Kaya,
Welcome to edition 16 of Urban Scrawl! In this edition we look at Victoria's planning rules shake up, the value of wetland ecosystems as shown by Thalangama Wetland in Sri Lanka, how places across the world are combatting loneliness and increasing social connection, and Brussel's BXL2050 plan. And don't miss the on the ground intel segment with Business News' senior reporter Claire Tyrrell!
We're excited to highlight the beautiful '140 birds' mural by artist Graeme Miles Richards, featured in the imagery above. You may have walked past the artwork on the intersection of St George’s Tce and William St in the city – a vibrant addition to our city!
And if you missed the invite yesterday, Committee for Perth is hosting a New Horizons Webinar with Foundations For Tomorrow Managing Director, Taylor Hawkins, on Tuesday 1 April. This is an exciting member-only online session about the Future Generation Agenda, global best practices, and their relevance to Australian businesses. You can register here, and please feel free welcome to send the link on to others in your organisation.
Happy reading, Francien Boom Committee for Perth |
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INTERNATIONAL INSPIRATION |
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Image credit: Planning Victoria |
Across the Nullarbor, the Victorian Government is overhauling its planning rules by designating 60 locations and 10 activity centres for fast-tracked high-rise developments. These activity centres – such as Broadmeadows and North Essendon – are set to accommodate 60,000 homes and have been shaped by community consultation. Each centre includes a "core" precinct, which represented the busiest hub, and a surrounding "walkable" area, which includes nearby streets.
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“By planning for more housing in activity centres, we're supporting more Victorians to live closer to jobs, services, public transport and green, open space.” The activity centres are part of the state’s broader Housing Statement, which seeks to increase housing supply over the next ten years.
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Not long ago, Thalangama Wetland, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, was a dumping ground overrun by invasive plant species and encroaching urban sprawl. Today, thanks to the self-funded, non-profit, community-based initiative Thalangama Wetland Watch, it has been transformed into a thriving, biodiverse wetland and earned its Ramsar wetland cities accreditation. This wetland serves as a vital biodiversity hotspot and plays a crucial role in buffering against urban flooding in the low-lying city.
Wetland ecosystems are invaluable natural assets, but rapid urban expansion and human activity are causing them to disappear at an alarming rate. Similarly, only 10% of Perth’s original wetlands remain despite their essential role in preserving our ecosystems and valuable green spaces within urban landscape. Again, are you working on projects that are changing this in Perth? Let us know.
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In 2018, the UK published a loneliness reduction strategy and announced a Minister for loneliness. In 2023, the US Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, declared loneliness and social isolation an epidemic. It’s not just a global problem, it’s a local one too. The State of the Nation Report: Social Connection in Australia 2023 found that 1 in 3 Australians are lonely and 1 in 6 Australians are experiencing severe loneliness.
So, how are places across the world combatting loneliness and increasing social connection? -
Nesterly – a co-living marketplace operating in the US that connects senior adult hosts and younger adult tenants
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Gaduławka – a ‘happy to chat’ bench in Poland, which encourages strangers to sit and talk with one another
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Relationships Australia’s Neighbours Every Day 2025 on 30 March 2025 campaign which encourages people to create, share, and grow belonging in their communities
After all, research shows "the way urban environments are planned, designed, constructed and managed can be instrumental in supporting social interactions of all kinds"(Kent, 2024). If you have any ideas of how we can better connect in Perth – please share with us.
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Image credit: Notes from Poland |
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Never mind a 15-minute city, Brussels, Belgium is going one step further with aspirations of being a 10-minute city. The 10-minute city is an anchor for the City of Brussels’ Communal Sustainable Development Plan ‘BXL 2050’, which sets out aspirational objectives from 2030 to 2050.
The plan is structured around seven ambitions: A city that breathes, a city that evolves, an open and inclusive city, a city that moves, a dynamic and smart city, an exemplary and participatory city, and a city of proximity. Across 7 priority intervention zones that have been identified as high potential. For example, the Pentagon, the central attraction for Brussels, is strong in terms of short-term tourism. Beyond the function of the ‘visited city’ it aims to create activities and jobs, while developing its qualities as an inhabited city.
The city has also developed an interactive mapping tool to achieve its vision. The beta model (in French) can be accessed here. |
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Sometimes the best research comes from the people who are living and breathing a city. Claire Tyrrell, senior journalist and property specialist at Business News shares her insights on Perth’s cycling attitudes, biodiversity and CopenHill hopes. Earlier this year she travelled to Denmark to learn what Copenhagen is doing to green its city. You can read the brilliant piece, which explores Perth comparison and residential model, here.
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It’s the weekend. Are you an early riser or lazy starter? I usually get up early, but that’s only because I love to ride my bike and my fellow cyclists insist on starting early.
Will you be eating out this weekend? And where? It depends on the weekend. Last Saturday I had dinner at Chopsticks in Northbridge for my brother’s birthday, and you can often spot me dining out at one of Victoria Park’s many restaurants. Thai and Japanese are my favourite. What will you be listening to? Reading? Watching?
I just finished Juice by Tim Winton. I’m a big Winton fan and this was one of his best. I think it’s important to have voices like his in society. What to read next – probably the second instalment of Alan Bond’s biography ‘Going for Broke: How Bond Got Away With It’ by Paul Barry. Barry is a master of biographies and Bond’s story is fascinating.
I’m watching Severance on Apple TV. The concept is so intriguing and the acting is great. It keeps getting weirder and weirder! The best way to spend a Sunday afternoon in Perth? I’m a little biased but I would say a bike ride around our many principle shared paths, followed by a beer in the sunshine. Our beaches are pretty hard to top too.
You recently went to Denmark. What lessons can Perth learn from the Nordic country?
Copenhagen seems far more progressive on climate change than Perth, with a commitment to net zero by 2025. They haven’t quite reached it but they’re well on their way. I think we could set firmer targets and implement better measures to reduce emissions here in Perth.
Still on Denmark, is there a particular initiative or infrastructure that you would like to see Perth adopt?
CopenHill is pretty inspiring. It’s a waste to energy plant on the outskirts of the town centre, where up to 400,000 tonnes of waste is burned each year, producing enough electricity to power about 60,000 homes. It’s also used as a recreation space, with a grass ski hill on its roof and a rock-climbing wall on its side. This means it’s not only a renewable fuel source, but a tourist attraction. Having something like that in Perth would be amazing.
What's something that Perth is doing much better?
From speaking to some experts and observing the landscape I’ve learnt that Perth has far greater biodiversity than Denmark. The proliferation of native plant species here is incredible.
One last question. What are your hopes and ambitions for Perth in 2050?
I’d like to see more people using active modes of transport, especially bicycles. Though we’ve got a lot of infrastructure to support cycling, there’s a culture in Perth that doesn’t encourage cycling to get from A to B. Instead, there’s a bit of an us and them mentality between lycra-clad riders and people who use bikes to get around. We’re all just people on bikes. On a related note, what drivers need to remember is cyclists reduce the volume of cars on the road and hence the traffic. One day I would love to see Perth drivers have more respect for cyclists in this city. We also need greater connections between some of our bike lanes, but that’s something the government seems to be working on.
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READ: The Arup design ingenuity on how Little Island, a 2.4-acre urban oasis in New York, was engineered from sculpted precast concrete ‘petals’. (Arup)
LISTEN: Who plans our cities? This podcast explores the intersection of housing supply and affordability, provision of transport and utilities, and government planning policy with former NSW Minister for Planning, Rob Stokes. (UrbanTalk Podcast)
WATCH: The gurus over at the Moment Factory have created another enchanting experience at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary in the Gold Coast. A feast for the senses! (Astra Lumina) |
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The first release of experimental National Ecosystem Accounts released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) estimates that in 2020–21, climate regulation through carbon storage was the most valuable service provided by select Australian ecosystems, to the value of $43.2 billion or 34.5 million kilotonnes of carbon.
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Committee for Perth conducts its work on Whadjuk Noongar Boodjar. We recognise their peoples' ongoing connection to land, culture and community and in doing so, pay our respects to Elders past and present. |
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