.uk/climate-emergency-declaration">climate emergency</a>. Sustainable Hackney has coordinated a <a href="https://sustainablehackney.org.uk/profiles/blogs/community-response-to-hackney-s-climate-emergency-declaration">community response</a> with the aim of creating a dialogue between the council and local people involved in sustainability projects. </p>
<h2>A community voice</h2>
<p>Sustainable Hackney is well known by other grassroots organisations in the area and members are involved in several causes and groups. But it is difficult to assess the impact of their actions. When asked, some members have reservations about their council’s consideration of their demands or the real impact of their enduring initiatives. All of them are committed to continuing their actions and are convinced of the need to be consistently present in the local debate. </p>
<p>Grassroots networks such as those features in our London Soundings project can make a significant difference by communicating with local authorities on behalf of local people. But the reception by <a href="https://justspace.org.uk/hearings-eip-2019/">city governance</a> and <a href="http://www.civicvoice.org.uk/uploads/files/Manifesto_FINAL_Screen_version.pdf">local authorities</a> can be uneven. In most of the cases, we found that strong and continuing commitment in borough affairs is critical. </p>
<p>Community groups work on a voluntary basis and suffer from limited capacity. Their members can be overwhelmed by the work to be done and the expertise needed to do it. It is a constant effort to bring people together. </p>
<p>Community groups are also hampered by <a href="https://www.tcpa.org.uk/Handlers/Download.ashx?IDMF=a74198b6-39fe-4378-86e1-f1fdf3b9dd8e">inequalities</a> caused by factors such as poverty, age and gender, which can limit the diversity of the people getting involved. They can also struggle to reach a large audience. All these concerns are shared and acknowledged by many grassroots organisations. </p>
<p>This is where other institutions such as <a href="https://justspacelondon.files.wordpress.com/2019/10/justspaceucl_final-23-oct2019.pdf">universities</a> and local councils can help, providing specific expertise and funding where needed. External organisations can facilitate exchanges between different communities, including ethnic minorities and those of lower income. For instance, many groups would benefit from having social impact assessments conducted. Measures like this can hardly rely on the efforts of volunteers. </p>
<p>Campaigning for sustainability is not the responsibility of individuals and local groups alone. The government, the private sector and charities contribute in important ways. They can engage with different audiences, provide small amounts of funding and echo grassroots projects’ demands on a larger stage. On the other hand, they can create conditions that can counter local activities and sustainability more generally – for instance, <a href="https://savelatinvillage.org.uk/">traditional markets</a>, which are important for local economy and cultural diversity, are threatened by development projects which have the backing of local authorities.</p>
<p>These complexities and contradictions form the backdrop against which local activist groups strive to make sustainability a pillar of urban life.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130919/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tchapi Mireille works for the University of Westminster as a researcher and is member of the steering groups from Sustainable Hackney and Deptford Neighbourhood Action organizations.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Neuman works for the University of Westminster as a Professor. Received £5,000 to help initiate this project in 2017 from the Arts Council England as a small part of (seed money) a larger nation-wide grant for Museum-University Partnerships Initiative.</span></em></p>Community projects play a vital role in city life.Mireille Tchapi, Research fellow Sustainable Urbanism, University of WestminsterMichael Neuman, Professor of Sustainable Urbanism, University of WestminsterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1270172019-12-16T19:03:03Z2019-12-16T19:03:03ZAustralian cities pay the price for blocking council input to projects that shape them<p>National, state and city governments aspire to increase prosperity through globally competitive and more liveable cities. Through “world class” infrastructure, buildings and public spaces they aim to increase a city’s competitive advantage in attracting investment and talent. <a href="http://www.pmjournal-digital.com/pmjournal/december_2017___january_2018/MobilePagedArticle.action?articleId=1244171#articleId1244171">Research</a> shows city governments, not states, nearly always deliver these projects overseas. The controversies in the Australian examples are largely the result of excluding local government.</p>
<p>Globally, mixed-use megaprojects have increasingly been seen as vehicles to make cities competitive as well as responding to local transport and housing issues. <a href="http://www.pmjournal-digital.com/pmjournal/december_2017___january_2018/MobilePagedArticle.action?articleId=1244171#articleId1244171">My research</a> for a forthcoming book, Mixed-Use Megaprojects and the Competition for Capital, examines such projects on government land in Sydney, Melbourne, New York and Copenhagen. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/all-the-signs-point-to-our-big-cities-need-for-democratic-metro-scale-governance-92417">All the signs point to our big cities' need for democratic, metro-scale governance</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What do Australian cities do differently?</h2>
<p>The research examined projects in terms of governance, narrative, urban form, connectivity and public benefit. The findings underscore the argument that <a href="https://www.sgsep.com.au/publications/whats-new/sgs-contributes-to-important-new-book-on-metropolitan-governance">state governments lack the structural capacity or nimbleness</a> to manage the subtle interplay of various place-based programs necessary to coordinate enablers of modern competitiveness.</p>
<p>Compared to developments overseas, the Australian examples have several things in common:</p>
<ul>
<li>more property industry influence</li>
<li>less strategic coordination with other land assets and transport projects</li>
<li>less public benefit outcomes</li>
<li>less commitment to legislated planning frameworks</li>
<li>less engagement with local knowledge.</li>
</ul>
<p>The Barangaroo development in Sydney is perhaps the archetype of these patterns.</p>
<p>Despite much <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/barangaroo-4255">controversy over Barangaroo</a>, one thing can be agreed. The poor relationship between the city and state governments has contributed to a loss of trust in planning. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/barangaroo-the-loss-of-trust-10676">Barangaroo: the loss of trust?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Excluding the city is not good policy</h2>
<p>Firstly, this is a skills mistake. The city council has sophisticated capabilities and consistent place-based planning, design and approvals processes. These have been developed over decades. </p>
<p>The city also has established consultation processes and deep experience dealing with a range of stakeholders involved in inner-city development. </p>
<p>When the state intervenes to deliver a project and excludes the city, these processes and their advantages disappear.</p>
<p>Secondly, this is a political mistake. A sophisticated enemy is created that has working relationships with local stakeholders and constituents. With decades of planning work and expert knowledge disregarded, city governments are compelled to scrutinise the process and criticise the state from the sideline. </p>
<p>The City of Sydney appears to be winning the political, if not material, battle of Barangaroo. The <a href="https://meetings.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=118">lord mayor</a> has outlasted seven state premiers in the project’s lifetime along with numerous measures intended to reduce lord mayoral efficacy. </p>
<p>But the battle is the problem and it’s sure to continue under current patterns of (non)rules. Consider the following examples.</p>
<p>The minister for planning is <a href="https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20110817021058/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/142226/20130814-1220/www.barangaroo.com/media/43967/barangaroo+review+final+report+31+july+2011+compressed.pdf">free to make major changes to the plan without reference to any process</a>. This includes approving the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/sep/30/the-rise-and-rise-of-barangaroo-how-a-monster-development-on-sydney-harbour-just-kept-on-getting-bigger">hotel-in-the-harbour</a> proposal even though it contravened state planning policy. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/barangaroo-development-interests-counter-the-public-interest-10837">Barangaroo: Development interests counter the public interest</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This ministerial power makes projects highly sensitive to political fluctuations. <a href="https://theconversation.com/all-the-signs-point-to-our-big-cities-need-for-democratic-metro-scale-governance-92417">Longer-term planning objectives</a> can be destabilised as a result.</p>
<p>The unsolicited proposal process has been another trust-breaker. Traditionally, government established the need for infrastructure within a metropolitan plan. It would call for tenders from the private sector, then evaluated those tenders in a competitive process. Now private sector participants are encouraged to approach government with development “ideas”. </p>
<p>A prime example <a href="https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/researchpapers/Documents/unsolicited-proposals/unsolicited%20proposals.pdf">involves the Crown Casino complex</a> at Barangaroo. This proposal required major changes to the approved plan. It more than doubled the allowable floor space of the previous hotel-in-the-harbour proposal it had been encouraged to replace <a href="https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20110817021058/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/142226/20130814-1220/www.barangaroo.com/media/43967/barangaroo+review+final+report+31+july+2011+compressed.pdf">to restore trust in planning</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/market-led-infrastructure-may-sound-good-but-not-if-it-short-changes-the-public-127603">Market-led infrastructure may sound good but not if it short-changes the public</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What might city involvement look like?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/copenhagen-port-development/">Copenhagen City & Port Development Corporation</a> is an arm’s length delivery authority, owned 95% by Copenhagen municipality and 5% by the state. It is responsible for delivering a number of mixed-use megaprojects. </p>
<p>As with all city areas, Copenhagen municipality develops the “<a href="https://www.kk.dk/artikel/lokalplaner-trin-trin">Lokalplan</a>” for precincts under standard processes and approves individual buildings and public spaces. <a href="https://byoghavn.dk/nordhavn/">North Harbour</a> has been delivered as adopted in 2009.</p>
<p>In New York, a private developer has delivered the Hudson Yards project above state railyards under the city’s standard planning process (<a href="https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/applicants/applicant-portal/lur.pdf">ULURP</a>). The state’s involvement is limited to the air rights lease. </p>
<p>This did not protect the Hudson Yards project from criticism. Nevertheless, it went through the lengthy standard consultative process and has been delivered according to the rezoning since 2005.</p>
<p>As an aside, the city governments of both European and US cases have adopted mandatory affordable housing laws. They are now delivering 25% in their megaprojects. </p>
<p>As an indulgence, let’s say we were in Copenhagen or New York. The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/sep/30/the-rise-and-rise-of-barangaroo-how-a-monster-development-on-sydney-harbour-just-kept-on-getting-bigger">casino complex, hotel-in-the-harbour, or doubling of the site’s floorspace</a> would require revisiting the city’s Lokalplan or ULURP. This process would include public review and approvals by multiple city government agencies. In Sydney, one person, the state minister, decides on major changes to the plan.</p>
<p>This research shows the approaches needed to improve city competitiveness and fairness tend to be done better by city governments than by state governments. Yet in Australia the state has absolute control of these complex, city-based projects. Whether as part of a <a href="https://theconversation.com/metropolitan-governance-is-the-missing-link-in-australias-reform-agenda-55872">new metropolitan sphere of governance</a> or not, it is time to empower local city governments in the transformation of our cities.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/metropolitan-governance-is-the-missing-link-in-australias-reform-agenda-55872">Metropolitan governance is the missing link in Australia's reform agenda</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/127017/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mike Harris 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>Overseas, city-shaping mega-projects are generally overseen by local government, but in Australia state governments often step in and exclude council and community representatives from the process.Mike Harris, Lecturer in Landscape Architecture and Urban Design, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1269272019-12-01T18:59:10Z2019-12-01T18:59:10ZComeback city? Lessons from revitalising a diverse place like Dandenong<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301985/original/file-20191115-66953-egwvm9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C97%2C3264%2C2203&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Greater Dandenong Civic Centre was completed in 2014 with new council chambers, a library and Harmony Square.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo: Hayley Henderson</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the 1990s, central Dandenong in Melbourne’s southeast was in decline. But, over the past decade and a half, this trend has been halted and in some areas reversed. Our <a href="https://sustainable.unimelb.edu.au/research/research-projects/collaborative-governance-under-austerity">research</a> has identified key elements in this revitalisation, including strong roles for both public sector and non-government participants. </p>
<p>Importantly, the approach has delivered new opportunities for the culturally diverse local community.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/kebab-urbanism-melbournes-other-cafe-makes-the-city-a-more-human-place-112228">Kebab urbanism: Melbourne's 'other' cafe makes the city a more human place</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>At the time these efforts began, a shrinking manufacturing sector and poor urban planning decisions had drained vitality from the centre. New shopping malls and suburban estates enticed people to live and shop elsewhere. Public spaces were dilapidated. Many retail buildings were vacant. </p>
<p>Unsurprisingly, local population levels were stagnating. Affordable rents and a community with strong networks of support attracted some new residents, most from <a href="https://www.communityprofile.com.au/greaterdandenong/">culturally and linguistically diverse</a> backgrounds. However, once settled, many people faced barriers to employment, training and adequate public facilities.</p>
<h2>Who is behind the project?</h2>
<p>The Victorian government and the City of Greater Dandenong were keen to reverse these trends. They wanted to reinstate the neighbourhood as Melbourne’s second-most-important urban centre. The state government funded the <a href="https://www.development.vic.gov.au/projects/revitalising-central-dandenong">Revitalising Central Dandenong</a> project from 2006. </p>
<p>Since then, and particularly since 2011, the process has also been propelled by local government action and the coordinated efforts of local leaders. They represent business, education, faith communities and social services. These interlinked activities across sectors have arguably been effective in kick-starting the project. </p>
<p>However, some important shortcomings have limited the potential for revitalisation. In particular, the benefits have not reached all of the community.</p>
<p>For example, many female migrants have not had access to suitable employment opportunities. Services are lacking for some marginalised community members, including asylum seekers. </p>
<p>Other concerns include persistent barriers to retail activation (including rising rents and parking costs), emergent threats of gentrification and a lack of major private investment in residential and office development.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://sustainable.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/3227267/Dandenong_final_web_26112019.pdf">research briefing</a> explains our findings in detail, including some of these problems.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-creatives-are-remaking-canberras-city-centre-but-at-a-social-cost-97322">New creatives are remaking Canberra's city centre, but at a social cost</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303151/original/file-20191122-74580-1dgrwou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303151/original/file-20191122-74580-1dgrwou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303151/original/file-20191122-74580-1dgrwou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303151/original/file-20191122-74580-1dgrwou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303151/original/file-20191122-74580-1dgrwou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303151/original/file-20191122-74580-1dgrwou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303151/original/file-20191122-74580-1dgrwou.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">The development of central Dandenong is continuing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo: Hayley Henderson</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What are the key elements that work?</h2>
<p><strong>1. A commitment to redistributive policy</strong></p>
<p>A significant one-off Victorian government investment of <a href="https://www.development.vic.gov.au/projects/revitalising-central-dandenong">A$290 million</a> was the cornerstone of the project, and it has been carefully designed. Experienced professionals appointed to the government development agency, then known as <a href="https://www.thefifthestate.com.au/articles/vicurban-is-now-places-victoria/">VicUrban</a>, crafted the program.</p>
<p>The early focus was on catalyst projects and the removal of roadblocks to the considered development to follow. These actions included:</p>
<ul>
<li>special zoning</li>
<li>transferring planning powers to the state government</li>
<li>acquiring about 150 sites for reconfiguration and development. </li>
</ul>
<p>Given the entrenched decline, revitalisation was unlikely to occur without significant public commitment. </p>
<p>Following the state government’s energetic program start, the local government has taken the reins since 2011. The council gave priority to revitalising works in the centre (see the table of major project spending below) and to covering gaps in the original strategy. This included a housing strategy in response to emerging gentrification. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303601/original/file-20191125-74584-1bqh99m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303601/original/file-20191125-74584-1bqh99m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303601/original/file-20191125-74584-1bqh99m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303601/original/file-20191125-74584-1bqh99m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303601/original/file-20191125-74584-1bqh99m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303601/original/file-20191125-74584-1bqh99m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303601/original/file-20191125-74584-1bqh99m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303601/original/file-20191125-74584-1bqh99m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Data source: City of Greater Dandenong annual reports, 1999-2016</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Because macro-policy in urban planning often fluctuates, local communities cannot depend on secure, long-term funding for discretionary renewal projects. To achieve revitalisation through redistribution, local government leadership is vital for maintaining focus on one area over others. </p>
<p>Refined skills in urban planning strategy and financial management have also been indispensable to the project.</p>
<p><strong>2. Strong local networks</strong></p>
<p>The public program was enhanced because community leaders already knew each other and were predisposed to work together. They ranged from education providers (such as Chisholm TAFE and Deakin University) and faith groups (such as Interfaith Network) to trade associations (such as South East Melbourne Manufacturers Alliance) and private sector groups (such as the Committee for Dandenong). These groups worked both together with and separately from the publicly funded program.</p>
<p>Active and organised local leaders provided vital input on strategy design, partnered or led delivery of specific initiatives and put their organisations to work on gaps in the program. They also powerfully advocated for governments to remain focused on revitalisation.</p>
<p>Overall, these strong local networks enabled smoother policy development and delivery. Having an organised and receptive community to engage with was important. </p>
<p>Our research underscores the value of acknowledging the effectiveness of existing local strategies and community capacities. It highlights the need to work collaboratively. This includes a focus on the “soft side” of practice – that is, building relationships. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/create-to-regenerate-cities-tap-into-talent-for-urban-renewal-63992">Create to regenerate: cities tap into talent for urban renewal</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>3. A focus on pluralism</strong></p>
<p>Enhanced opportunities have been created for many culturally and linguistically diverse communities. How so? </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Policies generally support cultural pluralism, as diversity is accommodated and promoted.</p></li>
<li><p>Affordability across diverse housing types has been maintained. This supports social mixing between people and a place identity based on cultural diversity. </p></li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Diversity in housing types in Dandenong and Greater Melbourne</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303397/original/file-20191125-74572-25iy13.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303397/original/file-20191125-74572-25iy13.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303397/original/file-20191125-74572-25iy13.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303397/original/file-20191125-74572-25iy13.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303397/original/file-20191125-74572-25iy13.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303397/original/file-20191125-74572-25iy13.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303397/original/file-20191125-74572-25iy13.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303397/original/file-20191125-74572-25iy13.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Changes in housing diversity in Dandenong and Melbourne (% houses versus units/terraces), 2001-2016.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Source: developed from ABS Census data 2001, 2006, 2011 & 2016</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<ol>
<li>The well-curated mix of land uses in the centre brings in many people and activates public spaces. This approach supports safety, casual encounters and understanding between people. </li>
</ol>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304030/original/file-20191127-112539-1hf8ov.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/304030/original/file-20191127-112539-1hf8ov.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304030/original/file-20191127-112539-1hf8ov.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304030/original/file-20191127-112539-1hf8ov.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304030/original/file-20191127-112539-1hf8ov.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304030/original/file-20191127-112539-1hf8ov.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/304030/original/file-20191127-112539-1hf8ov.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">Dandenong Market has been refurbished by the City of Greater Dandenong.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo take by Hayley Henderson</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<ol>
<li><p>We found some local services also provided opportunities for people to make lasting connections – for example, language courses run by churches and neighbourhood houses.</p></li>
<li><p>Many migrants took up local education, training and employment opportunities (with some important exceptions, especially female migrants).</p></li>
</ol>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/when-neighbourhoods-become-dangerous-look-to-local-strengths-for-a-lifeline-94418">When neighbourhoods become dangerous, look to local strengths for a lifeline</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Our forthcoming analysis on <a href="https://www.policyforum.net/">Policy Forum</a> further explains the ethic of cultural pluralism in policy and society. </p>
<p>Overall, urban centres cannot avoid fallout from broader economic restructuring, nor are they immune to poor strategic planning decisions or funding cuts that affect their prospects. Central Dandenong shows revitalisation can occur despite significant disadvantage. It has been achieved through a combination of public sector leadership and an interconnected and active local community.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126927/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors received funding to conduct this research from the Economic and Social Research Council, UK under Grant (Ref: ES/L012898/1)—Collaborative Governance Under Austerity: An Eight-Case Comparative Study.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brendan Gleeson receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Helen Sullivan receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>A major investment in renewing the urban centre of Dandenong is starting to pay dividends. But while research has found three keys to success, the benefits haven’t reached everyone.Hayley Henderson, Postdoctoral fellow, Australian National UniversityBrendan Gleeson, Director, Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, The University of MelbourneHelen Sullivan, Professor and Director, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1223042019-08-28T13:16:22Z2019-08-28T13:16:22ZSkateboarding’s DIY ethos is kick-starting a new wave of urban regeneration<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289884/original/file-20190828-184240-iq5qal.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2703%2C1713&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Grinding for Nottingham. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Joe Walchester. </span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In less than a year, skateboarding will make its debut in the Olympic Games in Tokyo. It’s an international sport with <a href="https://theconversation.com/skateboarding-defies-the-neoliberal-logic-of-the-city-by-making-it-a-playground-for-all-110552">an estimated 50m participants</a> – but, more than that, skateboarding’s DIY ethos and strong ties with art, music and the built environment make it an unlikely asset for cities. </p>
<p>In the past, skateboarding was seen as an antisocial activity: <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/street-skaters-may-find-their-latest-moves-land-them-in-court-but-they-are-fighting-back-10432783.html">a swath of by-laws</a> imposed restrictions in cities across the UK – including in my own city of Nottingham, where it was banned in 2000. But today, a growing body of evidence shows that skateboarding can help attract investment, reclaim public spaces and create resilient communities. And nowhere has this transformation been clearer than in Nottingham.</p>
<p>A bumpy recovery from the 2008 recession has revealed weaknesses in the way cities such as Nottingham seek to grow and develop. In a <a href="https://www.ntu.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0040/787792/Laying-Foundations-of-a-Good-Work-City-Report.pdf">recent study on job quality</a>, my colleagues and I found that Nottingham has the lowest household income in the UK, while residents reported significantly lower well-being – despite being a relatively large economy in terms of output per capita. </p>
<p>Further research from <a href="http://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/27438/">2014</a> and <a href="http://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/28009/">2016</a> found Nottingham performed poorly according to traditional measures of development. But it also discovered a network of assets overlooked by the official statistics, including value produced by the city’s booming music and art scenes, a richly varied built environment and an array of voluntary and third sector activity in some of its most disadvantaged wards. </p>
<p>Skateboarding is fast becoming one such asset. In less than a year, Nottingham’s skaters have taken their indoor park into community ownership, helped bring almost £500,000 of capital investment into the public realm and successfully delivered the UK’s first citywide <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-49128996">international skateboarding festival</a>. And Nottingham is not the only city that is benefiting from embracing skateboarding.</p>
<h2>Pushing boarders</h2>
<p>At <a href="https://www.pushingboarders.com/">Pushing Boarders</a> – the world’s first international academic conference on skateboarding, held this year in Malmö, Sweden – skaters and experts from the US, Canada, Europe and Australia came together in a special workshop on cities. We explored the positive changes skateboarding can bring about – from improving the lives of young people to creating better designed spaces and more inclusive decision-making. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289885/original/file-20190828-184192-3kklj4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289885/original/file-20190828-184192-3kklj4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=792&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289885/original/file-20190828-184192-3kklj4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=792&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289885/original/file-20190828-184192-3kklj4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=792&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289885/original/file-20190828-184192-3kklj4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=995&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289885/original/file-20190828-184192-3kklj4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=995&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289885/original/file-20190828-184192-3kklj4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=995&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Practice pays off.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Simon Bernacki.</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>After-school skate programmes in <a href="http://squarestateskate.com/">Colorado</a> and <a href="https://www.hypeddayton.com/">Dayton, Ohio</a> are proving to be therapeutic for young people with challenges such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Skateboarding’s informal, non-competitive nature normalises failure – skaters practice a trick hundreds of times, building resilience and perseverance. In Dayton, which has <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2019/06/14/tech/opioid-crisis-dayton-alphabet-verily-alexandria/index.html">seen the worst effects</a> of the US opioid crisis, these programmes can disrupt the toxic peer groups that can lead to substance misuse, and <a href="https://vimeo.com/281117753">establish good role models</a> instead.</p>
<p>Similarly, skaters in <a href="https://skatesouthampton.com/">Southampton</a> have measured significant improvements in participants’ well-being at the end of an alternative education programme, which included teaching engineering and maths by building skate ramps. </p>
<p>As well as improving health and well-being, skateboarding can empower young people to improve their cities. In Tampere, Finland, skaters built a DIY skatepark in an abandoned matchstick factory, which was later legitimised by the city. This process paved the way for a fruitful partnership between local young people and the municipality. Skaters worked alongside the city council to secure spaces for further projects, and went on to deliver employment programmes for out-of-work youth and creative projects in the public realm. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qOXKAwJpBTs?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>The city’s tourism agency now uses skateboarding in <a href="https://youtu.be/qOXKAwJpBTs">its marketing</a>. Skater and academic Mikko Kyrönviita sees this as a wider example of “DIY placemaking” – where local young people help <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/apr/16/upward-slope-how-skateboarding-transformed-the-manchester-of-finland-tampere">shape the way the city is marketed</a> to visitors, and how urban space is designed and managed.</p>
<h2>Skateboarding and the city</h2>
<p>More and more skateboarders are arguing for the wider benefits of mixed-use public spaces. Michael Barker, a New York skater and architect, advocates soft-edged spaces “seamlessly integrated into the life of a city” (as opposed to the “hard edges” of traditional skateparks), to help address the loss of the urban commons. This can help include the local community in the design of public spaces – as urban planner <a href="http://calgaryskateboarding.com/">Jeff Hanson</a> advocates in Calgary, Canada. And in Toronto, <a href="http://www.torontoskateboarding.com/">Ariel Stagni</a> mediates between interest groups to make multi-use spaces increasingly normal, and change politicians’ perceptions of skateboarders.</p>
<p>Academics Sharon Dickinson and Chris Giamarino have critically reviewed the tactics skateboarders use to protect the spaces they practice in from being shut down or redeveloped, to understand why some campaigns have been successful while others have failed. DIY or guerrilla regeneration can be applied, alongside more conventional approaches. <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0193723519842219">In Los Angeles</a>, for example, skaters succeeded by appealing to municipal priorities relating to creativity and entrepreneurialism, and presenting their use of the space as convivial and inclusive. </p>
<p>And in London, academic <a href="https://theconversation.com/skateboarding-defies-the-neoliberal-logic-of-the-city-by-making-it-a-playground-for-all-110552">Iain Borden</a> has shown how skaters add value to urban spaces by making them active and lively and, over generations, create a strong sense of shared heritage. This was demonstrated by the Long Live Southbank campaign, as they fought to <a href="https://theconversation.com/southbank-skaters-victory-shows-grassroots-culture-still-worth-fighting-for-31926">protect</a>, <a href="https://blog.slamcity.com/long-live-southbank-interview/">restore and expand</a> the undercroft space at the Southbank Centre.</p>
<p>Skateboarding gives young people a chance to change the way public spaces are designed and used: whether by working formally alongside local governments, or simply doing it themselves. As well as transforming urban spaces, skateboarding provides a means to tackle social issues relating to education, addiction and gender equality. The challenge now is for experts and academics (many of whom, like me, are skaters themselves) to share this knowledge, and show authorities and citizens how skateboarding can be an asset to any city.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/122304/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alongside his teaching and scholarly work, Chris Lawton is one of the co-founders of Skate Nottingham CIC, a not-for-profit community organisation working with skateboarding and local young people in Nottingham.</span></em></p>It was once seen as a public menace – now, skateboarding is a global sport that empowers young people to improve their cities.Chris Lawton, Senior Lecturer, Department of Economics, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1098692019-01-16T23:51:14Z2019-01-16T23:51:14ZHow Darling Harbour was botched (and could be reborn)<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253798/original/file-20190115-180507-7jgvwv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C4%2C998%2C655&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sydney's Darling Harbour: popular but noisy and expensive. Here's how we could do better to provide a safe place to work and play.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/success?u=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTU0NzU0MzAxNiwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfMTg4Mjk2MDMxIiwiayI6InBob3RvLzE4ODI5NjAzMS9tZWRpdW0uanBnIiwibSI6MSwiZCI6InNodXR0ZXJzdG9jay1tZWRpYSJ9LCIyeXl2aTFtdVhSZEpodktYN2FRMVR0akZmY0kiXQ%2Fshutterstock_188296031.jpg&pi=41133566&m=188296031&src=FRqrebc_WbmZL_pwE2pIQA-1-11">from www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This is a long read. Enjoy!</em></p>
<hr>
<p>More towers at Sydney’s Darling Harbour are among redevelopment plans for the inner city waterfront precinct and this has prompted <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/population-of-a-small-town-the-transformation-of-darling-harbour-20181112-p50fgo.html">recent debate</a>.</p>
<p>Plans open for public commentary include proposals for <a href="https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/News/2016/Have-your-say-on-the-redevelopment-of-Cockle-Bay-Wharf">new tall buildings</a> at <a href="https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/Assess-and-Regulate/State-Significant-Projects/Cockle-Bay">Cockle Bay</a>
and <a href="https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/News/2016/Have-your-say-on-the-redevelopment-of-Harbourside-Shopping-Centre">at the Harbourside Shopping Centre</a>.</p>
<p>Critics include <a href="https://architectureau.com/articles/city-of-sydney-objects-to-darling-harbour-developments/">Russell Hand and Christopher Ashworth</a>, senior planners at the City of Sydney, who have lodged <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/tall-towers-for-darling-harbour-spurned-by-city-of-sydney-planners-20170111-gtpeeh.html">formal objections</a>.</p>
<p>Alex Greenwich, independent MP for Sydney, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/no-planning-merit-cockle-bay-redevelopment-attracts-strong-opposition-20180824-p4zzln.html">describes the Cockle Bay proposal</a> as “very poor planning”. In the same article, Graham Quint of the National Trust says Darling Harbour would be “degraded” by overdevelopment.</p>
<p>Celebrated architect Philip Cox fears the area has “<a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/population-of-a-small-town-the-transformation-of-darling-harbour-20181112-p50fgo.html">gone backwards</a>” as it does not really create a unique urban space, nor does it contribute much to the city.</p>
<p>Plans for ever larger buildings, bringing in more people and attracting more tourists may mark a point of no return for the precinct. It would place increased pressure on the available space, which already houses a <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/population-of-a-small-town-the-transformation-of-darling-harbour-20181112-p50fgo.html">town full of people</a>.</p>
<p>More development of the type proposed also leaves little space to regenerate the city, to create places where nature and open space can help to deal with floods or heat, let alone create a valuable ecological landscape.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/utzon-lecture-re-imagining-the-harbour-city-56127">Utzon Lecture: Re-imagining the Harbour City</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>To see where development of Darling Harbour went wrong and what we could do better, we need to consider the area as a whole. That’s <a href="https://www.sydney.com/destinations/sydney/sydney-city/darling-harbour">Darling Harbour</a> itself, <a href="http://www.cocklebaywharf.com.au/">Cockle Bay</a>, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/this-is-how-westconnex-can-deliver-sydney-a-better-city-centre-90171">Darling Harbour Corridor</a>, <a href="https://www.barangaroo.com">Barangaroo</a>, <a href="https://www.darlingpark.com.au/home">Darling Park</a> and <a href="https://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/explore/facilities/parks/major-parks/tumbalong-park">Tumbalong Park</a>.</p>
<p>Three examples highlight how development of the Darling Harbour area over the past 30 years has been botched.</p>
<h2>1. Darling Harbour as a noisy neighbour</h2>
<p>Walk down Darling Harbour towards Barangaroo on a random night and this is what you’ll face. </p>
<p>Noisy bars and restaurants along Cockle Bay are full; quieter places inside are, even for Sydney’s standards, expensive; bright lights compare with the neon of Shanghai’s Nanjing Road; and there is activity everywhere, even on the water where party boats disturb not only human but also animal life. </p>
<p>I am not against a lively precinct. But Darling Harbour is currently operating like your noisy neighbour — a nice guy but with too many bad habits. He eats too much, burps whenever it is convenient, grows fat and watches the same programs every day. </p>
<p>There it is, consuming tourists (<a href="https://www.destinationnsw.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/darling-harbour-visitor-profile-ye-march-2018.pdf?x15361">4.6 million in the year ending March 2018</a>), growing bigger buildings all around, producing noises no-one wants to hear, and looking like a huge TV screen flickering flashy lights into the night. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/will-a-casino-be-a-boon-or-a-bane-for-barangaroo-10355">Will a casino be a boon or a bane for Barangaroo?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Barangaroo is the next stage of “badnertainment”, adding more expensive drinking and eating venues, increasing traffic congestion, and continuing the <a href="https://theconversation.com/packers-barangaroo-casino-and-the-inevitability-of-pokies-15892">gambling boulevard</a> all the way through to <a href="https://www.barangaroo.com/see-and-do/things-to-do/itineraries/barangaroo-reserve/">Headland Park</a>. Compared to the former port facilities that stood there, at least people can enter this space up to the water’s edge.</p>
<p>But Barangaroo remains a private collection of colossal buildings, impenetrable if you don’t belong to the corporate world.</p>
<h2>2. Tumbalong Park, hidden behind a highway</h2>
<p>Tumbalong Park is hidden behind a highway, so far back no one can see the water. Though there are paths, plants and a stage, the overkill of lights and noise is not what you’d expect from a park.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/our-cities-need-more-trees-but-that-means-being-prepared-to-cut-some-down-53819">Our cities need more trees, but that means being prepared to cut some down</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>Anyone who wants to spend time there on a hot day will experience the “<a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/urban-heat-island/">heat island effect</a>”. Here, heat is amplified compared with the surrounding area as the grass is surrounded by large chunks of concrete and glass. That, combined with a feeling of being observed from all sides, might explain why you hardly find people sitting on the grass. </p>
<h2>3. Highway cuts up public space</h2>
<p>Where do people plan a highway through a public space? In Sydney, this is quite normal. The Western Distributor splits the City from Circular Quay and Darling Harbour. A spaghetti of ramps, concrete traffic lanes and multilayered traffic disconnects surrounding areas including Ultimo and Haymarket from the real beauty: the water and water’s edge of Cockle Bay. What could be a coherent urban precinct is cut in half and displaces the urban front from the water’s edge.</p>
<h2>Let’s transform this ‘blinging, boring barrier’</h2>
<p>These three failings form an urban sink hole for Sydney’s residents — a gap in which tourists are trapped and the corporates show off. <a href="https://theconversation.com/this-is-how-westconnex-can-deliver-sydney-a-better-city-centre-90171">Through traffic and congestion</a> dominate the area. </p>
<p>Darling Harbour is full of bling, the park is boring, and the highway is a barrier. Sydney created a blinging, boring barrier.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/if-planners-understand-its-cool-to-green-cities-whats-stopping-them-55753">If planners understand it's cool to green cities, what's stopping them?</a>
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<hr>
<p>Why can’t Darling Harbour and Cockle Bay be a sensitive space, where you can experience relative darkness and silence when eating and drinking, and you can enjoy the tranquility of dark water so close to the city centre?</p>
<p>Wouldn’t it be sensational if you could whisper a secret message to your darling instead of shouting how his or her working day was? Wouldn’t it be great if you could sit on the edge of the harbour, dangling your tired feet in the water? How great could it be if the space was green with trees, bush, ecofriendly river edges, where kids could explore water and nature?</p>
<p>Tranquility, darkness and human scale are the ingredients for an environment that can be completely green and still urban. Higher densities are possible as long as these are sustainable, we use environmental-friendly materials and are placed in a larger green and ecological zone fronting the water. This then creates the space for people to enjoy the environment and relax.</p>
<h2>Climate change makes this urgent</h2>
<p>This is urgent. Climate change will cause and enforce changes to city centres, especially when they’re fronting water edges, like Darling Harbour. </p>
<p>Rising sea levels (<a href="https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/climate-change/new-maps-show-the-risk-of-sea-level-rises-to-australian-cities/news-story/2cd13d732b102365c9c708c4a223961f">up to 2m by the end of the century</a>), and more flash flooding as a result of more intense rain are expected.</p>
<p>So green buffer zones on either side of the water’s edge are required to deal with rising water levels and more intense rain events.</p>
<p>Environments must be flexible, adaptive and resilient to survive. The types of activities currently in the Darling Harbour area are mono-functional, inflexible and vulnerable to climate impacts. </p>
<h2>Here’s what we can learn from other cities</h2>
<p><strong>Toronto</strong></p>
<p>Toronto’s city centre has a series of greening projects along its <a href="https://waterfrontoronto.ca/nbe/portal/waterfront/Home">waterfront</a>. These include nature reserves, a bicycle path, sandy beach-like areas and zones in which urban water is purified at the same time made available for the public to use in playgrounds.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253789/original/file-20190115-180494-182n6ou.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253789/original/file-20190115-180494-182n6ou.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253789/original/file-20190115-180494-182n6ou.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253789/original/file-20190115-180494-182n6ou.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253789/original/file-20190115-180494-182n6ou.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253789/original/file-20190115-180494-182n6ou.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253789/original/file-20190115-180494-182n6ou.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253789/original/file-20190115-180494-182n6ou.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Toronto’s water purification site is also an urban playground.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>New York</strong></p>
<p>Another good example is in New York, where Manhattan is transforming its Hudson River edges with <a href="https://hudsonriverpark.org/">parks and green areas</a>. There is open-air office space such as the <a href="https://www.hudsonyardsnewyork.com/">Hudson Yards</a>, and continuous parks along the river, such as the Riverpark Boulevard.</p>
<p>These continuous parks can not only protect the city from flooding but also suit the daily needs of the jogging, cycling or wandering New Yorker.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253790/original/file-20190115-180510-xwhxhi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253790/original/file-20190115-180510-xwhxhi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253790/original/file-20190115-180510-xwhxhi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253790/original/file-20190115-180510-xwhxhi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253790/original/file-20190115-180510-xwhxhi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253790/original/file-20190115-180510-xwhxhi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253790/original/file-20190115-180510-xwhxhi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253790/original/file-20190115-180510-xwhxhi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=524&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">New York’s Riverpark Boulevard has been designed to protect the city from flooding, as well as providing people place to walk, jog or wander.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>Shanghai</strong></p>
<p>In Shanghai there’s a large program to green the river edge. Over 100,000 trees are being planted along the Huangpu River. This program is meant to clean the air, mitigate the urban heat island effect and offer space to occasional floods. But it also functions as an enormous park, with a continuous cycle-path and the option to run the marathon (once up and down).</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253791/original/file-20190115-180488-p8270n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253791/original/file-20190115-180488-p8270n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253791/original/file-20190115-180488-p8270n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253791/original/file-20190115-180488-p8270n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253791/original/file-20190115-180488-p8270n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253791/original/file-20190115-180488-p8270n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253791/original/file-20190115-180488-p8270n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253791/original/file-20190115-180488-p8270n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Shanghai is transforming its riverside with more than 100,000 trees and parklands long enough to run a marathon.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>Amsterdam</strong></p>
<p>Finally, Amsterdam is redeveloping the northern shore of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IJ_(Amsterdam)">IJ river</a>. Here, new green spaces, water purification and ecological reserves are realised in the midst of a high-density mixed-use urban environment. One of the eye-catchers is EYE, the national movie theatre.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253792/original/file-20190115-180488-28ukf5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253792/original/file-20190115-180488-28ukf5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253792/original/file-20190115-180488-28ukf5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253792/original/file-20190115-180488-28ukf5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253792/original/file-20190115-180488-28ukf5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=340&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253792/original/file-20190115-180488-28ukf5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253792/original/file-20190115-180488-28ukf5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253792/original/file-20190115-180488-28ukf5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Amsterdam is transforming the IJ north shore.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Sydney, it’s up to you</h2>
<p>These examples show that large, western cities are successfully implementing sustainable ecological developments along their waterfronts. </p>
<p>These are not realised because of some high-level green ambition, but out of pure necessity. People ask for cleaner environments so they can enjoy, exercise and play with their kids in a healthy and safe place. </p>
<p>In Darling Harbour, we’re faced with short-term economic benefits, with a focus on tourists, and a vulnerable waterline. Is this the long-term future for Sydneysiders?</p>
<p>Or could the waterfront become the lovely place for humans and nature, which also protects Sydneysiders living immediately behind the waterfront?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/109869/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rob Roggema 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>Cities around the world are redeveloping their waterfronts to be accessible and resilient to the effects of climate change. Here’s where Sydney’s Darling Harbour went wrong and what we can do better.Rob Roggema, Professor Spatial Transformation, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, GroningenLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/973222018-12-26T19:28:29Z2018-12-26T19:28:29ZNew creatives are remaking Canberra’s city centre, but at a social cost<p>The new economy and new technology are changing Canberra’s city centre, Walter Burley Griffin’s <a href="http://australiaforeveryone.com.au/act/griffins-canberra.html">design legacy</a> of 100 years ago. While the central area is becoming <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-24/where-is-the-next-braddon-or-hipster-suburb-in-canberra/8373780">an innovation precinct and a dynamic place</a>, it comes with a cost of social gentrification and unaffordability. </p>
<p>In <a href="http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/fact-sheets/fs95.aspx">Griffin’s design for Canberra</a>, the city centre was planned to be a lively business centre with high-density retailing and commercial uses. The original idea included a citywide tram network supported by higher-density development along the corridors. City Hill was intended to be a heart for the city’s citizens. </p>
<p>Griffin’s vision was not truly fulfilled, however. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-how-to-fix-parliament-house-what-about-some-neighbours-96710">Friday essay: how to fix Parliament House - what about some neighbours?</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>The knowledge cluster effect</h2>
<p>The new economy seems to provide an opportunity unforeseen by Griffin to revitalise the city centre. </p>
<p>Canberra is a <a href="http://theconversation.com/the-knowledge-city-index-sydney-takes-top-spot-but-canberra-punches-above-its-weight-81101#comment_1353412">knowledge city</a>, despite its comparatively small population and employment sector. Knowledge is Canberra’s industry. </p>
<p>According to the Australian 2016 Census data, the city centre – <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/specials/curious-canberra/2016-08-15/why-is-canberras-cbd-called-civic-rather-than-the-city/7626358">known as Civic</a> – has the highest concentration of knowledge workers in the Canberra region (Figure 1). They are transforming the city centre’s functions, activities and spatial uses and pattern. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222529/original/file-20180611-191947-62ypu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222529/original/file-20180611-191947-62ypu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222529/original/file-20180611-191947-62ypu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=848&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222529/original/file-20180611-191947-62ypu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=848&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222529/original/file-20180611-191947-62ypu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=848&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222529/original/file-20180611-191947-62ypu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222529/original/file-20180611-191947-62ypu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222529/original/file-20180611-191947-62ypu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1066&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Figure 1. Spatial distribution of knowledge workers in Canberra.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">ABS 2016 Census</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-knowledge-city-index-sydney-takes-top-spot-but-canberra-punches-above-its-weight-81101">The Knowledge City Index: Sydney takes top spot but Canberra punches above its weight</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The transformation of city centres is a global phenomenon. It is happening in major Australian capital cities. </p>
<p>Canberra presents an extreme case to illustrate this point, as a planned city known for being a “bush capital” with suburban sprawl. The city of just over 400,000 people has an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canberra">area of more than 800 square kilometres</a>. But its compact centre is becoming more important in a globalised and networked society.</p>
<p>The city centre is more than a geographical or spatial centre. Its “centrality” is cultural, social, political and economical. Canberra’s city centre, a Modernist planning legacy, now exists in a setting of multiple global and local forces. These forces are intersecting with economic restructuring, ubiquitous information technology, knowledge diffusion and people movement. </p>
<p>As a result, the city centre is becoming more “centralised”: it is a cluster of functions, a magnet of activities. </p>
<p>The knowledge work and workers are reshaping the use of spaces and the public realm in the city centre. Innovation activities require more interaction and exchange, more access to public space and amenities, and more spatial and temporal flexibility. They are blurring the conventional division of land uses and space uses and challenging the old ways of design thinking. </p>
<p>One spatial impact of the new economy is the growing presence and practice of smart work in Canberra’s city centre. Creative workers are sharing spaces and facilities. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222530/original/file-20180611-191940-z45eak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222530/original/file-20180611-191940-z45eak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222530/original/file-20180611-191940-z45eak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222530/original/file-20180611-191940-z45eak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222530/original/file-20180611-191940-z45eak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222530/original/file-20180611-191940-z45eak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222530/original/file-20180611-191940-z45eak.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">A smart work hub in Canberra city centre.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Creatives are moving in</h2>
<p>In Canberra’s city centre, more well-designed and medium-density dwellings are being built and provided to meet the needs of the new creative workers who work and live there. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250377/original/file-20181213-110246-2mu4tx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250377/original/file-20181213-110246-2mu4tx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250377/original/file-20181213-110246-2mu4tx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250377/original/file-20181213-110246-2mu4tx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250377/original/file-20181213-110246-2mu4tx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250377/original/file-20181213-110246-2mu4tx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250377/original/file-20181213-110246-2mu4tx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250377/original/file-20181213-110246-2mu4tx.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">Population growth rate year ended March 31 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/3101.0">ABS</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These creatives have impacts on both place and people. <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/3101.0">Canberra is growing fast</a>, <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/act/a-canberra-baby-boom-has-the-act-population-surging-20180621-p4zmwc.html">attracting people from interstate and internationally</a>.</p>
<p>This growth includes large-scale movement of knowledge workers to the inner-city areas. The poorer socio-economic groups are being displaced from these areas. </p>
<p>People working as managers and professionals are moving into the increasingly desirable inner-city areas. As a result, rising housing and rental prices are pushing out existing inhabitants. According to Census 2016, nearly 1200 managers and professionals lived and worked in inner areas of Civic and Braddon, but only 170 technicians and labourers who worked there also lived there. </p>
<h2>Urban renewal for everyone</h2>
<p>While the precinct is becoming more dynamic and active, in contrast to people’s long-held <a href="https://theconversation.com/canberra-is-101-and-australia-still-hasnt-grown-up-24893">(mis)perception of Canberra as a humdrum place</a>, the change comes at a social cost. People on low incomes are dislocated and many young people, the most valuable capital for the city’s future, find the place increasingly unaffordable. </p>
<p>Thus, the very transformations that present opportunities for the city’s economic diversification and urban renewal also bring challenges in maintaining it as an equitable city. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/act/barr-governments-urban-renewal-leads-to-accidental-gentrification-of-canberra-20180221-h0wen6.html">Canberra’s urban renewal strategy</a> should not embrace or celebrate the creative transformations only. It should also appropriately manage the social implications to genuinely make the city a place for everyone. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/canberra-is-101-and-australia-still-hasnt-grown-up-24893">Canberra is 101 and Australia still hasn't grown up</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/97322/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>Canberra is growing as fast as anywhere in Australia. It’s driven by a knowledge economy that is transforming the city centre but is also displacing poorer residents.Richard Hu, Professor, Faculty of Arts and Design & Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis, University of CanberraSajeda Tuli, Research Officer, Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1019262018-08-28T13:45:23Z2018-08-28T13:45:23ZHow Africa’s largest city is failing its older people<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233668/original/file-20180827-75993-kw63i3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Heavy traffic in Lagos, Nigeria.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/Ahmed Jallanzo</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Urbanisation is spreading across Africa at great speed. Projections suggest that more than <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/events/2015/06/01/urbanization-in-africa-trends-promises-and-challenges">half of the total population</a> will live in urban areas by 2050. Urbanisation in Nigeria is happening at a particularly astonishing rate. The population density of urban dwellers in Nigeria is growing at an annual rate of 50 per square kilometre and it’s <a href="https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/DataQuery/">expected to rise</a> to 450.9 per square kilometre by 2050. </p>
<p>These urban dwellers include a large number of people over the age of 60. The number of old people on the continent is expected to rise to <a href="https://www.afro.who.int/health-topics/ageing">67 million by 2025</a>, up from an estimated 43 million in 2010. Nigeria will experience an <a href="http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/publications/pdf/popfacts/PopFacts_2016-1.pdf">exponential increase</a> the number of older people. </p>
<p>These developments call for a new urbanisation agenda. A large number of old people in urban spaces in Nigeria suffer from homelessness, abuse, neglect and <a href="http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38487/">destitution</a>. The situation is further compounded by the absence of social protection policies that can reduce vulnerability in old age. </p>
<p>Old people in Nigeria’s cities can’t even rely on public transport. The urban renewal has led to the phasing out of the popular Molue buses while pedestrian bridges are built in a way that makes <a href="https://www.naija.ng/479948-10-reasons-people-ignore-pedestrian-bridges-lagos.html#479948">access challenging</a> to physically challenged and older people with mobility problems. Access to safe public transportation system is one of the indicators of <a href="http://www.who.int/ageing/projects/age-friendly-cities-communities/en/">age-friendly cities and communities</a>. </p>
<p>Among Nigeria’s 36 states, Lagos is leading in <a href="http://www.populationconnection.org/article/african-urbanization/">urban regeneration initiatives</a>. Unfortunately, there are indications that older people and their needs are being marginalised. My research is motivated by the need to understand vulnerability and <a href="https://criticalgerontology.com/neoliberalism-resilience/">resilience in old age</a>. The findings presented here focus on what it means to grow old in the city and how urban renewal initiatives might be shaping vulnerability in old age. </p>
<h2>The study</h2>
<p>Data was sought through individual interviews and media reports. All these sources have their focus on demolition of markets, shops and houses in Lagos State from 2012 to 2018. The City of Lagos has a <a href="http://www.wiego.org/sites/default/files/publications/files/FIWON-Poor-Also-Must-Live-Oct2016.pdf">history of demolitions</a> of markets and neighbours that are predominantly inhabited by the less privileged. Older people are included among the victims of these demolitions. Those trading among them have <a href="https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/265284-octogenarian-others-detained-as-lagos-govt-plans-demolition-of-market.html">lost their means</a> of livelihood without the freedom to protest or any hope of compensation. </p>
<p>The report highlights the findings about mobility concerns, fears and experiences of using the public transportation system in Lagos. </p>
<p>Drawing from the experiences of 13 older people aged 60 to 78 years, the research found that the existing public transport system isn’t conducive to being used by older people. </p>
<p>The participants’ narratives and media reports portray the urban renewal efforts in the city as ageist and lopsided. While a great deal has been done to transform some crowded areas and commercial motor parks in the city, the changes made weren’t done in a way that helped old people. For example, pedestrian bridges had been built too high. There had also been a loss of means of livelihood and accommodation in the city. </p>
<p>All the interviewees had spent 29 years on average in the city. More men (8) than women had engaged in menial jobs to earn a living and have had to travel hours within traffic from one part of the city to another throughout their youthful life. The women were more into petty trading, and only one worked with one of the local government authorities before retirement. </p>
<p>All the interviewees had used public transport when they were younger until it became more difficult to move around the city. Even the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) was described as mostly inaccessible. In the words of one of the interviewees:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I have been told that there are seats for older people in BRTs, but the drivers and commuters are often in a hurry that it becomes difficult for older people to catch up with them or even use the available seats. </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Towards inclusive urban renewal</h2>
<p>Urgent measures are required to avert or minimise the risks that come with using public mode of transportation in the city of Lagos. Existing public modes of transportation are in need of overhauling. Presently, the public mode of transport, pedestrian bridges and walkways are designed to reflect the needs of the young urban population. Walkways that will accommodate older people and their various mobility needs are urgently needed. Creating such pathways can enhance the safety of other social categories of commuters in the city. </p>
<p>More legislation and conscious efforts are required to protect the vulnerability of older people to abuse in public spaces. Buses can be provided for older people and those that are physically challenged. </p>
<p>The urban renewal initiatives must be inclusive and participatory. The demolition actions must be done in transparency and proper accountability. Inclusive urban regeneration framework is urgently required in addressing the existing gaps and the future mobility needs of the growing population of older people in the city. These efforts amongst others will place the City of Lagos on the march towards becoming one of the age-friendly cities in Nigeria and Africa.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/101926/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ojo Melvin Agunbiade 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>Old people in Nigeria’s cities can’t even rely on public transport.Ojo Melvin Agunbiade, Post-Doctoral Researcher, African Population and Health Research CenterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/954082018-06-25T10:34:20Z2018-06-25T10:34:20ZHow colleges must collaborate to lift up the communities just outside their door<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224566/original/file-20180624-26567-1qqyevp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Contrasting cityscapes, similar challenges </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><strong>From the editors: Universities teach and research, but what impact do they – and should they – have on their local communities?</strong></p>
<p><strong>We asked the leaders of Rutgers University - Newark and West Virginia University to explain their take on this issue given the considerable challenges each of their surrounding communities face.</strong> </p>
<h2>Nancy Cantor, Chancellor Rutgers University - Newark</h2>
<p>The statistics are dramatic. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224123/original/file-20180620-137711-c07wup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224123/original/file-20180620-137711-c07wup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224123/original/file-20180620-137711-c07wup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=885&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224123/original/file-20180620-137711-c07wup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=885&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224123/original/file-20180620-137711-c07wup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=885&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224123/original/file-20180620-137711-c07wup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1112&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224123/original/file-20180620-137711-c07wup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1112&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224123/original/file-20180620-137711-c07wup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1112&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nancy Cantor, chancellor of Rutgers University – Newark.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.newark.rutgers.edu/nancy-cantor">Rutgers University – Newark</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Newark is a city with <a href="http://www.njbiz.com/article/20170607/NJBIZ01/170609875/21-companies-from-nj-make-this-years-fortune-500-list">Fortune 500 companies</a> and other corporate headquarters such as Audible, and yet <a href="https://community-wealth.org/sites/clone.community-wealth.org/files/downloads/Bridging_the_Two_Americas_rev._5-11a_Without_Crop_Marks.pdf">only 18 percent of its residents</a> hold one of the city’s approximately 140,000 jobs. Sixty percent of the jobs in Newark are held by whites from the suburbs. Newark has <a href="https://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2018/03/newark_mayor_ras_baraka_state_of_the_city.html">US$4 billion of capital investment</a> pouring into its downtown, and yet <a href="https://datausa.io/profile/geo/newark-nj/">the rate of home ownership</a> for its residents is 21 percent, compared to the national average of 63 percent: <a href="https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/report-eviction-rates-housing-affordability">Rates of eviction</a> here are among the highest in the country.</p>
<p>Our university’s motto is that we are not just “in Newark but of Newark,” which is why this next data point hits home particularly hard. Despite having six institutions of higher education in or bordering the city, <a href="http://hechingerreport.org/one-struggling-citys-bold-effort-to-increase-its-number-of-college-graduates/">only 17 percent of Newark residents</a> have post-secondary degrees. </p>
<p>What we as a university should do to change the map of access and opportunity is not a rhetorical question.</p>
<h2>Gordon Gee, President West Virginia University</h2>
<p>While Newark and West Virginia may seem very different, we actually share many economic and social challenges, and our universities share a similar commitment to overcoming them.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224126/original/file-20180620-137717-10s28v3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224126/original/file-20180620-137717-10s28v3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224126/original/file-20180620-137717-10s28v3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224126/original/file-20180620-137717-10s28v3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224126/original/file-20180620-137717-10s28v3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224126/original/file-20180620-137717-10s28v3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224126/original/file-20180620-137717-10s28v3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224126/original/file-20180620-137717-10s28v3.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">Gordon Gee, president of West Virginia University.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://presidentgee.wvu.edu/files/d/3844287c-fdcd-4305-a79e-0f03040f34d3/president-gee-official-portrait.jpg">West Virginia University</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Here, the urgent need for change stems from economic stagnation that has led to <a href="http://www.register-herald.com/news/outmigration-west-virginia-s-population-decline/article_98ff5f5a-29a1-5779-8c69-2f69c680ba76.html">an outmigration of our best and brightest</a>.</p>
<p>We have the nation’s <a href="https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/58f2b0cb-5ba6-402a-80d0-ed3c6f638d95/west-virginia-employment-update.pdf">lowest workforce participation rate, at 53 percent</a>, while the national average is 63 percent. <a href="https://statisticalatlas.com/state/West-Virginia/Educational-Attainment">Our college attainment rate</a> is also the nation’s lowest, with fewer than 20 percent of citizens age 25 and older holding a post-secondary degree.</p>
<p>Economic decline has in turn generated hopelessness and despair, fueling the opioid epidemic ravaging our state, which <a href="http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2018/mar/23/evan-jenkins/does-west-virginia-lead-nation-overdose-drug-death/">leads the nation in overdose deaths</a>. </p>
<p>As one response, we helped create <a href="http://wvforward.wvu.edu">West Virginia Forward,</a> an unprecedented collaboration with Marshall University and the state’s Department of Commerce, joining with business and government leaders to identify the state’s assets and pair them with economic trends. For example, we are <a href="https://energy.wvu.edu/appalachian-storage-and-trading-hub">helping develop the Appalachian Storage and Trading Hub</a> to leverage the region’s abundant natural gas as a foundation for a job-rich petrochemical processing industry.</p>
<p><strong>What kind of impact are your universities having? What meaningful difference are you making in the lives of everyday Newarkers and West Virginians?</strong></p>
<h2>Nancy Cantor</h2>
<p>We also, like West Virginia University, are collaborating with local institutions to promote equitable growth in our city – growth that is fair and includes all Newarkers.</p>
<p>Faculty across Rutgers-Newark are <a href="http://www.clime.newark.rutgers.edu/Making%20Newark%20Work%20for%20Newarkers%3A%20Housing%20and%20Equitable%20Growth%20in%20the%20Next%20Brick%20City">applying their expertise</a> to propose antidotes to <a href="https://www.clime.newark.rutgers.edu/commentary/op-ed/dont-let-starbucks-fool-you-were-not-gentrifying-and-how">gentrification</a> and <a href="http://www.clime.newark.rutgers.edu/publications/report/housing-studies-examine-displacement-newark">displacement</a>. The university is hosting two initiatives designed to promote learning at all levels in the community. The Newark City of Learning Collaborative puts on <a href="https://npl.org/event/secrets-to-college-admissions-central-ward/">“college knowledge” events</a> at public libraries. <a href="https://www.expressnewark.org/">Express Newark</a> uses 50,000 square feet of a 1901 landmark downtown building to bring together residents, local artists and scholars to create – among other things – the story of today’s Newark through <a href="https://www.shineportrait.com/education">studio portrait photography</a>. </p>
<p>All these initiatives in turn connect to the <a href="https://admissions.newark.rutgers.edu/paying-for-college/ru-n-top">university’s financial aid program</a>, which has helped us <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/22/opinion/honors-college-rutgers.html">cultivate local talent</a> and increase the number of native Newarkers on our campus by 59 percent since 2013.</p>
<p>Rutgers-Newark is among the <a href="https://www.margainc.com/">12 percent</a> of universities anchored in urban America. Alongside other major anchor institutions such as businesses, City Hall and hospitals, we joined forces to launch in June 2017 <a href="https://www.newarknj.gov/news/newark-unemployment">Hire.Buy.Live.Newark</a>. Together with <a href="http://rbhs.rutgers.edu/">Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences</a> we aim to make 220 hires under this initiative: After only a year we are halfway there. And we’ve increased local procurement to 25 percent. These numbers show what is possible when anchors collaborate.</p>
<h2>Gordon Gee</h2>
<p>West Virginia’s economic woes did not develop overnight, but are, in many ways, the product of more than a century of absentee ownership of resources. We have <a href="https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/state/data/wv.html">exported our coal, our forests</a> and, most damaging of all, <a href="http://www.wvdhhr.org/bph/hsc/pubs/briefs/008/default.htm">our people</a>.</p>
<p>We have also suffered from <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629617303341">a lack of economic diversification</a>, leaving us vulnerable to market swings.</p>
<p>West Virginia Forward is built upon a firm belief that higher education can and must do more. </p>
<p>Only six months into this initiative, the most observable impact is that the <a href="https://wvtourism.com">West Virginia Tourism Office</a> has incorporated the <a href="https://wvforward.wvu.edu/files/d/c6478e7d-a4a8-457c-b1b8-7e5c8f67842f/wvu_presentation-wvforward-final_092717.pdf">findings from a McKinsey consulting report</a> into its annual plan and launched a new, data-driven campaign. More than 20 West Virginia University deans, faculty and staff from three different colleges and units are assisting with branding, outreach to tourists and the design of pricing regimes for lodging and state parks. Now, with summer vacation season here, we await the impact of the resulting <a href="https://wvtourism.com/">“Almost Heaven” campaign</a> – and <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/west-virginia/articles/2018-04-11/almost-heaven-west-virginia-starts-new-tourism-campaign">the giant billboards in nine cities</a> of West Virginia’s neighboring states. </p>
<p><strong>When you look at the national higher education landscape, how many other similar initiatives do you see? How much of a need is there to replicate what you do and what do you say to people who question whether these initiatives are worth the time, money and trouble?</strong></p>
<h2>Nancy Cantor</h2>
<p>Our two universities are certainly not alone in doing this kind of work. </p>
<p>In only nine years, for example, the <a href="https://www.margainc.com/aitf/">Anchor Institutions Task Force</a> has attracted 700 individual members – from universities to health care organizations, cultural institutions and corporations – all of whom <a href="https://www.margainc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/AITF_Literature_Review_2015_v_1.pdf">believe that</a> “the great social problems of our time…will likely not be solved without the active, democratic, collaborative participation of anchor institutions.” </p>
<p>Within the academic world, as recently as this February, 31 metropolitan universities responded to a call to deploy their resources <a href="http://www.cumuonline.org/cumu-members-named-to-higher-education-anchor-mission-initiative/">“to enhance the economic and social well-being of the communities they serve.”</a> From <a href="http://www.sandiego.edu/envisioning-2024/pathways/anchor-institution.php">San Diego</a> and <a href="http://www.funderscollaborative.org/strong-economy/central-corridor-anchor-partnership/">Minneapolis</a> to <a href="https://www.nettercenter.upenn.edu/">Philadelphia</a> and <a href="http://www.lehman.edu/about/">the Bronx</a>, institutions of higher learning are partnering with local public schools, tackling local health disparities and helping to reverse the destructive marginalization of all but the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/01/18/upshot/some-colleges-have-more-students-from-the-top-1-percent-than-the-bottom-60.html">top 1 percent of Americans</a>. </p>
<p>Who, after all, will populate our colleges and universities as the U.S. undergoes a <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/book/diversity-explosion/">diversity explosion</a> if we don’t intervene to reach the talented black and brown and poor students too often relegated to underperforming, <a href="https://www.civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/research/k-12-education/integration-and-diversity">segregated K-12 schools</a>? How will we drive the innovation economy and reap the <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/interviews/qa-11077">“diversity bonus”</a> if <a href="http://www.equality-of-opportunity.org/">unemployment</a> continues to haunt the fastest-growing populations in our communities? </p>
<h2>Gordon Gee</h2>
<p>Having spent most of my career leading public research universities, I am pleased to see increased emphasis on engagement that stimulates regional and state economies. </p>
<p>Five years ago, the <a href="http://aplu.org">Association of Public and Land Grant Universities</a> <a href="http://www.aplu.org/projects-and-initiatives/economic-development-and-community-engagement/innovation-and-economic-prosperity-universities-designation-and-awards-program/index.html">recognized 58 institutions</a> as “Innovation and Economic Prosperity Universities” that are fostering strong partnerships with government and industry to support prosperity. <a href="https://businessleadersformichigan.com/">Business Leaders for Michigan</a>, for example, a private, nonprofit organization that brings together state businesses and universities has – since its launch in 2009 – <a href="https://www.amacad.org/content/publications/pubContent.aspx?d=22184#toNote23">helped with the creation of 250,000 jobs in the state</a>. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.aplu.org/about-us/">“Expanding engagement”</a> is at the heart of what land grant universities are committed to. To commit to community engagement helps to counter the <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/07/20/republicans-skeptical-of-colleges-impact-on-u-s-but-most-see-benefits-for-workforce-preparation/ft_17-07-20_collegessince2015/">erosion of public faith in higher education</a>.</p>
<p>If each college and university works toward its own purpose, we can build a culture of collaboration, not competition, between institutions. Today’s problems are too big for any one person, department, university or sector to solve alone. We must expand our thinking about the ways business, government, higher education and other sectors can work together. </p>
<p>The stakes could not be higher.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/95408/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nancy Cantor is a member of the Presidents Subgroup of Anchors Institution Task Force and co-editor with Earl Lewis of the book series, Our Compelling Interests, within which The Diversity Bonus, appears. The following foundations have provided support for the RU-N initiatives cited: Prudential (Foundation), Ford Foundation, Kresge Foundation, Victoria Foundation, Turrell Fund, Foundation for Newark’s Future, Bank of America Foundation, PSEG Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gordon Gee currently serves on the board of trustees of the National 4-H council; the steering committee of the U.S. Manufacturing Competitiveness Initiative, Council on Competitiveness; the Business Higher Education Forum; and the board of directors, Limited Brands. He is author of the forth-coming book Land-Grant Universities for the Future: Higher Education for the Public Good and a co-author of Leading Colleges and Universities: Lessons From Higher Education Leaders. He is a current or past member of various other higher education and business committees and groups.</span></em></p>Universities teach students and produce research – but do they have responsibility to engage with the communities that surround them? Two university presidents explain why their answer is an emphatic yes.Nancy Cantor, Chancellor, Rutgers University - NewarkGordon Gee, President, West Virginia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/944182018-05-24T20:04:24Z2018-05-24T20:04:24ZWhen neighbourhoods become dangerous, look to local strengths for a lifeline<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218910/original/file-20180515-100690-1c3ogpe.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A car is set alight during the 2005 riots that prompted soul-searching in France about segregated and badly designed housing projects.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Voiture-feu-grande-rue-s%C3%A8vres-2005.JPG">A.J./Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Crime and insecurity are deeply entrenched in some cities. While we have <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/most-violent-cities-in-the-world-2018-3?r=US&IR=T">rankings of the most dangerous cities in the world</a>, this does not give a clear picture of how and why dangerous spaces develop in cities. </p>
<p>We are analysing case studies from cities in France, Colombia, Brazil and Australia to understand the factors that lead to insecurity, and to examine possible solutions. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/our-big-cities-are-engines-of-inequality-so-how-do-we-fix-that-69775">Our big cities are engines of inequality, so how do we fix that?</a>
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<h2>Risks of ghettos in Australia</h2>
<p>Australian cities aren’t immune to the dangers. While there is <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/0/371CB1F33E24E682CA2579AA000F2C7F?Opendocument">no clear upward trend</a> in crime nationally, the social polarisation and concentration of certain crimes in parts of the cities of Sydney and Melbourne are cause for concern. As a result, New South Wales and Victoria are the states with the <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/victims-of-crime-melbourne-becomes-more-violent-sydney-less-so-20170706-gx651y.html">highest rates of unlawful entry and armed robbery</a>.</p>
<p>Sydney in particular is experiencing a “<a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sydney-is-turning-into-a-ghetto-as-poor-are-trapped-by-fewer-jobs-and-rising-housing-costs-20150508-ggwyj0.html">ghettoisation effect</a>”. <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sydneys-rich-and-poor-the-rising-crisis-in-our-suburbs-20150508-ggwvh1.html">Social polarisation between suburbs</a> is increasing. Another issue in Sydney’s western suburbs is <a href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/parramatta/auburn-records-highest-number-of-murders-in-nsw/news-story/74927fb402ff5e658f06b9178fa3ed65">domestic violence</a>.</p>
<p>While crime rates here are much lower than in cities in Latin America and France, we need to be mindful of how neighbourhoods can become dangerous through neglect by planners and policymakers.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-housing-boom-is-remaking-australias-social-class-structure-66976">How the housing boom is remaking Australia’s social class structure</a>
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<h2>What can we do about it?</h2>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_disorganization_theory">Social disorganisation theory</a> has dominated research in this field. Central to this approach are neighbourhood mechanisms to reduce crime and disorder. </p>
<p>Some have criticised this theory for not considering the influences on crime of the larger <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0022427803256238">urban political economy</a>. Political and economic decisions may have direct effects by increasing unemployment, residential instability (via planning and housing policies) or population density (via zoning policies). </p>
<p>Reducing crime is also <a href="http://thoughts.arup.com/post/details/377/how-can-good-urban-design-reduce-crime">the job of planners</a>. Research has shown, for instance, that better planning can <a href="https://theconversation.com/better-urban-planning-can-reduce-the-tragedies-of-domestic-violence-25811">reduce the tragedies of domestic violence</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-cities-and-their-metropolitan-plans-still-seem-to-be-parallel-universes-87603">Australian cities and their metropolitan plans still seem to be parallel universes</a>
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<p>Incentives at the city scale – such as tax breaks and policies to decentralise public services and promote economic activity in poorer outer suburbs – need to be twinned with strategies to foster social integration at the neighbourhood level. </p>
<h2>Latin America: a focus on Colombia and Brazil</h2>
<p>Violence and high crime rates have created stark divisions in some Latin American cities. Residents have responded with several strategies to feel safe at home. </p>
<p>In Argentina, crime rates soared after the political and financial <a href="https://www.economist.com/node/1010911">crisis of 2001</a>. Citizens started building barricades and fortified their living environments with all types of security devices. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/apr/25/argentina.rorycarroll">Gated communities</a> became the preferred type of housing, especially for upper-middle-class groups who could afford it. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-society-yearning-for-security-divides-along-lines-of-liquid-fear-23009">A society yearning for security divides along lines of liquid fear</a>
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<p>However, gating and security devices have not been successful deterrents to crime. The strategies that have succeeded are linked to encouraging more social integration, shared use of public space, and less opposition to and marginalisation of “the other”.</p>
<p>“<a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0094582X16682758">Social urbanism</a>” policies in cities like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medell%C3%ADn#Crime">Medellín</a>, Colombia, and <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2013/03/21/brazil-crime-violence-favela">Rio de Janeiro</a>, Brazil, have led to dramatic reductions in crime. The idea of these interventions is not only to physically upgrade housing and public space, but to improve social outcomes. </p>
<p>In Medellín, public space was improved in some of the poorest neighbourhoods, which included new infrastructure. Alleys were upgraded, to make walking easier and increase safety, and the famous <a href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/colombia-medellin-neighborhood/index.html">escalators</a> were built. The community manages these escalators, which improve access to the upper areas of neighbourhoods and help create safer environments. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217392/original/file-20180503-83693-dfjkg9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217392/original/file-20180503-83693-dfjkg9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217392/original/file-20180503-83693-dfjkg9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217392/original/file-20180503-83693-dfjkg9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217392/original/file-20180503-83693-dfjkg9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217392/original/file-20180503-83693-dfjkg9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217392/original/file-20180503-83693-dfjkg9.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/217392/original/file-20180503-83693-dfjkg9.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>
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<span class="caption">One of the escalators managed by the local community in Medellín.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sonia Roitman. Author provided</span></span>
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<p>The installation of aerial public transport (“<a href="http://gondolaproject.com/medellin/">metrocable</a>” cable cars) also improved access and helped integrate these areas with the city centre. This in turn led to greater awareness of their existence and less prejudice against them as areas of marginalisation. Residents of other areas who wouldn’t normally travel through these poor neighbourhoods became more aware of them while using public transport. </p>
<p>In the case of Brazil, the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016718501000161">Favela Bairro</a> program to upgrade slums in Rio de Janeiro in the late 1990s succeeded in integrating favelas with the city to improve living conditions and reduce crime rates. </p>
<p>For such projects to succeed it is essential to have community participation, engagement and buy-in. </p>
<h2>Urban policy in France</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/understanding-urban-riots-in-france/">2005 riots</a> in French cities were the results of both structural issues, such as unemployment and police violence, and long-term social and spatial segregation. </p>
<p>Since the 2000s, the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10511482.2016.1174432">“action on places” paradigm</a> has dominated urban policy. Its goal has been to tackle spatial inequality, with the National Agency for Urban Renewal (<a href="https://www.anru.fr">ANRU</a>) playing a central role. </p>
<p>In exchange for state funding, cities had to commit to eradicate old social housing projects and build new residential buildings. </p>
<p>Previously, the policy for “deprived neighbourhoods” allowed elected officials and local representatives of the state a larger choice of strategies. These included renovation, positive discrimination, mediation, and the development of local community-led initiatives.</p>
<p>The urban renewal policy, launched in 2003, restricted the range of strategies. It is <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34636104">now criticised</a> because it changed the urban form of neighbourhoods without really changing the social issues. </p>
<p>Today, the possible avenues for action are more diverse. Efforts are concentrated in the most deprived neighbourhoods, with employment, education and security as the budget priorities. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/france-has-a-unique-approach-to-regenerating-inner-cities-what-can-we-learn-from-its-success-91652">France has a unique approach to regenerating inner cities – what can we learn from its success?</a>
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<h2>Build on existing social ties</h2>
<p>Many strong social ties exist in these so-called deprived neighbourhoods. One promising avenue for action, but which currently attracts the least investment, is to focus on the strengths of those neighbourhoods. This can be done by supporting local initiatives, especially those led by women. </p>
<p>In the book <a href="http://www.seuil.com/ouvrage/refaire-la-cite-didier-lapeyronnie/9782021087963">Remake the City</a>, two French researchers stress that it is illusory to think that solutions imposed from above can prevent ghettoisation. They see a need to learn from the experiments carried out in Latin America and in the United States. In the US, the rise of the “<a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0042098966547">community development corporation</a>” has helped to turn negative situations into experiences that foster social integration at the neighbourhood level and present a more positive image of the “ghetto”.</p>
<p>Even if the contexts are very different, these examples show that the factors at work in places at risk of ghettoisation need to be analysed at different scales. Solutions need to integrate bottom-up actions with strong engagement from communities and a policy rethink on the structural drivers of strong social and spatial segregation in cities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/94418/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sebastien Darchen receives funding from the Myer Foundation</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sonia Roitman receives funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gwendal Simon 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 matters. The 2005 riots in France started in badly designed housing projects, while innovative planning helped Medellín, Colombia, shed its reputation as the most violent city in the world.Sebastien Darchen, Lecturer in Planning, The University of QueenslandGwendal Simon, Assistant Professor of Planning and Urban Planning, Université Gustave EiffelSonia Roitman, Senior lecturer in Development Planning, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/918042018-03-22T10:42:19Z2018-03-22T10:42:19ZWant to fight crime? Plant some flowers with your neighbor<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211403/original/file-20180321-165577-pep406.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Flint, Mich., has one of the highest crime rates in the country for a city of its size. One neighborhood has found a novel way to fight back.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Carlos Osorio/AP Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Neighborhoods struggling with physical decline and high crime often become safer simply when local residents work together to fix up their neighborhood.</p>
<p>My colleagues and I at the <a href="http://yvpc.sph.umich.edu/">University of Michigan School of Public Health Youth Violence Prevention Center</a> have spent nearly a decade <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=B9HaG4kAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra">documenting</a> why. Research from cities across the United States shows how small changes to urban environments — like planting flowers or adding benches — reduce violence. </p>
<p>The result is an emerging crime prevention theory we call “busy streets.” Here’s how it works.</p>
<h2>From broken windows to busy streets</h2>
<p>Busy streets flips the logic of the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2016/11/01/500104506/broken-windows-policing-and-the-origins-of-stop-and-frisk-and-how-it-went-wrong">broken windows theory</a> – a <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1982/03/broken-windows/304465/">controversial criminological approach to public safety</a> – on its head. Broken windows defenders see urban disorder in U.S. cities – graffiti, litter, actual broken windows and the like – as a catalyst of antisocial behavior. So they direct police to <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/the-problem-with-broken-windows-policing/">crack down on minor offenses</a> like vandalism, turnstile jumping and public drinking. </p>
<p>Proponents of busy streets theory, on the other hand, believe it’s better for neighborhoods to clean up and maintain their own city streets. </p>
<p>Our research in Flint, Michigan – a once prosperous manufacturing hub near Detroit that’s now synonymous with <a href="https://news.vice.com/article/the-unraveling-of-flint-how-vehicle-city-stalled-long-before-the-water-crisis">industrial decline, unemployment and crime</a> – documents this process in action. </p>
<p>Flint’s median income today is less than US$26,000, and more than half of families with children live in poverty. It lost 27 percent of its residents since 1990, U.S. <a href="https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/flintcitymichigan/PST045216">census data</a> shows. Nearly 1 in 5 homes is vacant. Crime followed this cycle of abandonment and decay, <a href="https://www.huduser.gov/portal/periodicals/em/summer16/highlight2.html">as it has in postindustrial cities across the Rust Belt</a>. Flint now has the <a href="https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2016/crime-in-the-u.s.-2016/tables/table-4">second-highest homicide rate among U.S. cities with populations under 100,000</a>, after Gary, Ind. </p>
<p>In 2012, the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/uacflint/">University Avenue Corridor Coalition</a> – a group of residents, businesses and two local colleges – decided to try to prevent crime by fixing up a <a href="https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/mcrp/70/">3-mile stretch of University Avenue running through the Carriagetown neighborhood of central Flint</a>. We began measuring their results in 2014.</p>
<p>The group started holding frequent neighborhood cleanup days to <a href="http://www.flintside.com/features/reinvetinguniversityavenue.aspx">fix up vacant lots and abandoned buildings</a>, symbolically “owning” them by adding lighting, sidewalk repair, benches and plantings. The owners were usually happy to allow neighbors to fix up their private property for free. Sometimes, they even pitched in.</p>
<p>Those changes, we observed, inspired other homeowners and businesses on this flat, three-lane road to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2014.12.003">spruce up their properties</a>, too – what one local resident called the “spreading effect of pride.”</p>
<p>“I think that people really just needed to see that, ‘Hey, somebody does care about this other than just us,‘” said a coalition member.</p>
<p>The group also successfully pushed to get a local corner liquor store – dubbed the “Stab 'n’ Grab” because fights broke out there so often – transformed into a Jimmy John’s sandwich shop. That may sound like just another chain restaurant, but in this part of Flint there are few businesses and almost nowhere else to eat. A new sandwich shop was a huge development. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211214/original/file-20180320-31633-127sp7g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211214/original/file-20180320-31633-127sp7g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211214/original/file-20180320-31633-127sp7g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211214/original/file-20180320-31633-127sp7g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211214/original/file-20180320-31633-127sp7g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211214/original/file-20180320-31633-127sp7g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211214/original/file-20180320-31633-127sp7g.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">
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<span class="caption">The corner of University Avenue and North Grand Traverse Street in Flint has been transformed. Above: a liquor store where fights used to break out. Below: the Jimmy John’s sandwich shop that replaced it.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Google Street View</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>The vacant lot across the street from the Jimmy John’s, previously a favorite public drinking spot, was turned into a park called University Square. It now hosts regular events, replete with food trucks and lawn games. </p>
<p>When people drive by this once derelict intersection and see a block party underway, a community organizer told me, their jaws drop. </p>
<h2>Busy streets have less crime</h2>
<p>These <a href="http://www.cpted.net/">surface-level environmental changes</a> turned out to have profound economic and societal effects on this part of central Flint. </p>
<p>We surveyed residents there in 2014 – before the intervention began – as well as in 2016 and 2017. We are now preparing the results of the Flint study for publication in an academic journal, but here’s a snapshot of our findings.</p>
<p>Over time, community members reported fewer mental health problems, said they’d been victims of crime less often, and felt less afraid. That’s probably because crime did go down along the University Avenue Corridor: According to <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-15B-s82mACSSVPwJjOt-d-b16-3IT6e/view">the coalition’s latest report</a>, assaults decreased 54 percent, robberies 83 percent and burglaries 76 percent between 2013 and 2018. </p>
<p>To test the connection with the coalition’s work, we compared this area to a control group of Flint neighborhoods that had suffered similar levels of disinvestment and urban decay. We learned that places where empty lots were being maintained by the community had nearly 40 percent fewer assaults and violent crimes than untouched vacant lots.</p>
<p>This finding is similar to data from other cities. From 1999 to 2008, for example, the city of Philadelphia <a href="http://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwr273">cleaned up 4,436 vacant lots, signaling “ownership”</a> with fencing, benches, plantings and the like. Gun assaults in areas where the interventions occurred <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/early/2018/02/20/1718503115.full.pdf">dropped by 29 percent over three years</a>. Nuisance crimes like loitering and vandalism declined 30 percent. </p>
<p>Philadelphia also saw economic gains from maintaining empty land and fixing up abandoned properties. According to an <a href="http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/AJPH.2016.303434">economic analysis published in the American Journal of Public Health</a> in 2016, for every dollar spent reoccupying an abandoned building, taxpayers saved $5 in potential criminal justice costs. Cleaned-up vacant lots saved the city even more: $26 per dollar spent.</p>
<p>People in areas of Philadelphia with newly greened lots also reported exercising more and experiencing less stress, presumably because they they felt more comfortable being outside. </p>
<h2>Resilient cities</h2>
<p>One likely reason that crime drops after joint neighborhood improvement projects is community engagement. Residents <a href="https://umich.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=bc01aab1491542418477312a5fdaef68">in the University Corridor intervention area</a> reported participating more in neighborhood watches, block associations and community events than in the area where residents didn’t undertake improvement projects. </p>
<p>In other words, when neighbors work together to clean up, say, an empty lot, they don’t just eliminate <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/28/us/foreclosures-lead-to-crime-and-decay-in-abandoned-buildings.html">the kind of dark, empty place that lends itself to criminal activity</a>. There are spin-off effects, too. </p>
<p>Nicer public spaces encourage more people to spent time in those places, which helps neighbors get to know each other. And when people know each other, they look out for each other, monitoring activity in their neighborhood more closely. Streets get busy. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211400/original/file-20180321-165547-1ml7ctj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/211400/original/file-20180321-165547-1ml7ctj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211400/original/file-20180321-165547-1ml7ctj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211400/original/file-20180321-165547-1ml7ctj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211400/original/file-20180321-165547-1ml7ctj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211400/original/file-20180321-165547-1ml7ctj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/211400/original/file-20180321-165547-1ml7ctj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Community members hauled garbage out of the Flint River.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CPTED</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We also found that the efforts to upgrade public spaces along the University Corridor spurred a modest local economic recovery. </p>
<p>Before the 2013 intervention, very few businesses were operating in the area. From 2015 to 2017, seven new businesses opened. More commerce makes streets busier, too.</p>
<h2>Role of the police</h2>
<p>Based on our surveys, University Corridor residents were also more willing to report crimes to the police after the 2013 intervention began. </p>
<p>This was critical in this mostly African-American neighborhood, where many people expressed mistrust in local law enforcement. They said officers were “never around when you need them.” </p>
<p>Indeed, Flint’s police department – overworked and underfunded – was called “broken” in a Feb. 25, 2018, <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/inside-a-broken-police-department-in-flint-michigan">New Yorker article</a>. </p>
<p>So when Kettering University, one of two partner colleges in the University Corridor coalition, got a <a href="http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2018/01/criminal_prevention_grant_incr.html">grant that financed more police presence in the area</a>, many locals said they were grateful. </p>
<p>Police can lay the foundation for neighborhood revitalization efforts to succeed. The aim is not to aggressively flood high-crime areas with police – as cities like <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/13/nyregion/police-widen-plan-to-flood-crime-areas.html">New York</a> and <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/the-problem-with-broken-windows-policing/">Newark did</a> in their broken windows days – but rather to increase foot patrols. This shows residents that the city cares about their neighborhood and their safety. </p>
<p>But law enforcement is not the main reason “busy streets” work to prevent crime. Rather, after years of studying community resilience, I believe that locally driven revitalization projects make troubled neighborhoods safer because they recognize residents not as victims but as agents of change. </p>
<p>Together, neighbors <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1090198114558590">help people rebuild the kind of economic and social fabric that keeps communities healthy</a>. </p>
<p><em>This article has been updated to more accurately reflect Flint’s current population size and homicide rate.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91804/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marc A Zimmerman is the director of the Prevention Research Center of Michigan and the CDC-funded Youth Violence Prevention Center. He is the editor of Youth and Society, a member of the editorial board for Health Education Research and editor emeritus of Health Education and Behavior.</span></em></p>Crime is way down in one Flint, Michigan, neighborhood, where locals have teamed up to revamp neglected public spaces. Here, why ‘busy streets’ can prevent violence and save cities money.Marc A. Zimmerman, Professor, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/916522018-03-11T19:04:36Z2018-03-11T19:04:36ZFrance has a unique approach to regenerating inner cities – what can we learn from its success?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209488/original/file-20180308-30958-1d8aohi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The design for Paris Rive Gauche incorporates a mix of uses and access to green spaces.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.parisrivegauche.com/Actualites/Parcours-Paris-Rive-Gauche-2015-le-nouveau-guide-des-promenades-urbaines/(language)/fre-FR">Paris Rive Gauche/SOA Architects</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The regeneration of inner-city areas is a <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2016/07/13/How-eight-cities-succeeded-in-rejuvenating-their-urban-land">global challenge</a>. Inner cities in France certainly have their problems, but the nation also has a good record of successful major urban regeneration projects. We have analysed three of these initiatives to understand what factors contribute to good regeneration outcomes.</p>
<p>Urban regeneration can be defined as a holistic approach to revitalise under-used areas of the city. It’s commonly associated, however, with the related challenges of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentrification">gentrification</a>, rising property values, and displacement of low-income groups. And these projects do not always achieve a <a href="http://www.worldcitiescultureforum.com/news/urban-regeneration-can-cities-stay-unique">sense of place</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sense-of-place-messier-than-it-ever-was-so-how-do-we-manage-this-shifting-world-64591">Sense of place: messier than it ever was, so how do we manage this shifting world?</a>
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<p>French cities have much higher densities than Australian cities. For instance, Paris has 10,000 inhabitants per square kilometre, which is more than five times the population density of Sydney’s 1,900/km<sup>2</sup>. Higher density and more accessibility to public transport are important for successful urban regeneration. But this is not the only explanation for its success in France. </p>
<p>With the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/postindustrial-society">post-industrial society</a>, new approaches are emerging to solve planning challenges in France. Since the nation <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decentralisation_in_France">began decentralisation in 1982</a>, local authorities have gained more power to implement planning strategies. </p>
<p>At the same time, the multiplicity of urban stakeholders makes decision-making difficult. Since the 1990s, legal obligations to consult with residents have increased. Regeneration projects have to follow general planning principles but must also allow some flexibility to enable the local community to have an input.</p>
<h2>Lyon Confluence</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209493/original/file-20180308-30972-1h709c3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209493/original/file-20180308-30972-1h709c3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209493/original/file-20180308-30972-1h709c3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=831&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209493/original/file-20180308-30972-1h709c3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=831&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209493/original/file-20180308-30972-1h709c3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=831&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209493/original/file-20180308-30972-1h709c3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1045&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209493/original/file-20180308-30972-1h709c3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1045&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209493/original/file-20180308-30972-1h709c3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1045&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 Lyon Confluence area comprises 150 hectares between the Rhone and Saône rivers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.lyon-confluence.fr/ressources/flipbooks/DossierPresseJuin2015/GB/files/assets/basic-html/page-2.html#">Lyon Confluence</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Lyon Confluence is the largest <a href="http://www.lyon-confluence.fr/en/urban-project/urban-redevelopment/">urban regeneration project in Europe</a> with 150 hectares of land having been redeveloped since 2003. The project is led by public redevelopment company <a href="http://www.lyon-confluence.fr/en/urban-project/project-manager.html">SPL Lyon</a>. It is 89% owned by Greater Lyon, a metropolitan institution made up of 59 local authorities.</p>
<p>SPL Lyon is able to set up strict planning and urban design principles. Developers are required to integrate these principles into their designs to be part of the project. </p>
<p>SPL sells the land to developers at a fixed rate. Developers need to win design competitions to be part of the project and not just offer the best price for the land.</p>
<p>Lyon Confluence has attracted foreign investors, such as Japan’s <a href="http://www.nedo.go.jp/english/">NEDO</a>, and became a model for <a href="http://www.lyon-confluence.fr/en/innovating/2011-2016-lyon-smart-community.html">smart positive energy buildings</a>, which produce more energy than they consume. </p>
<h2>Île de Nantes</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://www.eurocities.eu/eurocities/news/L-Ile-de-Nantes-regeneration-project-WSPO-9BQH3Y">Île de Nantes regeneration project</a> aims to transform a 337-hectare industrial area into a sustainable living and working environment. There is a strong emphasis on preserving the industrial character of the area. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209479/original/file-20180308-146700-1xpdxgv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209479/original/file-20180308-146700-1xpdxgv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209479/original/file-20180308-146700-1xpdxgv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209479/original/file-20180308-146700-1xpdxgv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209479/original/file-20180308-146700-1xpdxgv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209479/original/file-20180308-146700-1xpdxgv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209479/original/file-20180308-146700-1xpdxgv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209479/original/file-20180308-146700-1xpdxgv.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>
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<span class="caption">The Île de Nantes project has transformed warehouses into places for cultural events.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.iledenantes.com/en/projets/63-the-warehouses.html">Île de Nantes</a></span>
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<p>Another objective is to attract creative industries firms to a <a href="http://www.iledenantes.com/en/projets/58-creative-arts-district.html">creative arts district</a> to replace the local shipbuilding industry, which closed in 1987. </p>
<p>A public redevelopment company known as <a href="http://www.iledenantes.com/en/articles/128-la-samoa.html">SAMOA</a> oversees the Île de Nantes project, which will be completed in 2037. Innovative <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placemaking">placemaking</a> strategies are being developed to create a sense of place connected to the area’s industrial past. The project includes a lot of consultation with urban stakeholders. </p>
<h2>Paris Rive-Gauche</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://www.parisrivegauche.com/L-operation-d-urbanisme/(language)/fre-FR">Paris Rive Gauche</a> project is one of the most important regeneration project in the city. The 130-hectare site is located in the east of Paris, on the banks of the Seine. Paris Rive Gauche means Paris Left Bank and refers to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rive_Gauche">Paris of an earlier era</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209472/original/file-20180308-146661-1bn0my7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209472/original/file-20180308-146661-1bn0my7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209472/original/file-20180308-146661-1bn0my7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=309&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209472/original/file-20180308-146661-1bn0my7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=309&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209472/original/file-20180308-146661-1bn0my7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=309&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209472/original/file-20180308-146661-1bn0my7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209472/original/file-20180308-146661-1bn0my7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209472/original/file-20180308-146661-1bn0my7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Work on the Paris Rive Gauche redevelopment began in the early 1990s and is now halfway through. The aim is to create a mixed-use neighbourhood around landmarks such as the national library and Paris Diderot University.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.parisrivegauche.com/Les-quartiers-et-leurs-projets/Tolbiac-nord">Paris Rive Gauche</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The aim is to redevelop industrial wasteland located around the Austerlitz train station. A publicly owned local development company, <a href="http://en.semapa.fr/">SEMAPA</a>, manages the project. </p>
<p>The concerted development zone, or <a href="http://www.lyon-confluence.fr/en/urban-project/urban-redevelopment/">ZAC</a> (<em>zone d'aménagement concertée</em>), was launched in 1991. Works included the construction of the François Mitterrand National Library (<a href="http://www.bnf.fr/fr/la_bnf/sites/a.site_francois-mitterrand.html">BNF</a>), which <a href="http://www.parisrivegauche.com/L-operation-d-urbanisme/Dates-cles">began in 1991</a> and was completed in 1995.</p>
<p>Despite being overseen by one leading agency, the project is based on strong public involvement and the program has been modified. Powerful local associations went to court as there was not enough public space and the density was too high. In 1997, to prevent further revisions, SEMAPA developed a meaningful public involvement process to ensure the intentions of community stakeholders are incorporated in this large-scale project; developers are obliged to integrate these intentions. </p>
<p>The role of the development agency is to select developers through a <a href="https://www.designboom.com/architecture/soa-wins-zac-paris-rive-gauche-development-competition/">competitive process</a> to achieve the best design outcomes. Paris Rive Gauche is not just another business district like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_D%C3%A9fense">La Défense</a>, but a real urban neighbourhood developed around existing urban landmarks. It <a href="http://www.parisrivegauche.com/L-operation-d-urbanisme/Le-programme">combines a mix of uses</a> (offices, housing, local retail and services, green spaces) and good access to public transport. </p>
<h2>What do these projects have in common?</h2>
<p>The three regeneration initiatives presented here are all led by a single development agency financed with public money. This type of governance allows for clear leadership, which is essential to complete projects with a 30-year lifespan. </p>
<p>Development agencies ensure through a public involvement process that these initiatives reflect local community aspirations. The creation of the ZAC as a planning instrument allows for the project’s objectives to be modified as it evolves. </p>
<p>Development agencies have the financial capacity to sell the land below market prices and to subsidise housing for low-income households. The French planning instruments and financing mechanisms associated with public involvement in decision-making contribute to successful urban regeneration. This approach is known as “transactional urbanism”, reflecting the increasing negotiations between the development agency and the community.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91652/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sebastien Darchen receives funding from the Myer Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gwendal Simon 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>France is transforming old industrial wastelands in cities like Paris, Lyon and Nantes, so what are the secrets of its success?Sebastien Darchen, Lecturer in Planning, The University of QueenslandGwendal Simon, Assistant Professor of Planning and Urban Planning, Université Gustave EiffelLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/882652017-12-04T08:51:49Z2017-12-04T08:51:49ZSelling homes for £1 gives local authorities the power to revive deprived communities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197306/original/file-20171201-10124-13lpkvv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/row-boarded-terraced-houses-760438531?src=Eh2AfKU_ETLFxuHbs-Gehg-2-1">from www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the city of Stoke-on-Trent, England, the council is offering 25 homes for sale for just £1 each. The houses are mainly two-bedroom Victorian terraces, in a deprived area of the city where there are a large number of empty properties, and which has a reputation locally for <a href="http://www.itv.com/news/central/update/2013-10-18/1-house-neighbourhood-previously-had-drug-problem/">high levels of disorder</a> and <a href="http://dclgapps.communities.gov.uk/imd/idmap.html">antisocial behaviour</a>. Clearly, the city council hopes the “Reviving Communities Scheme” will do just that. </p>
<p>This doesn’t mean that Christmas has come early for private landlords or property developers in Stoke. These properties must be renovated and lived in, rather than demolished or rented out, and there are <a href="https://www.stoke.gov.uk/info/20006/housing_and_neighbourhoods/274/reviving_communities_housing_scheme">strict criteria</a> which applicants need to meet. </p>
<p>Would-be £1 home owners must have a local connection and earn no more than £27,000 each year if they’re a single person (up to £60,000 if they’ve got a family with children). This scheme includes a loan of up to £60,000 – repayable over 15 years – which funds renovations carried out by the council before new owners move in. This way, new owners can avoid the stressful process of organising the renovations themselves.</p>
<h2>The big issues</h2>
<p>Faced with ongoing austerity measures, Stoke-on-Trent City Council <a href="https://www.stoke.gov.uk/news/article/158/public_to_be_consulted_on_budget_refresh_proposals">has had to</a> make £172m in savings since 2010 and will need to find a further £34m by 2020. So one might wonder why the council doesn’t simply renovate the properties to rent them out and generate much-needed income in the process. The answer is that – rather than being a money-maker – this scheme sets out to address some of the deepest social issues facing Britain today. </p>
<p>It is estimated that there are more than <a href="http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN03012">589,000 empty homes</a> in England and Wales – more than 200,000 of which have been empty for six months or more. Against the backdrop of severe housing shortages across the UK – and an anticipated <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/536702/Household_Projections_-_2014_-_2039.pdf#page=2">need to build over 210,000 homes per year</a> – the £1 scheme can put disused homes back into use, providing short-term relief from some of the pressure on the housing market and freeing up extra rental spaces in the city. </p>
<p>The scheme has been introduced at a time when many young people are struggling to buy a home. <a href="https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/10188">Incomes are stagnating</a> and, on average, house prices are <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/housing/bulletins/housingaffordabilityinenglandandwales/1997to2016">7.6 times the average UK salary</a>, up from 3.6 times earnings in 1997. <a href="https://www.cml.org.uk/documents/home-ownership-or-bust/20161017-home-ownership-or-bust.pdf">The Council of Mortgage Lenders</a> recently revealed that less than 50% of people under 35 believe they are likely to buy a home within 10 years. </p>
<p>While there have been calls for young people to <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/estate-agent-says-londons-millennials-should-stop-buying-sandwiches-holidays-and-nights-out-in-order-a3690481.html?amp">spend less and save for a deposit</a>, the reality is often that young people – who are far more likely to <a href="http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7706/CBP-7706.pdf">live in private or social rented housing</a> – routinely pay more in rent than they would for a mortgage.</p>
<p>The uncertainties of living in rented housing – exacerbated by short-term lets – have recently spread to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/nov/04/pay-to-stay-uncertainty-leaves-tenants-too-little-time-says-council">council tenants and other social renters</a>. The £1 homes scheme offers residents, and especially younger people, an affordable way to buy their own homes and escape these uncertainties. </p>
<h2>Small but successful</h2>
<p>Schemes like this have been tried before – in Stoke back in 2014, and in cities as far afield as Liverpool in the UK, Roubaix in France and Abruzzo in Italy. The previous scheme in Stoke proved remarkably popular, attracting <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-22507248">hundreds of applications</a> for just 35 homes. </p>
<p>There is evidence that they work, too – Stoke’s <a href="https://www.stoke.gov.uk/news/article/154/weve_launched_the_second_phase_of_the_award-winning_empty_homes_project">first £1 homes scheme</a> led to reductions in disorder and anti-social behaviour, as well as improvements in local health outcomes and housing conditions in the local area. Meanwhile, <a href="http://theportlandinnproject.tumblr.com/">The Portland Inn Project</a> has encouraged local organisations to work together to turn the former Portland Inn into a community centre. In working to breathe new life into the former pub, they have helped local residents develop a stake in the community.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/BR5TfN0A2lu","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>Schemes such as this can work in tandem with other initiatives to deliver real benefits for local people. For example, Stoke has been shortlisted for the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/five-towns-and-cities-shortlisted-for-uk-city-of-culture-2021">UK City of Culture 2021</a> contest. The ambition to revive declining communities and support local cultural and heritage industries formed a key part of the bid. </p>
<p>In this sense, the £1 scheme can be seen as part of the broader plan to encourage and sustain the city’s long-term cultural revival. It has given the council a means to encourage and maintain stable inner-city communities, while delivering benefits for residents by creating a sense of safety, belonging and ownership. It can also encourage younger residents to make a long-term commitment to the local area, helping places to become communities that survive and thrive long into the future.</p>
<p>On their own, small projects such as £1 houses won’t give all residents a chance to own their own home – nor can they alleviate the insecurities of renting or make up for the nation’s housing shortages. Only the national government has the power to solve problems of this scale. But they do give local authorities the means to encourage a sense of ownership in their local communities. And for Stoke – and many other post-industrial centres across the UK and Europe – that commitment from residents is what helps cities thrive.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88265/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tony Kearon is affiliated with the Labour and Co-operative parties in Staffordshire and has been involved in helping a local authority in Staffordshire (not Stoke on Trent) to develop policies and procedures on community cohesion and support for homeless and other vulnerable people. As a District and Parish councillor he has been involved in supporting residents to develop a neighbourhood plan for the community in which he lives (which is not in Stoke on Trent).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Mahoney 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>Only the national government can solve the housing crisis – but local authorities can make a big difference in their communities.Ian Mahoney, Lecturer in Criminology, Liverpool Hope UniversityTony Kearon, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Co-Director of the Keele Policing Academic Collaboration (KPAC), Keele UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/849282017-10-13T14:39:37Z2017-10-13T14:39:37ZA beacon of urban renewal: how post-industrial Dundee transformed itself<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189766/original/file-20171011-16686-2yjlm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">V A from River AR</span> </figcaption></figure><p>Creativity and culture have always contributed enormously to the evolution of our societies, but in recent years there has been a growing realisation of the value of the arts as an economic driver.</p>
<p>Cities have woken up to the fact that a vibrant cultural offering makes people want to live there, and the numbers back this up. <a href="https://nycfuture.org/pdf/Creative-New-York-2015.pdf">New York</a> is home to nearly 14,000 arts-related businesses employing nearly 300,000 people and generating revenues of $230 billion each year. <a href="https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/creative-industries-in-london.pdf">London’s</a> creative industry sector is worth £35 billon and employs around 800,000 people.</p>
<p>These may be massive global cities, but in Dundee, a small city on the east coast of Scotland, the creative industries produce a total annual <a href="https://www.rgu.ac.uk/download.cfm?downloadfile=6117EE60-FB84-11E3-80660050568D00BF&typename=dmFile&fieldname=filename">turnover</a> of £190m and provide employment for 3,000 people. When you consider that the population of the city is just 150,000, you get some indication of the importance of the cultural sector to its economic well-being.</p>
<h2>Renaissance city</h2>
<p>Dundee is a dynamic city with a <a href="http://www.dundeecityofdesign.com/downloads/Dundee%20Cultural%20Strategy_online.pdf">strong cultural identity</a> and a <a href="http://creativedundee.com/2015/08/dundee-creative-industries-eu-study/">history of innovation and creativity</a>. But by the late 1980s, profound <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264816898_The_decline_of_jute_and_the_de-globalisation_of_Dundee">post-industrial decline</a> had turned a once proud and world-facing city into a fragmented shadow of its former self.</p>
<p>Now the city famed for <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/scottishhistory/victorian/trails_victorian_dundee.shtml">jute, jam and journalism</a> – the three Js that defined its economy and global reputation – has become home to a thriving digital media industry, internationally respected universities, world-renowned <a href="http://www.drugdiscovery.dundee.ac.uk/about-us/news">drug discovery</a> and medical <a href="http://medicine.dundee.ac.uk/main-news">advancements</a>, not to mention a vibrant design and creative sector.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/m_pSyg0UPgA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">V&A Dundee/YouTube.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://www.archdaily.com/tag/kengo-kuma">Kengo Kuma’s</a> new <a href="https://www.vandadundee.org/building-vanda-dundee/the-building">Victoria and Albert building</a> which sits at the heart of Dundee’s £1 billion <a href="https://www.dundeewaterfront.com/about/masterplan">waterfront regeneration</a>, is already having a transformative effect, with investment flowing into the city and businesses springing up to service the anticipated tourist numbers.</p>
<p>The economist <a href="http://luskin.ucla.edu/person/allen-j-scott/">Allen Scott</a> refers to the “<a href="http://escholarship.org/uc/item/77m9g2g6#page-1">new economies</a>” of post-industrial cities, saying:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The peculiar forms of economic order that are in the ascendant today represent a marked shift away from the massified structures of production and the rigid labour markets that typified <a href="http://www.cddc.vt.edu/digitalfordism/fordism_materials/thompson.htm">fordism</a>… [and are] made up of sectors such as the high-technology industries; neo-artisan manufacturing; business and financial services; cultural-product industries (including the media).</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is surely an apt description of contemporary Dundee, where the solution becomes one of nurturing and retaining diverse and rich talent.</p>
<h2>Voyage of rediscovery</h2>
<p>The fact that the V&A will soon open its first building outside of London coupled with its elite <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-30275768">UNESCO City of Design status</a>, means that Dundee is finally being recognised as a design hothouse. Both of these initiatives are the result of dogged determination by groups of passionate people within the city, who believe in the city and wouldn’t live anywhere else. Why move when you can help build?</p>
<p>It is a <a href="http://en.unesco.org/creativity/creative-economy-report-2013">well-evidenced</a> fact that the creative and cultural economy is growing, and smaller cities like Dundee can benefit from the opportunity to take their share of this market. Many of the building blocks are already in place. The city enjoys a great resource of talent nurtured by the universities of Dundee and Abertay, and a great coastal location with a wealth of local heritage.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189774/original/file-20171011-15748-epex7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189774/original/file-20171011-15748-epex7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189774/original/file-20171011-15748-epex7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189774/original/file-20171011-15748-epex7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189774/original/file-20171011-15748-epex7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189774/original/file-20171011-15748-epex7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189774/original/file-20171011-15748-epex7h.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">Dundee sits on the River Tay, looking over to Fife.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ernpics/37489411666/in/pool-dundee/">Eric Niven/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This and Dundee’s transformation is not lost on the growing audience for cultural tourism. A thriving cultural scene can drive exponential growth in both tourism and inward investment. It makes a place not just attractive to visit, but also to live, study and work in. This in turn engenders civic pride, a strong identity and a burgeoning self-confidence.</p>
<h2>Lessons to be learnt</h2>
<p>Dundee’s path to “rediscovery” has much to offer other cities. It’s not based around any individual’s ambition or success. It represents a strong partnership between government, local authorities, agencies, industry, academia and education, where organisations and focused like-minded individuals have agreed a shared vision.</p>
<p>Many people cite the establishment of <a href="http://www.dca.org.uk/about">Dundee Contemporary Arts</a> (DCA) as the turning point for this cultural shift. DCA opened in 1999, but the idea of building a visual arts centre in Dundee was established in the early 1980s with the aim of brightening up a decaying industrial townscape. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190162/original/file-20171013-11680-1v2epa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190162/original/file-20171013-11680-1v2epa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=317&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190162/original/file-20171013-11680-1v2epa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=317&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190162/original/file-20171013-11680-1v2epa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=317&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190162/original/file-20171013-11680-1v2epa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190162/original/file-20171013-11680-1v2epa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/190162/original/file-20171013-11680-1v2epa6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The creation of the DCA - Dundee Contemporary Arts - in 1999 prompted a cultural shift in the city.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">DCA</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The establishment of a <a href="https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/627b195f-7918-3bae-a3dc-c72ce077029a">biological sciences centre</a> at the University of Dundee effectively kickstarted a new focus in both academia and spin-off businesses around drug discovery. This new identity, labelled <a href="http://www.biodundee.co.uk/About+BioDundee/">Bio-Dundee</a>, harnessed the notion of a dense cluster of scientists and businesses compressed within a three-mile radius. The opportunities for growth on a global scale attracted talent to Dundee from all over the world, and the talent wanted good housing and good schools, but also good cultural and recreational provision. </p>
<p>In the late 1980s to mid 1990s, a new industry began to form in Dundee. Driven by closure of the <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/timex-closes-dundee-factory-company-leaves-city-after-bitter-dispute-1464205.html">Timex factory</a> which was producing <a href="https://www.extremetech.com/computing/127109-zx-spectrum-30-years-old-and-still-one-of-the-cheapest-computers-ever-made">ZX Spectrum computers</a>, a bedroom computer games industry started to emerge, with the globally successful game <a href="https://readonlymemory.vg/the-making-of-lemmings/">Lemmings</a> and later <a href="https://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/fp/dundee-games-designer-says-two-decades-grand-theft-auto-boosted-citys-reputation/">Grand Theft Auto</a> exemplifying its ambition.</p>
<p>Throughout the 1990s the games industry cluster grew, with University of Abertay launching the world’s first <a href="https://www.abertay.ac.uk/discover/academic-schools/arts-media-computer-games/">computer games degree programme</a>, attracting students and other creatives to the city, which was now garnering international acclaim. The <a href="http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/interactive-tayside-profile">Interactive Tayside</a> business support agency was set up by Scottish Enterprise Tayside, and an industrial strategy was formed.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189773/original/file-20171011-16653-ba8vqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/189773/original/file-20171011-16653-ba8vqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189773/original/file-20171011-16653-ba8vqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189773/original/file-20171011-16653-ba8vqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189773/original/file-20171011-16653-ba8vqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189773/original/file-20171011-16653-ba8vqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/189773/original/file-20171011-16653-ba8vqz.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">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Desperate Dan, a much-loved character from The Dandy, a comic first published in 1937 by Dundee publishers DC Thomson.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/seapigeon/37459911032/in/pool-dundee/">Graeme/Flickr</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Since then, the city has been able to retain and attract creative talent from all over the world, causing a rising swell of demand, activity and development. In short, people took risks, invested their lives, generated success, and government took note. Investment soon followed.</p>
<p>The city’s continuing evolution is part of a journey which began centuries ago with Dundee’s trailblazing achievements in exploration, trade and communications, and is based on authentic activity and indigenous growth. Linen and textiles, education, jute, jam, journalism, drug and medical research, computer gaming and the creative and cultural industries have all grown from activities that were started by citizens of Dundee, in a physical and political landscape both challenging and complementary, and changing with the times.</p>
<p>Dundee is not built around recommissioning a brownfield site, developing buildings and then incentivising their use. It is in fact the very opposite: strong, industrious and innovative activity attracting further development funding. Dundee has always been about adapting to change and exploring new opportunities. A new journey of discovery has begun.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84928/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Harris has received funding from AHRC; Scottish Enterprise; Creative Scotland; Scottish Arts Council; Scottish Government.
Paul Harris is Chair of Regional Screen Scotland.</span></em></p>Many cities could learn from Dundee, which overcame industrial decline to become a UNESCO City of Design, with a shiny new cityscape to matchPaul Harris, Professor and Dean of Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, University of DundeeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/834222017-09-05T20:07:17Z2017-09-05T20:07:17ZWe Live Here: how do residents feel about public housing redevelopment?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184596/original/file-20170905-9733-1yao91q.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">#WeLiveHere2017 aims to turn inanimate buildings into metaphorical sentient structures, with 'mood lights' expressing the feelings of Matavai and Turanga Tower residents about their neighbourhood's redevelopment.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nic Walker courtesy of #WeLiveHere2017</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Sydney suburb of Waterloo is set to be redeveloped as a state-government-nominated “<a href="http://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/News/2017/Waterloo-nominated-as-next-state-significant-precinct">State Significant Precinct</a>”. Many Waterloo residents <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/jul/12/i-feel-on-the-verge-of-extinction-the-battle-for-sydneys-waterloo">are anxious</a> about the relocation process and about what <a href="https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2017/07/29/redeveloping-social-housing-sydneys-waterloo/15012504004989">kind of neighbourhood</a> they will return to. </p>
<p>Documentary filmmakers and urban scholars are working alongside residents as they attempt to engage with media reporting and urban planning of the redevelopment.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184595/original/file-20170905-9729-1qz6kt6.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184595/original/file-20170905-9729-1qz6kt6.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184595/original/file-20170905-9729-1qz6kt6.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184595/original/file-20170905-9729-1qz6kt6.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184595/original/file-20170905-9729-1qz6kt6.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184595/original/file-20170905-9729-1qz6kt6.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184595/original/file-20170905-9729-1qz6kt6.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">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Residents can change the colour of their mood light to express how they feel about changes in their neighbourhood.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shuang Wu</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One project, <a href="http://www.welivehere2017.com.au/">#WeLiveHere2017</a>, is part-urban performance and part-documentary. Up to 500 residents in two public housing towers are each being given a coloured “mood light” to install in their window. Residents can change the colour of their light to express how they feel about the changes in their neighbourhood, including their possible relocation.</p>
<p>The project is a response to public tenants often having little choice or say in the key debates and decisions about their changing neighbourhoods and homes.</p>
<h2>What is the main purpose of housing?</h2>
<p>The Waterloo site includes about 18 hectares of government-owned land containing low-, medium- and high-rise public housing. According to Planning NSW, the redevelopment will increase “<a href="http://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/Plans-for-your-area/State-significant-precincts/%7E/media/DC8B55879C314803B29F488FE2E56450.ashx">housing and jobs</a>”. </p>
<p>Housing affordability is a hot issue across the <a href="https://theconversation.com/affordable-housing-finger-pointing-politics-and-possible-policy-solutions-75703">political spectrum</a>. The problem is felt most acutely by those who are struggling to <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/policy/ahuri-briefs/Australians-buying-their-first-home-at-an-older-age">get into</a> the housing market, to find an <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/2099/AHURI_Final_Report_No170_Secure_occupancy_in_rental_housing_conceptual_foundations_and_comparative_perspectives.pdf">affordable rental</a>, or to simply put <a href="http://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/final-reports/288">a roof over their head</a>.</p>
<p>While the problem seems obvious, there are <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/the-government-says-it-has-a-plan-to-fix-the-housing-affordability-crisis-this-chart-suggests-it-doesnt-20160902-gr7sbz.html">divergent views</a> about the causes and solutions to this crisis.</p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>Further reading:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/affordable-housing-finger-pointing-politics-and-possible-policy-solutions-75703">Affordable housing, finger-pointing politics and possible policy solutions</a></em></p>
<hr>
<p>Many politicians and policymakers <a href="https://www.nsw.gov.au/your-government/the-premier/media-releases-from-the-premier/comprehensive-package-to-support-first-homebuyers/">do not engage</a> – or <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/joe-hockeys-advice-to-first-homebuyers--get-a-good-job-that-pays-good-money-20150609-ghjqyw.html">do not want to engage</a> – with debates about non-market solutions to the housing problem.</p>
<p>This debate has a long history. In 1872, <a href="http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1872/housing-question/index.htm">Frederick Engels</a> concluded that “the so-called housing shortage, which plays such a great role in the press” was the result of industrialising European cities not providing worker housing.</p>
<p>Engels understood that residential housing is political, and that if market societies fail to provide workers with enough adequate housing, the housing problem will continue <em>ad infinitum</em>.</p>
<h2>Solutions depend on the questions we ask</h2>
<p>Finding effective solutions depends on asking the <a href="http://www.ijurr.org/issue/vol-41-number-2-march-2017/">right housing questions</a>. The public debate is replete with evidenced-based housing data about the wrong, or possibly non-housing, questions.</p>
<p>Housing supply and dwelling completions data answer popular housing questions, but often <a href="https://theconversation.com/four-outdated-assumptions-prevent-progress-on-affordable-housing-to-everyones-cost-80198">presuppose</a> a particular private <a href="https://www.propertycouncil.com.au/Web/Content/Opinion_Pieces/National/2016/Housing_supply_and_housing_affordability.aspx">housing type</a>. Housing market analyses focus on <a href="http://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-economy/if-disaster-does-strike-heres-how-to-get-out-unscathed/news-story/a55ce00a6d47e22eee17207827ce7970">economic exchange</a> rather than questions of residential use.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.versobooks.com/books/2111-in-defense-of-housing">Arguably</a>, the key housing question is this: should we continue with policy that encourages housing to be treated as a safety deposit box for growing capital, or should housing be revalued for its habitational uses, such as housing for <a href="https://theconversation.com/affordable-housing-shortfall-leaves-1-3m-households-in-need-and-rising-study-80965">the poor</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/high-housing-costs-create-worries-for-city-tourism-and-hospitality-57347">workers</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/suitable-affordable-housing-is-key-to-our-population-ageing-well-38644">the elderly</a> in our cities?</p>
<p>Asking about these uses of homes reminds us that people actually live in houses, and that people need housing to live in if they are to work in our cities.</p>
<p>Urban economies only function when a cross-section of society lives in the city to provide a diverse labour force. In other words, it’s about housing and jobs. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ato.gov.au/Forms/Rental-properties-2013-14/?anchor=negative_gearing">Policy</a> that treats houses as abstract market commodities has effectively devalued the tacit knowledge that is gained from how different people inhabit their housing and city.</p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>Further reading:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-the-financialisation-of-housing-and-what-can-be-done-about-it-73767">Explainer: the financialisation of housing and what can be done about it</a></em></p>
<hr>
<h2>Shedding light on people’s housing problem</h2>
<p>The value of a creative artistic practice such as <a href="http://www.welivehere2017.com.au/">#WeLiveHere2017</a> lies in its capacity to expose the housing problem.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184602/original/file-20170905-9762-41gvt1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184602/original/file-20170905-9762-41gvt1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184602/original/file-20170905-9762-41gvt1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=775&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184602/original/file-20170905-9762-41gvt1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=775&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184602/original/file-20170905-9762-41gvt1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=775&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184602/original/file-20170905-9762-41gvt1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=974&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184602/original/file-20170905-9762-41gvt1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=974&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184602/original/file-20170905-9762-41gvt1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=974&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 building that shows how its inhabitants are feeling.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tom Wholohan</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The “<a href="http://discoversociety.org/2014/05/06/the-centre-for-social-justice-decision-based-evidence-making-to-punish-the-poor/">evidence base</a>” about public housing redevelopment is currently framed around recording “<a href="http://www.housing.nsw.gov.au/about-us/reports-plans-and-papers/ahuri-research-into-addressing-locational-disadvantage">concentrations of poverty</a>”, mapping <a href="http://www.redwatch.org.au/issues/public-housing/millers/140319lahc/at_download/file">“poorly maintained public housing assets”</a> and “<a href="http://www.redwatch.org.au/issues/public-housing/millers/140319lahc/at_download/file">economic modelling</a>” that justifies government agendas to sell outright or to lease out public land and housing for economic purposes.</p>
<p>This evidence base limits residents’ capacity to create alternative narratives about their homes and neighbourhoods, because these rely on different types of data and evidence.</p>
<p>The media regularly create stories about public housing estates as sites of <a href="https://dallasrogersblog.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/place_political_culture_and_post-green_b.pdf">dysfunction, disorder and crime</a>. These stories draw on the government’s evidence base, which is produced to support its redevelopment agendas.</p>
<p>This evidence base and <a href="https://www.ahuri.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/3030/AHURI_RAP_Issue_151_Addressing-the-stigmatisation-of-social-housing.pdf">media reporting</a> often position individual tenant behaviour, rather than <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/21650020.2014.906906">government policy</a>, as the housing problem.</p>
<p>Because they are deemed to be the problem, residents of public housing neighbourhoods find it hard to engage in the political processes and debates that set out the so-called “<a href="https://dallasrogersblog.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/rogers2c-darcy-and-arthurson-28201729-researching-territorial-stigma-with-social-housing-tenants-tenant-led-digital-media-production.pdf">housing problems</a>” in our cities. </p>
<h2>The human dimensions of the housing crisis</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://www.welivehere2017.com.au/">#WeLiveHere2017</a> project is a response to the devaluing of the locally situated knowledge of residents. It attempts to capture their concerns about their changing neighbourhoods and homes.</p>
<p>The project turns an inanimate building into a metaphorical sentient structure. Through the mood lights, it is expressing the habitational experiences and anxieties of the residents.</p>
<p>It not only puts <a href="http://www.welivehere2017.com.au/about/">“a human face to public housing”</a>, it puts a human face to the key housing question in the <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/21650020.2014.906906">global city of Sydney</a>: where will the poor, elderly and workers live in our city?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/83422/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dallas Rogers has received funding from The Henry Halloran Trust, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI), Urban Growth, the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia, the University of Sydney and Western Sydney University. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alistair Sisson receives funding from an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jenna Condie receives funding from City of Parramatta Council and Western Sydney University.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laura Wynne receives funding from an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship, and from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pratichi Chatterjee receives funding from the Australian Government's Endeavour Scholarship and Fellowship Awards.</span></em></p>Residents of two high-rise public housing blocks are being given ‘mood lights’ to express how they feel based on their experience of the process of redeveloping their neighbourhood.Dallas Rogers, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning, University of SydneyAlistair Sisson, PhD Candidate, Urban Geography, University of SydneyJenna Condie, Lecturer in Digital Research and Online Social Analysis, Western Sydney UniversityLaura Wynne, Senior Research Consultant, Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology SydneyPratichi Chatterjee, PhD Student, Urban Geography, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/823422017-09-01T01:05:49Z2017-09-01T01:05:49ZRemembering America’s lost buildings<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183860/original/file-20170829-32486-oyd6pz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A photograph of Penn Station's interior from the 1930s.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/Penn_Station%2C_Interior%2C_Manhattan_%28NYPL_b13668355-482603%29.jpg">Bernice Abbott</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>In June 2017, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo <a href="http://www.archdaily.com/873993/new-renderings-of-penn-stations-1-dollars-6-cents-billion-renovation-released-as-project-gets-greenlight">announced a US$1.6 billion project</a> to transform New York City’s much-maligned Penn Station in hopes of restoring it to its former glory.</em></p>
<p><em>The original structure – an iconic example of the <a href="https://www.crt.state.la.us/Assets/OCD/hp/nationalregister/historic_contexts/beauxartsREVISED.pdf">Beaux-Arts architectural style</a> – was destroyed in 1963 and replaced by a bleak, underground network of tunnels and walkways.</em></p>
<p><em>“One entered the city like a god; one scuttles in now like a rat,” architectural historian Vincent Scully Jr. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/12/arts/design/a-proposal-for-penn-station-and-madison-square-garden.html">lamented</a>.</em></p>
<p><em>If there’s a silver lining, the 1963 demolition <a href="https://savingplaces.org/stories/loss-law-that-gave-life-to-modern-preservation-movement#.WYDk7YWcHn8">did spur</a> the formation of <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/15/arts/architecture-view-a-commission-that-has-itself-become-a-landmark.html">the New York City Landmarks Commission</a> in 1965 and the passage of the <a href="http://www.achp.gov/nhpa.pdf">National Historic Preservation Act</a>.</em></p>
<p><em>Unfortunately, all cannot be salvaged. Preservation efforts must be galvanized; they require mobilization, time and resources. We reached out to five architecture professors and posed the following question: What’s one American structure you wish had been saved?</em></p>
<p><em>While their responses vary – from an unassuming home nestled in the suburbs of Boston to a monument of 19th-century wealth and glamour – none of the structures could resist the tides of decay, development and discrimination.</em></p>
<hr>
<h2>A mecca for black Chicago</h2>
<p><strong>Daniel Bluestone, Boston University</strong></p>
<p>In 1943, when the storied, half-century-old Mecca apartment building in Chicago’s South Side was about to be demolished, something extraordinary happened: The Illinois legislature passed a bill to preserve it.</p>
<p>Designed in 1891 by Edbrooke and Burnham, <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/991458?origin=JSTOR-pdf&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">the 96-unit Mecca immediately captured the public’s imagination</a>. It was Chicago’s first residential building with a landscaped courtyard open to the street, a design that fused two seemingly incompatible ideals: to build densely while preserving and cultivating the natural landscape. </p>
<p>In the late 19th century, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1447986/">Chicago’s tenement reformers</a> had demanded more light and fresh air for the city’s apartments; they wanted small parks and playgrounds to be able to dot the city’s swelling neighborhoods. The Mecca’s innovative design was a paean to these progressive concerns.</p>
<p>The complex had two atria with <a href="http://images.google.com/hosted/life/f906345d2ce61419.html">skylights</a> that flooded the interior with light. Residents accessed their apartments via open galleries that encircled the atria, with railings that featured foliated ironwork. This form – the courtyard within an apartment complex – inspired a hugely popular Chicago vernacular tradition.</p>
<p>In the early 20th century, the Mecca was enveloped by the South Side’s <a href="https://www.chipublib.org/housing/">expanding Black Belt</a>. Between 1912 and 1913, the complex’s occupancy changed from overwhelmingly white to completely African-American. The massing of black residents in the iconic building inspired residents and artists to view the building as an symbol of black Chicago. South Side blues bars improvised the “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mEkZPJ_XMs">Mecca Flat Blues</a>,” which were tales of love and heartbreak, while poet Gwendolyn Brooks memorialized the building with her poem “<a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/In_the_Mecca.html?id=3E1aAAAAMAAJ">In the Mecca</a>.” </p>
<p>By the 1930s, officials at the adjacent Armour Institute (later Illinois Institute of Technology) <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/991458?origin=JSTOR-pdf&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">grew concerned about their ability to attract students and faculty</a> to a campus located in the heart of the black community. In 1938 they bought the Mecca, planning to swiftly demolish it in order to create a buffer between town and gown. </p>
<p>Illinois Governor Dwight Green vetoed the legislation that would have preserved the Mecca, and in 1952 – <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=owgcDRTKLxUC&pg=PA236&lpg=PA236&dq=dwight+green+mecca&source=bl&ots=O4VAjlyAd7&sig=DoZRxZNyPx7irPmqajvyxenZmqU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwir6_vCuv_VAhXC4yYKHQe6BPsQ6AEIQTAI#v=onepage&q=dwight%20green%20mecca&f=false">after years of legal wrangling and community protest</a> – the courts allowed the demolition of an architectural and cultural icon to proceed. </p>
<p>The only consolation is that it was replaced by Mies van der Rohe’s famed <a href="http://arch.iit.edu/img/ce7d6a8d9a30a9b1/5804-l.jpg">Crown Hall</a>, now home to IIT’s architecture school. </p>
<hr>
<h2>A Fifth Avenue palace</h2>
<p><strong>Carol A. Willis, Columbia University; Founding Director, The Skyscraper Museum</strong></p>
<p>Many New Yorkers are familiar with the iconic Waldorf Astoria, which sits on Park Avenue. But they might be surprised to learn that this is the second iteration of the luxury hotel. The original was located along Manhattan’s fashionable Fifth Avenue, and the structure took up the entire block between 33rd and 34th streets. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184312/original/file-20170901-22416-v1mqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184312/original/file-20170901-22416-v1mqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184312/original/file-20170901-22416-v1mqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=766&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184312/original/file-20170901-22416-v1mqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=766&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184312/original/file-20170901-22416-v1mqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=766&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184312/original/file-20170901-22416-v1mqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=963&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184312/original/file-20170901-22416-v1mqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=963&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184312/original/file-20170901-22416-v1mqt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=963&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 original Waldorf-Astoria.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.loc.gov/resource/det.4a08045/">Library of Congress</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But in late November 1929 – after the stock market had crashed and the slow slide into the Great Depression began – workers began demolishing it. </p>
<p>Designed by the noted architect <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2000/05/07/realestate/streetscapes-henry-janeway-hardenbergh-architect-who-left-indelible-imprint.html">Henry Hardenbergh</a>, the imposing building had been built in two parts, campaigns that reflected the progress of <a href="http://skyscraper.org/tenandtaller/grid/">modern construction technology</a> and a “bigger and better” mantra of American architecture. </p>
<p>The first building, the Waldorf, was an 11-story structure that opened in 1893. It was built on the site of the mansion where Mrs. Caroline Astor had entertained New York’s “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ward_McAllister#.22The_Four_Hundred.22">Four Hundred</a>,” an exclusive group of New York’s social elite. In addition to 530 rooms, the Waldorf offered stately apartments on the second floor and a majestic ballroom that could be closed off for lavish private events. </p>
<p>In 1897, the deluxe Astoria section of the hotel was completed. Facing 34th Street, its 16 stories employed a steel skeleton structure – <a href="http://www.architectmagazine.com/technology/products/throwback-thursday-looking-back-at-the-rise-of-metal-in-construction_o">at the time, a cutting-edge technique</a> – that allowed for taller buildings.</p>
<p>With 1,300 rooms, it was the largest hotel in the city, and like many high-class “palace hotels” of the period, the Waldorf Astoria housed permanent and transient patrons; as The New York Times <a href="http://skyscraper.org/tenandtaller/nw.php">noted</a> in 1890, they were designed “to provide a series of magnificent homes for wealthy New Yorkers as an economical alternative to maintaining private mansions.”</p>
<p>By 1929, however, the owners of the Waldorf Astoria decided to decamp to Park Avenue, where they erected an equally lavish modern, Art Deco monument. </p>
<p>The demolition of the old hotel, completed by the winter of 1930, made way for the construction of the ultimate expression of the city’s architectural ambitions: the Empire State Building.</p>
<hr>
<h2>Traditional New England goes modern</h2>
<p><strong>Kevin D. Murphy, Vanderbilt University</strong></p>
<p>Preservationists are still waiting for something positive to come from the demolition of the house that architect <a href="http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=kt5b69q3pk&chunk.id=ch11&toc.id=ch11&brand=ucpress">Eleanor Raymond</a> designed for her sister Rachel. Today, <a href="https://www.historicnewengland.org/explore/collections-access/capobject/?gusn=196000">photographs</a> are all that remain of the pioneering, modernist Rachel Raymond House, which was built in Belmont, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston.</p>
<p>Raymond was a graduate of Wellesley College <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=OpY0KmICqKYC&lpg=PA25&dq=cambridge%20school%20of%20domestic%20architecture&pg=PA25#v=onepage&q&f=false">and received her professional training</a> at the Cambridge School of Architecture, an all-women’s design school founded in the early 20th century.</p>
<p>The Rachel Raymond House is important example of how American architects incorporated aspects of European modernism into their own work. Inspired by European luminaries Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe, Raymond’s home featured abstract, geometric blocks. She employed flat roofs, metal railings and steel sash windows – modernist elements that were virtually unheard of in early 1930s American homes.</p>
<p>Yet the house is no more.</p>
<p>The Belmont Hill School, a private school for boys, purchased the home and – despite protests from preservationists – demolished it in November 2006. At the time, architecture critic Robert Campbell <a href="https://secure.pqarchiver.com/boston-sub/doc/405038375.html?FMT=FT&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Nov+4%2C+2006&author=Campbell%2C+Robert&pub=Boston+Globe&edition=&startpage=D.4&desc=Historic+house+loses+bulldozer+battle">wrote</a> that it was “considered by many to be the earliest modern dwelling in New England.” </p>
<p>The Rachel Raymond House actually predated another iconic modernist house: the home of émigré architect <a href="http://www.archdaily.com/375067/happy-birthday-to-bauhaus-founder-and-acclaimed-modernist-walter-gropius">Walter Gropius</a>, located in nearby Lincoln, Massachusetts. While the Rachel Raymond House was eventually razed, the Gropius House <a href="https://www.historicnewengland.org/property/gropius-house/">has been preserved as a house museum</a>. </p>
<p>So why did these two important houses received such vastly different treatment?</p>
<p>The obvious answer is that the work of women architects has been consistently undervalued. In her book “<a href="http://press.princeton.edu/titles/10665.html">Where Are the Woman Architects?</a>,” architectural historian Despina Stratigakos points out that many female architects seem to possess fewer opportunities for advancement than their male counterparts. One source of the problem, according to Stratigakos, is a dearth of prominent female role models in the field. </p>
<p>The Rachel Raymond House could have been a living icon and source of inspiration. Instead, it fell to the wrecking ball.</p>
<hr>
<h2>Paving paradise</h2>
<p><strong>Kerry Traynor, University at Buffalo</strong> </p>
<p>It might seem odd to lament the loss of a roadway; but Humboldt Parkway wasn’t just a road, it was an urban oasis of green parkland – a crucial component of a much larger park and parkway system.</p>
<p>In 1868, landscape architect <a href="https://static01.nyt.com/images/2011/09/04/travel/04FOOTSTEPS2/04FOOTSTEPS2-popup.jpg">Frederick Law Olmsted</a> arrived in Buffalo, New York to design a park for the city. </p>
<p>Instead, he created a <a href="https://www.bfloparks.org/">Park and Parkway System</a> that consisted of six parks, seven parkways and eight landscaped circles. The brilliance of the plan, however, was in the parkways: over 200 feet wide, lined with elm trees and their canopies, they created a ribbon of green that wove its way through the city, connecting its parks and neighborhoods. <a href="http://www.buffaloah.com/h/ferry/jpegs/38.jpg">Humboldt Parkway</a> connected Delaware Park – Olmsted’s largest – with Humboldt Park.</p>
<p>The result: a city within a park, not just parks within a city.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184080/original/file-20170830-24257-1hfl1t2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184080/original/file-20170830-24257-1hfl1t2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184080/original/file-20170830-24257-1hfl1t2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184080/original/file-20170830-24257-1hfl1t2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184080/original/file-20170830-24257-1hfl1t2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=335&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184080/original/file-20170830-24257-1hfl1t2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184080/original/file-20170830-24257-1hfl1t2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184080/original/file-20170830-24257-1hfl1t2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=421&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 1953 photograph of Humboldt Parkway.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.buffalorising.com/2014/12/restore-our-community-coalition-launches-i-remember-campaign/">Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But with <a href="http://blog.buffalostories.com/tag/kensington-expressway/">calls for urban renewal</a> in the 1950s and a growing dependence on the automobile, the city no longer saw <a href="https://www.wnyheritage.org/content/old_photo_album_humboldt_parkway/promo-full.jpg">the pastoral quality of Humboldt Parkway</a> as an asset. </p>
<p>To city and state planners, Humboldt Parkway was the ideal location for an expressway – a highway that could carry automobiles to and from the suburbs and the downtown core, while relieving congestion on neighborhood streets. </p>
<p>In order to clear the way for the new highway – dubbed the Kensington Expressway – the state <a href="http://www.buffaloah.com/h/ferry/jpegs/41.jpg">cut down trees</a>, tore up the parkway and demolished homes. The new highway displaced families, divided neighborhoods by race and income and caused property values to plummet. As <a href="http://bit.ly/2u9gidC">neighborhoods fell apart</a>, businesses shuttered their doors. </p>
<p>Olmsted’s parkway had, quite literally, <a href="https://urbansimplicty.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/humboldt_best1927-19952.jpg">been paved over</a>. As Joni Mitchell sings in her hit song “<a href="http://jonimitchell.com/music/song.cfm?id=13">Big Yellow Taxi</a>,” “They paved paradise / And put up a parking lot.”</p>
<hr>
<h2>From the rubble, a preservation movement is born</h2>
<p><strong>Sally Levine, Case Western Reserve University</strong></p>
<p>When I moved to Chicago in 1982, <a href="https://architecturefarm.wordpress.com/2010/10/07/old-chicago-skyscraper-of-the-week-stock-exchange/">the Chicago Stock Exchange Building</a> had long disappeared, but people still spoke of it with a hushed reverence. </p>
<p>Not only was it considered one of the finest accomplishments of architects <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Louis-Sullivan">Louis Sullivan</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dankmar-Adler">Dankmar Adler</a>, its demise also indirectly led to the tragic death of architectural photographer and preservation activist <a href="http://interactive.wttw.com/a/chicago-stories-richard-nickel-story">Richard Nickel</a>, who lost his life snapping photographs of the structure during its demolition.</p>
<p>Built in 1893, the 13-story structure housed the stock exchange for just 14 years. Subsequently the building had a variety of tenants, but leases became fewer and farther between, until the City Council <a href="http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1971/10/20/page/4/article/final-attempt-to-save-stock-exchange-fails">approved its demolition in 1972</a>. </p>
<p>But in its heyday, it was magnificent. </p>
<p>Reflecting Sullivan’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Form_follows_function">famous phrase</a> “form ever follows function,” the facade demarcated the building’s three parts – the base (the stock exchange), the middle levels (offices) and top (the building’s “crown”). The base contained an exquisite two-story-high trading room. The nine stories of offices were notable for their columns of bay windows and Chicago windows (composed of a large fixed window flanked by operable ones), and the building was adorned with a row of recessed windows and a distinctive cornice. </p>
<p>But perhaps the most distinctive aspect of the building was the large arched entry, which represented a major development in Sullivan’s skill. Sullivan also adorned the stock exchange room with breathtaking low-relief ornaments and brilliantly painted stenciled patterns.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184247/original/file-20170831-26448-fkwxm1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184247/original/file-20170831-26448-fkwxm1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184247/original/file-20170831-26448-fkwxm1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184247/original/file-20170831-26448-fkwxm1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184247/original/file-20170831-26448-fkwxm1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=386&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184247/original/file-20170831-26448-fkwxm1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184247/original/file-20170831-26448-fkwxm1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=485&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184247/original/file-20170831-26448-fkwxm1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=485&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 preserved trading floor of the Chicago Stock Exchange.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chicago_Stock_Exchange_(7405590890).jpg">Juan Carlos Martin</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>Many consider its demolition the impetus for <a href="http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/586.html">Chicago’s preservation movement</a>. Another important Chicago architectural icon, <a href="http://kubuildingtech.org/sarcweb/Assemblages00/CaseFinals/Mann_Reliance/Reliance%20View.jpg">the Reliance Building</a>, ended up being saved after vigorous efforts by activists. Through the efforts of Nickel and other preservationists, the arched entry and the interior of the trading room were saved – both are now owned by the Art Institute of Chicago. The arch sits at the corner of Monroe Street and Columbus Drive next to the museum, and the trading room has been reconstructed within the museum itself. </p>
<p>While not as satisfying as seeing the actual building, these remnants testify to the beauty of the Chicago Stock Exchange Building – and the importance of preservation efforts.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184246/original/file-20170831-2020-1e1j0a0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184246/original/file-20170831-2020-1e1j0a0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/184246/original/file-20170831-2020-1e1j0a0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184246/original/file-20170831-2020-1e1j0a0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184246/original/file-20170831-2020-1e1j0a0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184246/original/file-20170831-2020-1e1j0a0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184246/original/file-20170831-2020-1e1j0a0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=541&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/184246/original/file-20170831-2020-1e1j0a0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=541&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 preserved arch of the old Chicago Stock Exchange.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/old-chicago-stock-exchange-entrance-bit-89177836?src=9bPzUG_q4bQg9TqH1zYQlQ-1-0">Thomas Barrat</a></span>
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</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82342/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 organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>We asked five architecture experts to name one building or structure they wish had been preserved, but couldn’t resist the tides of decay, development and discrimination.Kevin D. Murphy, Andrew W. Mellon Chair in the Humanities and Professor and Chair of History of Art, Vanderbilt UniversityCarol Willis, Founding Director of The Skyscraper Museum, Adjunct Associate Professor of Architecture, Columbia UniversityDaniel Bluestone, Director, Preservation Studies Program; Professor, History of Art & Architecture; Professor, American and New England Studies, Boston UniversityKerry Traynor, Clinical Associate Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, University at BuffaloSally Levine, Lecturer of Architecture, Case Western Reserve UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.