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Kaya,
Tucked into Wolf Lane in Perth’s CBD, Jerome Davenport’s mural 'Hope' shows a young girl drifting forward in a small boat. Rumour has it the girl is his daughter, moving toward the future with curiosity and courage, kind of like cities do and the same sense of forward momentum we seek to inspire through Urban Scrawl.
In this edition we look at cities around the world that are experimenting with new ways to shape urban life — from Singapore’s decades-long planning horizons to European approaches that treat empty buildings not as problems, but as opportunities for reinvention. We also explore Ireland’s push toward a circular economy and the growing movement to uncover waterways that once shaped cities but now run beneath their streets.
At the heart of this issue is our 'On the Ground Intel' conversation with City of Perth CEO Michelle Reynolds. Leading the government of a capital city means seeing Perth from many angles — as a workplace, a community and a place where people gather, explore and enjoy life. Michelle shares her experience of the city beyond the office, from her favourite morning walk in Claremont with cavoodle Buddy to an insider tip on where to find a cooked breakfast or lunch in the CBD that tastes just like your nana made it. She also reflects on what might bring her daughter back to Perth after an interstate internship, and on the places and moments that give the city its character. Because amid big ideas about how cities evolve, it is often these everyday perspectives that remind us why the future of our city matters.
A quick reminder: today is the final day to provide feedback on the Perth Capital City Plan community survey and to provide feedback on the new Perth Capital City Plan Draft. If you haven’t shared your perspective yet, here is the link.
Happy reading,
Committee for Perth Team |
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SINGAPORE'S EVOLVING MASTER PLAN |
In Singapore, long-range spatial planning is not new. The country released its first Concept Plan in 1971, setting a 40–50 year direction for land use and infrastructure. That framework has been reviewed roughly every decade since and has guided the Draft Master Plan 2025, released in June 2025. Led by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), the plan aligns land use, transport, housing, climate resilience and economic transformation into one coordinated blueprint.
Because Singapore is a compact city-state, land is finite — and fiercely strategic. That constraint has produced a culture of generational thinking, where infrastructure, housing and economic shifts are sequenced deliberately over decades. The centrepiece of the plan is the ambition for a “45-minute city”: - Most residents can reach work within 45 minutes via public transport
- Daily needs are accessible within a 20-minute walk or cycle
- Rail expansion supports decentralised employment hubs
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Dense, mixed-use neighbourhoods are planned around transit corridors
Density is deliberate, and most importantly, it is infrastructure-led. Climate adaptation is embedded, not appended. The plan integrates: -
Coastal protection and flood resilience
- Expanded green corridors and park connectors
- Heat mitigation through landscape and urban design
Unlike Singapore, Perth is expansive, decentralised and still growing outward. But abundance should not dilute ambition. If Singapore demonstrates anything, it is that long-term planning is less about land size — and more about decisiveness. |
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46% of employed Australians now work from home at least some of the time. While the Australian Bureau of Statistics data suggests around a third of Australians regularly work from home, Roy Morgan research indicates the figure rises to 46% when occasional remote work is included, as of August 2025. For cities, this has real implications: quieter CBDs midweek, stronger neighbourhood economies, and growing demand for ‘15-minute city’ amenities close to where people live. Read More
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READ: Not a 'new idea' as such but definitely a worthwhile read: TimeOut has just published its list of 'best cities in the world' in 2026 with Melbourne coming out on top. Unfortunately, Perth didn't make the list this year. Read up on what the 24,000 locals rated highly in their home city here.
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Working in the heart of the capital, City of Perth CEO Michelle Reynolds sees the city from many perspectives — as a workplace, a community and a place people come together to enjoy life.
Outside the office, Michelle is also a mum and the owner of a lively cavoodle, Buddy, giving her another lens on the city’s 11 inner city parks, six distinct neighbourhoods and everyday moments that shape life in Perth. In this edition, she shares a few reflections on the city and the qualities that make it such a special place to call home. |
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Working in the heart of Perth, do you have a favourite coffee spot in the CBD?
The City of Perth has consistently good coffee wherever you go, but for me Telegram at the beautifully restored State Buildings is one of the best. Not only does it serve brilliant coffee but the team, led by experienced barista Luke Arnold, offer service plus plus. |
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At Committee for Perth we love to bond over dog-talk. Do you and your cavoodle, Buddy, have a favourite dog beach or park?
Buddy has failed two puppy training courses (or maybe that was me!). We love to walk around Lake Claremont which feels like an oasis in the middle of a busy suburb. I have volunteered as a Friend of Lake Claremont and have witnessed firsthand the value of mass planting and how this has contributed to conservation of wetland and wildlife on the lake.
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If you had a free (midweek) day in Perth tomorrow, how would you spend it? The City has six neighbourhoods, each with its own community group. We work closely with these groups and really value their input and passion for their local areas.
So to start, I would join the walking group that takes off from Claisebrook Cove most mornings. This would be followed by a coffee at City Farm. Then I might catch the CAT bus and head up to Kings Park – if you are looking for a unique gift this is the place to see Australian and Western Australian artisans’ work. Then back down Mounts Street and stopping for a mid-morning coffee at Mount Street Breakfast Bar. Watching people running up and down Mount Street, impressive! Then into the CBD for a wander around the shops, to Northbridge to admire ECU and off for a great lunch of the best value comfort food you can find at Citiplace Community Centre at the Perth Central Train Station – Bonny and her team do breakfast and lunch for $8.50, for a meal like your Nana made! And then time to explore our amazing cultural icons and tagging along with free walking tours run by our iCity volunteers (what they don’t know about our city is not worth knowing). Failing that, if you want a laidback adventure, Peddle Perth is also a fabulous way of seeing our city. And to finish off the day, I’d visit one of our many small bars for a cheeky red wine.
Many young West Australians head interstate for study or work, what do you hope brings them back to Perth later in life?
This is very topical for me as my daughter has just moved to Victoria for an internship. I am excited for her but equally hope this is only for a short while. You see this all the time, people may leave for work but they return. I am truly grateful to live in Western Australia, and although we can’t ”merge” out there on the road, we have amazing weather, brilliant parks and amenities, we have space and fresh air, and people who still greet each other out on the street. So lifestyle (and family) will bring her back!
How has your relationship with Perth changed over the years — from when you first started your career to leading the city today?
For most of my career I have worked in the CBD, apart from a couple of years on Rottnest/Wadjemup. When I first started working, some of the senior staffers I worked with would pop across to the Palace and were not to be seen for the rest of the afternoon. Those days are gone but I now notice city workers heading to inner city venues and boutique laneway bars to catch up after work.
Something I now pay much more attention to is our City parks – we have 11 in the inner city and many have trees over 150 years old. These parks are oases in the middle of the City and I love seeing people come to sit on the grass and enjoy their lunch or catch up with friends. I love that our City is a place that brings people together to enjoy company – and its only getting better at catering for leisure and recreation. If someone arrived in Perth for the first time in 2050, what would you hope they feel about the city?
There are lots of plans coming together to guide how Perth will grow, including our own Draft Perth Capital City Plan which is out for comment. But mostly, I believe the soul of our City is our people.
Our City needs to grow through diversity of housing options that allow people to live close to where they work, with amenity that keeps pace with the times. If we focus on the liveability and desirability of our city centre, our visitors will feel they are stepping into a city that is cared for and feels lived in, welcoming and full of possibility. We’re so fortunate to live in a capital city surrounded by space, nature and fresh air, on land steeped in Whadjuk Noongar culture, and it’s up to us to celebrate and sustain those things into the future.
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INTERNATIONAL INSPIRATION |
Image credit: Winston Churchill Trust |
LESSONS FOR REVIVING CITY CENTRES |
Urban renewal specialist Sarah Booth, known locally for activating vacant spaces, spent six weeks exploring how European cities are responding to commercial vacancy and keeping their centres vibrant. In her 2025 report, she examined approaches in cities such as London, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Lisbon, where empty buildings are increasingly treated not as a failure, but as an opportunity to rethink how city centres function.
Sarah says revitalisation is not about filling empty shops but reimagining the purpose of centres and ensuring they function productively. She quotes examples where vacancy is deliberately used for artist studios and galleries, community spaces or social enterprises and start-ups. The next era of the high street will not be as a strip of retail transactions, but as a hybrid, mixed-use network of social and cultural exchanges — places for layers of active use. From her research, Sarah suggests Australian cities:
- Create an Urban Renewal Authority – a body bringing together government, industry and creatives to coordinate long-term renewal.
- Appoint a ‘City Choreographer’ – a leader responsible for guiding long-range transformation.
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Use rigorous data and evidence to shape decisions.
- Treat vacancy as an opportunity, allowing experimentation and new uses to emerge.
- Align policy with people, designing cities around community needs.
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Foster cross-sector collaboration between government, property, cultural and creative sectors.
- Adopt long-term, well-choreographed strategies rather than incremental fixes.
Many of these ideas echo conversations currently emerging in Perth, from initiatives like the 2050 Commission, to growing adoption that culture, creativity and collaboration are essential ingredients of vibrant urban centres. Her work argues that places like Perth and Fremantle can become vibrant and contemporary — but only with coordinated vision and willingness to move beyond the status quo. View Report Page
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IRELAND'S CIRCULAR ECONOMY STRATEGY |
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Ireland has launched a national strategy to move away from the traditional “take–make–waste” model and towards a circular economy — where products and materials are designed to last longer, be repaired, reused and kept in circulation.
The plan aims to increase Ireland’s circular material use rate to 12% by 2030, reducing reliance on virgin resources while cutting emissions and waste.
Rather than focusing on recycling alone, the strategy addresses the full lifecycle of products. Measures include repair incentives, digital product passports to track materials, and sector roadmaps for industries such as construction, agriculture and retail.
For cities, circular thinking is becoming an increasingly important part of urban policy — and it is widely recognised that businesses cannot deliver this transition alone. From construction materials to food waste and electronics, urban systems hold huge potential to turn waste into a resource and support new circular industries. Read more about Ireland's strategy
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DAYLIGHTING - UNCOVERING CITIES' LOST WATERWAYS |
Many cities were built around streams that later disappeared beneath roads and buildings as urban areas expanded. Today, a growing movement in urban design is exploring ‘daylighting’ — bringing buried waterways back to the surface.
Sydney’s Tank Stream is a well-known example of a lost urban river. Once the colony’s main freshwater source, it was eventually enclosed underground as the city grew and still flows beneath the CBD today. Internationally, projects like Seoul’s Cheonggyecheon , which we featured in an earlier edition, show how restoring waterways can improve flood management, urban cooling and public spaces.
While Perth doesn’t have a list of hidden waterways like Sydney, the city once sat within a network of wetlands and seasonal creeks across the Swan Coastal Plain. Lakes such as Lake Kingsford were drained and filled as the city expanded, though these historic water systems still shape drainage beneath the surface.
In places like Claisebrook, redevelopment has already reintroduced open water into the city. As several ideas for a Perth Plan are currently on the table, rediscovering elements of its original wetland landscape could help create cooler, greener and more resilient urban spaces. |
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WHAT INSPIRES YOU RIGHT NOW?
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Urban Scrawl is shaped by ideas and actions from around the world. If you’ve seen something while travelling, read an article that stuck with you, heard a great conversation, or are working on a project that’s reshaping how cities work and grow, we’d love to hear about it. Share it with us and help shape future editions: enquiries@committeeforperth.com.au
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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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