I'm a regular pedestrian commuter to the city via the Goodwill Bridge to the southern end of Southbank, Brisbane. to my surprise one day, I saw the word caution written on the supporting wall of the expressway above. Previously, it had been an unsafe, cold and dilapidated part of the city, closed and trap like. It was unsafe and most likely one of the places that I'd rather not be late at night in contrast to the botanic gardens located 100 meters or so behind me.

Changing the environment with improving Place Qualities through a bit of paint and modernist styling creates folly and interest, where, little was found before. The removal of "Vehicular" style signage also returns users back to the human scale. I wonder if over time the paintwork will need to be maintained so that it doesn't return to a warn state. Place Design and Place Policy give clarity to the goals that you can achieve in Placemaking and Urban Design.

Having policies that specify simple design such as trimming back riverside mangroves

creates an open space where users both on foot and cycle can co-exist. Moving the light posts to the waters edge also formalises the space giving it volume and incidentally equals the height of the expressway. Further down the are emergency phones where you can call if your feeling unsafe and surveillance cameras are also posted along here.

If you ever get the chance to do an place audit, observe changes in your enviroment in terms of how would one type of user would fit this use of space.

Image: Docklands is a monumental revitalisation project that transformed an old industrial district into a space that encompasses residential, commercial office and entertainment areas. The design encouraged a mix of uses that could be interpreted in a multitude of ways by the user. (In Bill Chandler's interview he acknowledges that things could have been done differently at Docklands and changes are being made AH)

Written by Joanne Dang*

Posted by: Andrew Hammonds

Tuesday 21 May, 2012

There was a scene in the film Inception (2010), about a criminal with specialized skills to implant an original idea into a target victim’s subconscious. He hires an architect to create a simple built environment in the mind and imagination of the target, allowing for the target’s subconscious to fill in the details about that space.

In reality, we can easily understand the size, scope and scale of the physical environment, but the subconscious mind can also draw its own conclusions about the space based on design features. For example, we inherently know whether a space could be potentially dangerous based on lighting conditions, lack of people or limited sightlines. We know that places with some enclosure are better than wide open spaces and that places with people are more inviting than places without any activity.

Architects, planners and designers create built environments, but successful ones know that in order to create great spaces, they must use design principles to evoke particular feelings and meaning for users of the space, whether it be joy, serenity or excitement. Placemaking draws from interdisciplinary disciplines, even seemingly unrelated fields, such as psychology to further understand, create and implement great public spaces.

After all, a beautifully built space is nothing without activity or character. Our mind inherently knows how to fill in the details of why and space should or should be not utilised. It is the placemaker’s role to recognize that the principles of good placemaking draw upon what we already know, but just remind others of the reasons why. Placemaking is about reflection about what we already know, but being able to appreciate, articulate and use this knowledge to engage in building better, more inviting environments and places for people.

* Joanne Dang, Master of Urban and Regional Planning Student, University of Queensland

Town Planner at Develop This

How the right approach to community consultation can help to broaden your outlook and experience. Contributing to urban design and placemaking.

Image - Most people like Salamanca Place, I also like the working parts of Sullivans Cove. Isn't it interesting how this statement implies that the touristy part with shops and markets on Saturday isn't working? Can you see the Sea Shepard in the centre of the photo? (Andrew Hammonds)

Posted by: John Wadsley, Planning and Heritage Consultancy

John recently participated in our online course. I was consistently impressed with his thoughtful responses. I cheekily asked him if he was an urban designer...  (Andrew Hammonds)

No I’m not an urban designer, but over the years I have been lucky enough to be involved in a wide range of planning, heritage, engineering and consultation projects.

Before I went solo in January 2007 I worked at GHD for 10 years in the Hobart office and for most of that time I was the only planner on staff! I worked across a lot of environmental assessment projects as well. While sometimes it was difficult to concentrate on specific planning matters, I was exposed to so many issues which broaden my outlook and experience. This  became very useful when dealing with community consultation tasks. Previous to GHD I was in various govt agencies for 12 years.

I think this breadth of experience has made me successful in consultation. I can talk to people on many topics from a reasonable level of knowledge. Many people in the community don’t suffer fools easily. If they believe the consultation process is tokenistic or the people delivering it are light-weights then you lose any chance of truly engaging with them. I’m sure you've seen that as well.  Also Tassie is a small place, so I can maintain a good understanding of local issues. This enables me to engage people on issues of importance to them as well as the main topic of the project at hand.

Tuesday 7 August, 2012

Placefocus links: Placemaking and Urban Design 101; Place Roles; Community Place Tools; Character

We consistently receive positive feedback about discussion among participants in our training courses in urban design and placemaking. While there are common qualities to the places we like, our own views matter. As suggested by participants, I have started this blog to continue this discussion on-line. The comments section of each blog provides the opportunity, so don't be bashful. Speak up! Particularly if you disagree with me. If you are reading this in our email then click on the hyperlink in the blog heading. This will take you to our website. If you can't see a comment box at the bottom of this blog in the website, you may need to login (at the top left of the page) or register. Contact me if this is all too confusing!

The retrofitting of our post WWII suburbs will be a major focus for policy makers, designers and developers. The opportunity is to quantify burgeoning consumer demand and enable an emerging form of urbanism - away from the city centre.

Image - an example of urbanism designed by Diecke Richards in the suburbs. Student Housing in the emerging regional Centre of Springfield 

Posted by: Peter Richards - Deicke Richards with some ideas from Andrew Hammonds

By any measure Australia has great capital cities full of remarkable urbanism - getting better by the day. As Peter has previously discussed in his blog The State of Australian Urbanism, they benefit from:

• high density,
• compact development with old and new offices and mixed-use developments with less car parking,
• excellent public transport,
• infrastructure and remarkable public buildings and
• great streets,public spaces and parks.

A strong urban mindset prevails, combined with an underlying congruence between policy making and delivery by Government and private sector. Developers build urbanism because someone wants to have an office in it or live in it, even apartments!

Has this success created issues for urbanism in suburban and regional Australia? Perhaps city centres have been so successful they drain investment away from other places? Whatever the reason, the urban mindset that flourishes in the city finds it hard to venture out to the urban fringe, especially in newer areas. 

And yet according to Ellen Dunham Jones in the USA:

• 85% of households in 2025 will not have kids
• 77% of Millenniums/Gen Y want to live in urban core
• 75% of retiring baby boomers say they want mixed use and mixed age

We need to future proof the suburbs for burgeoning consumer demand for urbanism. We can provide the benefits customers want - affordable housing; affordable living; safety; fitness – physically and mentally; less money on transport; more time, less congestion; convenience; choice and opportunities. In doing so we also save money, as Joe Nickol states "in a world where slow growth is normal, society can't afford the costs of our shopping centres"