Who’s for Option A?
"We will discover that the skyscraper is an obsolete building type, and that cities overburdened with them will suffer a huge liability." (New York Times, 12 August 2008)
"Cities around the world are in the process of redefining their form to deal with issues of climate change and sustainability, and to make them more liveable." (Planning Institute of Australia 2009 Award for Urban Planning, 11 August 2009)
Each day the evidence builds. The future shape of our cities is becoming clearer. To achieve that vision we need to make decisions now that take us in the right direction.
The 2009 award for best urban planning went to the "Transforming Australian Cities" report. It's a well-researched strategy that is pragmatic and offers workable solutions -- hence the gong from the Planning Institute of Australia.
The report shows that to ensure our cities' financial viability, liveability and sustainability (more climate resilient, more affordable to build and more efficient to run), our future is low-rise (3-5 storeys), high-density residential. Brisbane’s urban future would have safe streets, active local communities and mobility solutions that enable regular and reliable options for moving around.
Children will have safe access to local parks. There will be more community gardens. There will be local water capture and management, and local energy generation. Waste collection and recycling will be localised too. Local leadership and greater local responsibility will direct each suburb’s efforts. Brisbane can create this future, as other cities already have. We too can choose this path.
Inspiring words alone do not bring a vision to reality. Creating our future will take concerted effort and hard work from many contributors. The days of lip service should be behind us. Be wary of the civic cowards and those who warn against being too visionary. Ambition is never a problem if standing still is not an option. We have a responsibility to plan and accommodate the new arrivals to our part of the world in a sustainable way.
"If there's a neighbourhood where people are happier, then that's going to be more attractive, it will have more long-term value. (David Roberts of Igloo Developments, the UN's first endorsed socially responsible property fund, which had raised £300m by July 2009) We shouldn't ever take for granted Brisbane's qualities: enviable lifestyle, clean environment, liveability, creative possibilities and economic opportunity.
Option A in urban futures is pretty clear: sustainability, low-rise buildings that provide for themselves (water, energy and waste management), improved mobility and safer, better neighbourhoods.
Every city planning document is a measure of whether we are moving in the right direction. I'm raising my hand to take some responsibility for making Option A the viable future for the suburbs of West End and South Brisbane.
Darren Godwell
www.weca.org.au
