Kaya – and welcome to the latest edition of Urban Scrawl!
In this edition of Urban Scrawl we explore Olympic legacies, city destination tourism and public transport shortcomings, and how these topics shape societies around the world. As always, we are thrilled to have your ongoing support and love hearing new ideas from our member community.
If you’ve come across any research, books, podcasts, videos or ideas, please don’t be shy about sharing and let us know at francien.boom@committeeforperth.com.au. We enjoy sharing interesting ideas with our members, who are just as curious and passionate about ways to improve our region as the team at Committee for Perth is. Together we can achieve so much more.
Happy reading, Francien Boom
Committee for Perth |
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INTERNATIONAL INSPIRATION |
If Norway’s capital city, Oslo, wasn’t already on your bucket list, it most definitely will be after watching Visit Oslo’s new campaign, featuring a narrator who is too cool for his own hometown. ‘Like a good relationship, a city should be a little hard to get. It’s not supposed to be easy’, remarks the (slightly morose) narrator, Halfdan.
Using humour, irony and hyperbole, this advertisement for Visit Oslo cleverly highlights the city’s shortcomings through exaggerated comparisons, such as juxtaposing “it’s not the Mona Lisa” with Edvard Munch’s The Scream in the background.
In doing so, it paints an exciting picture of Oslo; it’s a vibrant, self-confident and approachable city with high-end architecture, pristine fjords fit for swimming, intriguing museums, and the list goes on. Oslo may not be New York or Paris, but the campaign boldly embraces the city’s uniqueness – the hallmark of destination marketing. How can we market Perth in a similar fashion?
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With just nine days remaining until the 2024 Olympics kick off in Paris (and 2,929 until Brisbane 2032 Olympics!), the concept of legacy projects has captured Urban Scrawl’s attention. Hosting the Olympics is a major catalyst for new infrastructure and transport projects, as well as the construction of new stadiums, venues and structures. Major event hosts are increasingly faced with scrutiny, tasked with the responsibility of creating a legacy that meets the anticipated needs of a city and its citizens, and providing long term social value. Learn more about Social Value in Major Events in Arup’s Playbook of Practical Implementation here.
As the size and complexity of hosting the Olympics Games have increased over time, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has emphasized the concept of legacies to ensure long term benefits that serve the host city and its people before, during and long after the Olympics. Broadly speaking, there are fives types of legacies, both tangible and intangible: sporting, social, environmental, urban and economic. For example, the Brisbane 2032 Legacy Strategy, Elevate 2042, outlines its mission to "make our region better, sooner, together through sport", covering four pillars: sport, health and inclusion; economy of the future; a better future for our environment; and connecting people and places.
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WITH GREAT OPPORTUNITY COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY
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A 2022 report from the International Olympic Committee revealed that 85% of permanent (summer and winter) Olympics venues are still in use today. We turn to how some of these host cities have cleverly transformed purpose-built structures to their advantage. Venues such as Beijing’s National Aquatics Centre (pictured above), dubbed the ‘Water Cube’, which hosted swimming competitions during the 2008 Olympics, has been transformed into a waterpark. With a capacity of 6,000 people, the waterpark is a top tourist attraction in Beijing, second only to the Great Wall. This was no accident – it was always intended that Beijing's iconic Water Cube would transition into a family recreation facility. In Lake Placid, New York, the US Federal Bureau of Prisons funded the construction of the 1980 Winter Olympics Village, which was later converted into Federal prison, FCI Ray Brook.
However, with approximately 15% of venues not in use today, not all Olympic legacies are positive. The aftermath of the 2004 Athens Olympics, which cost an estimated 9 billion Euros, led to a significant financial strain and contributed to the debt crisis in Greece. Many venues, including the Helleniko complex, aquatic centre, and taekwondo centre, have been left abandoned and in a state of disrepair. |
A heatmap depicting areas where participants gazed more or less. Credit: Brian Rizowy. |
LOOKING THROUGH VERDANT COLOURED GLASSES |
“A walk in nature walks the soul back home.” It’s no secret that spending time outdoors, in nature, is beneficial for our health and wellbeing. In the hustle and bustle of urban living, fully immersing yourself in green spaces may seem increasingly challenging. However, new research indicates that you don’t have to be IN nature to reap the rewards; simply looking at natural elements is enough. Using eye-tracking technology, the study found that participants who focused more on green elements reported significant improvements in mood, reductions in anxiety, and a greater sense of rejuvenation and refreshment. The study highlights the importance of visual engagement with nature, with implications for both mental health practitioners and urban planners. This underscores Committee for Perth's submission to the WA Government's Perth and Peel Urban Greening Strategy, which aims to address Perth's woeful urban tree canopy.
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| When was the last time you caught a bus? Buses are often seen as an unreliable, inconsistent and inefficient mode of public transport. Time is valuable. But buses are an important asset to any city, connecting the dots and plugging gaps in a sprawling public transport network.
Committee for Sydney’s Plan B: Better Buses for Sydney report, highlights the need for improved service standards, increased direct and frequent routes, and better integration with other the wider transport networks, and addresses how we can give our bus system the revamp it deserves and needs.
Key recommendations include lift frequency and reliability with bus priority, refresh the bus, rethink bus stops, reviving the bus’s social license, integrating the wider transport network, amongst others. |
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This is all the more topical, given Climate Council’s latest Next Stop Suburbia report, which ranks public transport systems in Australia’s five biggest cities. It reveals that approximately 50% of residents in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth lack easy access to adequate public transport – defined as having “an address within 800 metres or a 10-minute walk or a service that runs at least every 15 minutes between 7am and 7pm”. Perth ranks fourth, with only 40.5 % of residents having convenient access.
As a car dependent, sprawling city the road to change may seem like an uphill battle. The proposed solutions by the Climate Council include policies such as ensuring positive transport experiences, prioritising shared and active transport, and a Shared Transport Service Standard to deliver cleaner air, affordable ways of getting around to ultimate create more liveable cities, with less congestion. |
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Sometimes the best research comes from people who are living and breathing a city. Perth born and bred and Partner at HopgoodGanim Lawyers,
Robyn Ferguson shares her love for loops around Perth's river side, hikes around Kings and Bold Park, and watching sport. In addition to her busy schedule, Robyn is gearing up to start training for the MACA Ride for Cancer in October - good luck! |
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It’s the weekend. Are you an early riser or lazy starter? What’s your typical Perth weekend morning?
The last time I was a lazy starter was probably in Uni days. I am an early riser, and my typical Saturday morning is to head to Cottesloe with a friend for a walk or run, (sometimes) a swim and then a coffee. It’s a great way to start the weekend.
Will you be eating out this weekend? And where?
Yes, we like to eat out somewhere over the weekend – we generally aim for Subi or head to the coast, often to City Beach. The City Beach coastal precinct is lovely for a meal but so too is the community activated space at the Boulevard shops – the Empire Village, which tips its hat to the 1962 Commonwealth Games athletes village and has a great relaxed atmosphere. What’s your favourite local dish?
The cabbage parmesan from Dilly Dally in Rokeby Rd. It’s a side, and a simple dish, but very tasty. I pair it with what else I choose on the day, sometimes the pork cotoletta or their risotto is always delicious.
What will you be listening to? Reading? Watching?
My children’s sport, as I love to watch them play. I also enjoy watching footy in winter (Eagles is my team, but I have definitely been leaning more this year towards my husband’s team, the Bombers, as they are doing a lot better!) or watching Australian teams play in different sporting events (loved watching the Matildas when they were in Perth)…and I am really looking forward to the upcoming Paris Olympics. I also love heading to musicals that play in Perth – I never have a shortage of people that want to join me - my Mum, my sisters, my daughter, friends...always a fun and uplifting time!
The best way to spend a Sunday afternoon in Perth?
Going for a long walk or a hike. I love walking or running along the river (the South Perth 10km loop is always a good one), or heading into Kings Park (which is on my door step), or Bold Park (which is always a favourite for me as I grew up in Floreat, so the paths like Zamia and Camel Lake are all very local to me). Spending time with family and friends is a passion. I have also just dusted off my road bike as I am doing the MACA Ride for Cancer again with our HopgoodGanim team in October (such a great cause), so I will be spending some time on the bike in months to come.
You’ve grown up in Perth. How have you seen it change?
I am proudly Perth born and bred, and have enjoyed watching Perth grow up as I have. A key positive change has been Perth’s focus on attracting international and world class events and acts – it has created a positive vibe for the state that had been lacking, and I do think that our world class [Optus] Stadium has added immensely to that. One last question. If you could do one thing to improve Perth, what would it be?
Enhance access and use of our river and coast – I love spending time on or along the water and I don’t think we utilise the Swan River or coast as well as we could. |
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FROM THE COMMITTEE FOR PERTH RESEARCH LIBRARY |
With the Kwinana Industrial Area (KIA) a hot topic in recent news, we remembered how our FACTBase Special Report Kwinana as a catalyst for economic development (2016) traces the 66-year history of development in the KIA, and examines the magnitude of growth which has led to its significant economic contribution to the region. The area currently employs around 40,000 people and brings in $15 billion each year. With further industrial expansion, proposed windfarms and mega projects such as AUKUS and Westport in the pipeline, the report’s recommendations and reflection on critical strategic issues and challenges for the future are more relevant than ever. Kwinana Industries Council recently releasing their Industry Futures report, ensuring the continued success of this industrial hub is of critical importance for the future of our state.
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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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