Downtown Arena Part 2: Update

Cartoon in the Edmonton Journal about the future of the arena

The Edmonton Arena. Will it increase activity and life in downtown Edmonton? Like most cities, Edmonton is struggling to keep up with the public demand for a denser downtown. People want to live there, but there isn’t enough housing to meet demand, and most jobs are located outside of the downtown. People would have to commute out of downtown to work everyday. It appears the suburban movement has done a complete 180 turn-around! Those in the suburbs want to live the urban life. This is also evident in Sydney on a larger scale. The new hockey arena – also meant to support concerts and other shows – is part of the grand plan to consolidate the downtown. Although, after years and years of trying to move forward. As of 15 May the arena deal was done. Articles in the city’s leading news paper The Edmonton Journal shift their focus to who will run for mayor in October, how much this new arena will actually cost tax payers compared to the cost of maintaining it’s current one. A tiny paragraph at the end of this article comments on the arena’s promise of a “new downtown,” although other articles say the arena’s promise of improving the downtown must wait still.

Western side of the winning arena design for downtown Edmonton

One thing is true though; Edmonton will need a new arena sooner than later. Inner city land is available, so why not use it for the new arena. Despite changing opinions in the planning world about arenas, saving or not saving downtowns remains to be answered in Edmonton. Although it appears the urban processes of energy flow throughout the city were dismissed for a really pretty looking arena building. Another band-aid on the compact city problem where form ignores process.

Edmonton Journal article on the final arena deal

Image:

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/index.html

http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/01/18/good-vibrations-on-edmontons-downtown-arena/

Shanghai

Some thoughts on social Polarisation. This came out of a group presentation given in my Urban Economics class.

When China opened its economy, Shanghai was named one of the important zones for investment in 1990. Foreign Direct Investment single-handedly reorganized Shanghai’s economy making it grow from a large industrial centre in China to a world city in 2010. However, this rapid growth left many people behind. The economy transitioned from industrial manufacturing that was largely supported by State owned enterprises to a high-level service economy reliant on foreign investment. State owned enterprises could not compete with the foreign firms and eventually laid off 90% of its employees between 1992 and 2005. Due to social constraints and central government policies, many people do not have the opportunity to attend post-secondary institutions to allow them to enter the high-level sectors that are taking over Shanghai’s economy.

Social polarization exists in all countries developed and developing but is quite pronounced in China and Shanghai. It increased China’s GDP 6.5 times to 40 billion US Dollars annually between 1980 and 2000.

Pudong region 1990 (top),  2010 (bottom)

Hosting the World Expo in 2010 the theme was “Better City – Better Life” – showing off this beautiful skyline of innovative “icon” towers. The theme of the expo is very superficial showing this over developed city, when the reality of the city and China as a whole is growing too fast, fewer and fewer people are benefiting from the rapid development that has happened with foreign investment. This may be a harsh judgment but based on what I’ve learned about China, while researching this topic, is that it’s plowing ahead full-steam in the world economy to reach “developed” status that it is leaving behind more and more of its population as wealth increases. Hundreds of rural people move to the cities looking for work and higher qualities of life, but central government policies don’t allow them to enroll their children in schools, or have access to healthcare in the region, or even buy a house. Shantytowns are scattered all over the city right next to these massive skyscrapers in Pudong, where the World Expo was focused. China is one big oxymoron claiming it is a market economy with Chinese characteristics… I think they can’t want to be free market but can’t figure out what to do with more than half of their population who is suffering. The central government can only sweep problems under the rug or fudge statistics for so long until the rest of world finally wakes up and forces China to do something for their urban and rural poor. It is quite shocking.

 

Shantytown next to new-build residential high-rises, Shanghai

Images:

http://twistedsifter.com/2011/01/picture-of-the-day-shanghai-1990-vs-2010/

http://depositphotos.com/7468773/stock-photo-Chinese-slum-area-district.html

Arenas Part 1

Exterior view

This week I went to see my first Australian Rules Football game between the Sydney Swans and Geelong Cats. Sadly, Sydney lost but it was a good game to watch. The game was played at the Sydney Cricket Grounds at Allianz Stadium in Moore Park. I go by the stadium every time I go to the CBD and wonder how often it hosts events. Australia has a strong sport culture, and strong spectator sport culture! I remember visiting Olympic Park in March and seeing two massive stadiums standing in it. Obviously when Sydney hosted the Olympic Games they had to provide venues for all the sports. I did a quick Google search on stadiums and arenas in Sydney and was surprised at the number! There are 15 stadiums, ovals, and indoor sports venues in Sydney.

I ramble about sports venues because I wonder about their contribution to communities. They are like market squares, they attract groups of people for a specific purpose. They encourage interaction among the spectators, and there is a strong sense of community between the groups supporting their teams. There has been some debate in planning over the use of major sports venues such as stadiums and arenas located in city centres as a tool to bring people to the area. Around the venue residential areas and entertainments areas pop up to support the people coming and going from the sport venue. A few years ago it seemed that building a new arena in a city’s downtown would contribute to inner city revitalization by bringing people into the area outside of 9-5 working hours. Billion dollar stadiums were built in North America following this guidance, but now it seems the pendulum has swung in the other direction and sports venues are not a guarantee for downtown revitalization.

Close up

Edmonton has been working towards building an arena in it’s downtown for years now. They are very close now having struck a deal with the owner of the NHL team in the city. They settled on a building design and even acquired the land they plan to build on. The city’s Light Rail Transit will pass right by the arena to shuttle the crowds to and from while limiting parking in the already limited parking area of city centre. I was in total support of the arena a few years ago, now I worry it is not the answer. For the record, the current NHL arena in the city is WAY overdue for upgrades and it is located in the inner city, north of the city centre.

There are some major political reasons why the city doesn’t support the refurbishment of the current arena or even the building of a new arena on the site of the current arena, so that option no longer exists. The city has been fighting so long for this new arena, I know they’ll get eventually. But I wonder how it will improve the landscape. Seeing all the sports venues in Sydney, I see that multiple sports complexes can exist but how valuable are they to the urban landscape? The Allianz Stadium is located in a park, so it doesn’t take up space for housing, etc. But what about the stadiums in Olympic Park? It would be interesting to see their cost of maintenance, operation, etc compared to how often they are used.

Article:

Civic Debate over Arena Precinct

City of Edmonton website:

Downtown Arena Project

Images:

http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2013/01/18/good-vibrations-on-edmontons-downtown-arena/

http://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/projects_redevelopment/downtown-arena.aspx

Something Beautiful

This semester I have had nothing on my mind except Sydney: what it is, where it stands in the world, what is it’s image, is it a mess, is it beautiful? I’ve heard everyone’s opinions on the good, bad and ugly of Sydney. For all its dysfunction and beauty, one can not simply copy-paste planning strategies from one city to the next. The strategy needs to come from within (cheesy phrase, but exactly right). Sydney struggles to manage growth, encourage more growth and meet its citizens needs.

There are some really great places in Sydney and I have only covered the eastern suburbs and CBD. I know Sydney has more to offer and I look forward to experiencing it.

ANZ Stadium in Moore Park by night

Sydney CBD

The Rocks at Circular Quay

"Living building" Sydney

Along the beach walk from Coogee to Bondi

Images:

By author

The Vancouver Achievement: Final Thoughts

Sun streaked streets

 This is a follow up to a book I mentioned weeks back called the Vancouver Achievement: Urban Planning and Design by John Punter. The “Vancouver Achievement” is the successful rewriting of planning policy and reorganization of the planning bureaucracy where architect-trained planners closely monitor site design. This took nearly 30 years to achieve, mostly through the support of long serving planners in upper-level management positions. Any designs that were unsuitable were negotiated on an individual basis, allowing more floor area, etc.

The major overhaul of Vancouver’s planning process could not have been achieved without the relative autonomy given to the planning department by the municipality of Vancouver. That autonomy was also given to the City of Vancouver by the British Columbia government allowing the municipality more freedom to make massive systemic changes. Thankfully, the planning directors had the right vision for Vancouver and the city’s interests at heart when given so much freedom.

Downtown Van from Granville Island

The main goal of consolidating downtown Vancouver was to ensure mountain, and sea views were not obstructed by the massive skyscrapers. In addition, no matter where you walked downtown, sunshine must be present. A major problem with downtowns is the lack of natural light hitting the street. The massive skyscrapers were orientated in certain ways to allow for maximum light. I remember walking through the sun streaked shopping area of Robson Street admiring the late winter warmth that the sun provided.

Though a truly remarkable achievement, and a truly remarkable city such achievements cannot be applied to all cities. The political, managerial and community conditions have to be just right to facilitate the broad systemic changes the City of Vancouver made to its planning department. Now we have to see if its success continues. After all, planning policy advocates claim that strategic planning is key to long-term, sustainable development.

Book:

John Punter. (2003). The Vancouver Achievement: urban planning and design. Vancouver: UBC Press.

Images:

By author.

Uh oh... Another Casino in Sydney?!

Barangaroo hotel complex turned luxury apartments and casino for the super rich

The designs for James Packer’s Barangaroo casino were unveiled on May 16th. It’s a massive skyscaper reaching 250 metres in height, above the 170 metres approved from the site right on the harbour. Wilkinson Architects said they wanted to link the ground – meaning the water – and the sky. It will house a 350-room hotel with luxury apartments and gambling floors on the highest levels. The development is awaiting permission from the NSW government that would also require a Sydney casino license. Crown (the developer) is quoted in a tv news story as saying they will take their work with Wilkinson Architects elsewhere if this project does not go through.

Essentially they want to build another “icon” tower on the harbour which rises immediately out of the harbour and disproportionately higher than any other buildings around it. The building looks like the main sail on a sailboat. According to the architects it is meant to be three petals of a flower twirling upward. What does that have to do with Sydney and its harbour? It does not fit in context of the space… considering it is right next to the Sydney Fish Market, that is a single-storey warehouse complex underneath a freeway.

An opinion piece in the Sydney Morning Herald claims the 3 finalists, before the winner was unveiled all looked like “Dubai-type towers that would dwarf the rest of” the area. James Packer is quoted as saying it will be “the most iconic [building] since the Opera House.” The writer asks if the developer thinks that Sydney-siders are idiots because that is what this development is to the area, idiotic. It shows how the vision of an icon tower clouds all understanding of the surroundings and the people who will use this building and bring the money the developer is hoping to get out of this. Keep an eye on the news for this. It should be interesting. Let’s hope the NSW government has some sense.

Links to news articles:

News story on Barangaroo development

Opinion piece on new building

Image:

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/we-are-taken-for-idiots-as-others-take-a-gamble-on-greatness-at-barangaroo-20130510-2jdbu.html

Natural Ventilation in Buildings

Natural ventiliation –When discussing the concept of buildings producing their own energy it seems like this space-age technology unimaginable today. However, it already exists in the form of natural ventilation (heating and cooling). Heritage buildings from a hundred years ago – before electricity and HVAC heating systems – have the answers. They were incredibly efficient at harnessing natural light, and regulating indoor temperatures. Features like tall windows and high ceilings facilitate light, heating, and cooling. The types of building materials also facilitate climate control. Contemporary buildings like in Barcelona that have two-way entrances to each apartment to allow natural air flow are examples of this technology.  This technology already exists in all areas of a city where there is a heritage presence. The tools are under our nose!

A conversation with an architect friend touched on this very topic. He had a small student role in the design of the new UNSW Terrace residences on campus. Window placement and the layout were planned to allow optimal air flow. When it came down to building the complex, the builders renegotiated the blueprints to save money. They moved windows around and shrunk them in size. This resulted in an incredibly inefficient building, where dampness and mould is becoming a big problem for its residents. Old buildings, pre-electricity and HVAC were designed to breath. They were meant to be drafty to circulate air! Buildings today are designed to be sealed up tight and not allow any natural “breathing” to optimize their energy intensive heating and cooling systems. As much as sustainable living is normative, it is not as livable as unsustainable buildings/cities are. But giving up comforts like central air may seem unbearable now, but may not be as unbearable if we harnessed natural heating and cooling in our buildings today.

Diagram of natural ventilation of a house

Image:

http://www.archdaily.com/41027/satish-nayak-residence-the-design-firm/natural-ventilation/

Street Markets: What was Old is New Again

Providing yet another use of the street – the backbone of our cities and neighbourhoods. Though these are as old as ancient cities when people would gather in the main market place to buy and sell goods, they are portrayed as a “new urban trend.” My perception of street markets used to be of flea markets, where people bought and sold worn out goods. But now, street markets cater to all types of shopping to attract all kinds of people. With the excitement over urban agriculture, people flock to these markets to buy local food stuffs and fresh produce. This goes in hand with the “buy local” sentiment where crafts, clothes, and furniture made locally are sold.

Street markets use existing street infrastrutucre. They engage communities by encouraging locals to interact in the market through buying and selling. It supports “sustainable” ideals of buying local goods. It engages the establishments on the street such as shops and restraurants. It encourages interaction between the entire street with no requirement of permanent infrastructure. Market stalls are put up and taken down daily and the streets return to their primary function. Could all living be that easily set-up and taken down in a matter of hours? It really sheds light on the “ecological footprint” cities leave behind, or the footprint a shopping mall leaves behind… A street market is in essence a shopping mall on a smaller scale and leaves no sign that it ever existed once it’s gone. Imagine if cities could limit their footprint like that, or even shrink their footprint…

Street market on The Rocks

Image:

http://youonlyliveonce.com.au/sydney-markets/

The Abuse of Street Trees

Typical streetscape: trees in concrete

In almost every streetscape I see, street trees line roadways. Even in renderings for street designs in my hometown that is under snow for 7 months out of the year. Green is beautiful, yes, but can we design winter cities to be beautiful too? I would like to see a rendering of a streetscape in mid-winter snow.

How well can a street tree survive? Yes, it’s all well and good to have them on your street because they’re pretty, they add character, etc. What is the lifespan of a street tree compared to one in its “natural” setting like a park? I attended a presentation by the parks department of the City of Edmonton regarding street trees and I was amazed at how much time and money goes into supporting the trees. Regular studies are done on them to track growth or illness, research conducted to find solutions to problems of root systems, which trees are the hardiest, etc. and the personnel who do all this.

How big of an affect does road pollution have on street trees? Such as exhaust from vehicles, salt and sand from winter road de-icing. What about vandalism, and pests? Are trees a “sustainable” choice for urban greening? Or is there a better choice of vegetation that is hardier and lower maintenance than these trees? I remember seeing many different small shrubs growing along the streets in Vancouver. They certainly wouldn’t have height problems, overgrowth of their canopies or roots compared to trees. Though I know very little about urban vegetation, I often wonder how healthy most street trees are. What other options are there? We need as many green areas as we can muster to counter air-pollution, absorb rainwater and connect our urban ecosystem back to natural processes that we have managed to alter to severely.

Image: of downtown Kelowna, BC, Canada

http://omaracommercial.wordpress.com/2012/09/20/whatshappeningdowntownkelowna/

Becoming Local: A Long Walk

Company makes streets safer

A typically Australian experience this was! I officially felt like a local after this adventure. A friend and I attended a house party in Redfern. Having never ventured to Redfern yet, the two of us nervously stared at the GPS on my brand new iPhone. Thank god for that! We had no idea where we were walking in a completely unknown area of town on a chilly evening. We managed to find the party in a lovely Victorian terrace house. We proceeded to drink ourselves silly while making new friends and having a great time! When the party planned to head out to the clubs at 1am, we opted to catch one of the last buses home from the area. It was a bit of a walk down narrow streets lined with terrace houses in a dark, damp street. Another part of the Australian experience is having a kebab after a night out, so that is what we did. While enjoying our Australian kebab on the wrong side of the street, our LAST bus drives by! “Doh!” As Homer Simpson would say. Don’t you love those useless drunken moments!? Hahaha.

After losing all appetite for my Kebab the two of us set off on a hike to a main road to hopefully catch a bus from there. This is how students turn an easy cab ride home into a 2-hour. The theme of this story is the safety I felt, maybe it was a false sense of safety but it existed. Having traveled extensively, sometimes on my own, I am very aware of my surroundings. Even in a fog of red wine, that sense did not fail me. Nathalie and I walked 7 kms from Redfern to our place on Anzac Parade near UNSW. And all the while, we did not hesitate. We followed the main roads, and headed down Anzac Parade through Moore Park. I believe it was the traffic on these roads that made us feel safe. Now, if I was walking this route alone, I may not have felt as safe.

The long walk home

When chatting with other local friends, they say they’ve walked home to Randwick from the CBD, through Hyde Park late at night and rarely felt unsafe. What creates this sense of safety? The traffic noise, the late night bus traffic, street lighting? The lone person’s proximity to major thoroughfares? The spread of late night entertainment such as restaurants and pubs throughout every neighbourhood? What makes a park safe? I keep returning to the presence of visual lines, allowing you to see all around you. Clear visuals of your surroundings don’t make you feel as if someone is going to jump out at you or that an assailant could be lurking in a dark shadow.

Images:

http://blueberryfingerprints.blogspot.com.au/2011_05_01_archive.html

http://www.centennialparklands.com.au/connections/news/news_feeds_for_news_landing/all_news_items/tree_replacement_program_wednesday_13_march_2013

The Local Pub: Always There for You

Compared to an entertainment district, the local pub is in every neighbourhood. This has been a social space for centuries, like the public square or market. It is a gathering place. That is one thing I love about cities, they are essentially the same city in every country across the world. They all have to provide the same services to its residents requiring them to have similar spatial orientation. There is something familiar about a city that you visit for the first time: It’s structured the same way as your home city to provide the same services to its residents. You need schools, hospitals, government centres, worshipping space, areas to exchange good/services, living areas, recreational space, transportation networks to these places and public spaces. The local watering- hole is along a main road (or multiple watering-holes located along multiple main roads in a neighbourhood), and there are always people in it.

Though a traditional aspect of our culture, it remains current. As our society becomes less and less social through the use of technology and social media our cultural establishments adapt to stay current. For example, supermarkets now allow you to place orders online and they deliver to your home. One can complete all of their Christmas shopping online and have it shipped to their door. One doesn’t need to set foot on a university campus to earn a degree. The list goes on and on. Yet, the simple act of having a beer at your local place has not been replaced. That can also be extended to non-alcohol related daytime coffees at your favourite coffee shop.

Mercer Tavern and Roast coffee shop

Located in an old warehouse building in downtown Edmonton

Coincidently both my favorite local tavern and coffee shop were right next door to each other in a 100-year-old warehouse building. I remember snowy, cold winter evenings when friends and I stood outside the building saying, “which one will it be tonight? Fancy coffee or fancy cocktail?” With the advent of online dating, one does not even need to go to the pub to meet their partner anymore! Nevertheless, no matter what people say, an iMessage chat with your best girlfriend never will replace a candid chat over a vodka water or chai latte. As long as there are cities, and there are people living in cities, there will be the local pub or coffee shop. Good urban design makes these spaces more attractive or more accessible. Even the seediest pubs (and I’ve been to a few) attract their patrons. I remember sitting in the oldest building in Ireland, a pub in Dublin built in 1146; it was originally a pub and is still a pub! Just off the river street in the entertainment district. If there is any one business that embodies sense of place, the local pub is it. It’s an establishment as old as the oldest city.

Some links for your viewing:

Mercer Tavern Edmonton

Entrepreneur opens trendy establishment unique to Edmonton

Images:

http://mercertavern.com/

http://www.startupedmonton.com/images/space/large-mercer.jpg

Kings Cross: Entertainment District

Coca-Cola sign, Kings Cross. Image by author.

The entertainment district. Jane Jacobs warned against the design of such districts because of their single use. Kings Cross may be “the place to be” if you’re an 18-21 year old relishing the club scene every Thursday to Saturday night, or if you work in the hospitality industry such as club security, waitress, bartender, club or kebab/pizza restaurant owner… haha. What is Kings Cross during the day? Not much. I took a stroll down Kings Cross on a hot Sunday afternoon and remembered the area being much more attractive at 11pm, liquored up and in the mood to bust a move. The streets are packed with partiers from 9 pm until 4 am. The mini-Piccadilly circus Coca-Cola Sign is all alight and dancing to the beat of the music flooding out of the clubs. It is an exciting energy.

Come Sunday afternoon, the sour smells of booze and puke invade your senses, the wide sidewalks are deserted and most establishments are closed besides the odd little pub. Who would want to live on the Cross or near it? Again, it you were a partier between the ages of 18 and 23, maybe. No young family, or business couple or old couple would set up house in the Cross would they? Suburbia exists as a means of escaping the loud, energetic city. I can hardly stand the traffic noise off Anzac Parade that seeps into my apartment. Can you imagine trying to rock a crying baby to sleep to the beat of the latest club tune? Hahaha, I can see the image now.

Because of the Cross’s primary use, it attracts related business as stated above: bottle shops, kebab shops, all manner of alcohol serving establishments playing a range of music but all generally the same thing inside. The district is well connected to major roadways for taxi, bus, and train. Every city needs an entertainment district, but how do you make it appealing for occupants who remain after the clubs have closed? Like those who live and work in the area. It is like a destination theme park that brings people in from all over the Sydney region.

Like all districts, it lives a life cycle of decline and regeneration. I argue it runs that cycle every single week. Decline Sunday to Wednesday, alive Thursday to Sunday morning, and decline again. A quick cycle like that supports this district, and maintains its importance as an entertainment district in Sydney. Other areas like in the CBD separate their clubs and charge huge cover costs to enter. The Cross offers a range of venues no matter what your budget and easy access to.

Mentioned in article:

Jacobs, J. (2000). The death and life of great American cities. London: Pimlico.

Kings Cross by day. 

Kings Cross by day. Image from http://prettysydneyphotodiary.com/2012/11/11/4/

Walk Through Alexandria

9 May 2013
Back laneways. I attended the city walk through Alexandria this week and was surprised at how much one can learn in two hours, covering only four blocks! I chose to see Alexandria out of the hope of seeing some of the Green Square redevelopment that I was writing an economics essay on. Unfortunately, I do not think we got close to Green Square. I did particularly enjoy the discussion on back laneways though. Professor Neuman made a strong point that road networks are the skeletons of cities. They usually remain unchanged as everything else changes in a city. The laneway is of particular significance because it is a feature of older areas and has largely been designed out of new suburbs.

They are useful for limiting on-street parking, and provide opportunities to expand backyards, build garages, build rental suites, etc for homeowners. Offering flexible uses and potential for adding on to their houses to potential homeowners provides options on the real estate market. Although questions always arise: how do they function when compared to front streets in terms of crime prevention and safety? Obviously, windows must face the laneway, adequate lighting, clear sight lines and energy flow concepts can be applied to laneways as is applied to any street. They certainly add character to the area.

An old english alleyway. Courtesy of Shutterstock.com

Sydney's Second Airport

There is much talk about the need for a second airport in Sydney. I understand there is a debate between a second airport for Sydney or a high-speed train linking Sydney to Melbourne. I have also heard that Sydney’s second airport should be located in Canberra and a high-speed train linking Sydney and the second airport. I was actually surprised that Canberra doesn’t have an airport! The capital territory of Australia does not have an airport! Even Richard Branson, the CEO of Virgin Airlines got on his soapbox explaining that Sydney will lose its global city status if it does not build a second airport.

Obviously, it is good for business if Virgin could put more flights in the air from a second airport. The whole high-speed train to Melbourne argument doesn’t seem a feasible second option. The cost and infrastructure for it will be tremendous! And I remember hearing once that a vehicle produces less emissions to carry one passenger than the emissions from a high-speed train run on coal does per passenger to travel the same distance. Although, train infrastructure may have better chances for long-term success when one considers the cost of oil and its eventual extinction.

Then comes the question of how long-term sustainable Sydney’s second airport will be? With the costs of airplane fuel in the next decade, will people continue to fly? What other options do they have? Even with telecommunications these days, millions of people still fly to do business, travel or visit family. In terms of Sydney’s long-term success as world/global city, the airport is hugely important right now.

Now where to locate the new airport? Canberra? Well Canberra needs an airport, that’s not a question. However, Canberra is a long drive from Sydney for those landing in Canberra, trying to get to Sydney for a 2-day business trip. I don’t think this is a realistic option. Apparently the Newcastle airport has a landing strip long enough for a space shuttle (says a friend from there – from Newcastle, not from space… Haha). Because of Sydney’s location on the harbour, there is no readily available space to just mow-over the land and throw down a few landing strips for an airport worthy of competing with the biggest in the world. Could they build the airport on a fabricated island like Tokyo did? Imagine the expense? Ha, the Australian government would have to be taken over by a dictator before that would ever happen. Then what? Take a page from the book of 1960s engineers-turned-planners and bulldoze entire neighbourhoods to build an airport (this time, instead of mega free-ways).

Actually, if you think about it. Today’s airports are like the massive freeways in the 1960s. Airports today symbolize the most important form of transportation and billions of dollars are poured into them across the world. Freeways were essential for connecting people with business in the 1960s; airports are essential for connecting people across the world today. A second airport in Sydney is essential to ensuring continued foreign investment and growth, which is in turn essential to Australia’s greater economy. Wow, that connection just came to me. I am starting to see the benefits of this type of class assignment. It really helps you work through the ideas rolling around in your head.

So let us learn from history (as the over-used cliché says) and not do what transportation planners did in the 1960s; address the second airport debate with a solid understanding of the Sydney’s needs, and make a sustainable choice.

Here is a link to an article:

Richard Branson talks second airport

Airports as Social Spaces

29 April 2013

I remember chatting with a Human Geography professor during my undergrad. She briefly mentioned that she thinks airports are going to be the social hubs of the next generation. I understand what she means as now airports are 24/7 operations that house hotels, malls, and food courts so travelers don’t have to leave the airport. These operations stay open long after flight activity stops overnight. I skimmed an article about Melbourne opening a Woolworth’s supermarket in their airport so you can stock up on groceries before heading home from the airport. Great idea, I think that was the last component missing from the today’s airport.

Link to Herald Sun Article on Woolworths in Melbourne Airport

I remember wandering the Vancouver airport while waiting for my midnight flight to Sydney to board. The seating was arranged in semi-circles with comfortable sofa-like benches with trees and decorative green touches. The spaces looked like the living room of a home. That was the most comfortable I have seen any airport, and I have spent countless hours in some of the biggest airports in the world.

It is one thing to design airports like massive living rooms but I am skeptical about the social side of airports. With all the security and drama you go through between arriving at the airport and boarding the plane, I am in no mood to happily strike up a conversation with the tired looking businessman standing behind me in the security line. I am so on edge: “is my bag overweight?” “Do they have my flight reservation?” “Is my flight delayed?” “Will the security line up move fast?” “Will I draw the unlucky card and be subject to a pat-down or the body scanner?” “Why do they make me take off my shoes!?” etc. And it doesn’t help that most flights happen early in the morning or late at night, from my experience.

Adding to the stress of long-distance travel (what most air-related travel is), exhaustion, and airport security theatrics, people tend to keep to themselves. Is that a function of our electronic age? I was so young when mobile phones and personal computers took over the social environment that I was not thinking about this at the time. While watching Mad Men last week, I noticed that the airport was a place to do business… Now remember that Mad Men is fiction based on historical events. Roger Sterling got a tip from his flight attendant girlfriend that an executive from Chevrolet was in the boarding lounge at the New York airport. Roger ordered a ticket on the flight and schmoozed this Chevy rep from the airport boarding lounge. He returned to his firm in New York the next day with an arranged meeting to pitch an advertising idea to Chevy. This was 1966, airports and planes were much smaller and far fewer people used airplanes to travel.

            Airports today are bigger than cities, and function as cities themselves! Airports are accessed by all kinds of people, not just big business and the very wealthy. Although supermarkets and malls bring all kinds of people together for one specific purpose, they are not “social hubs.” I think of airports like a supermarket: people share a space for a limited amount of time for the same reason; they do not need to actually interact with the people around them if they did not want to. Are airports the next social hub of our society? What do you think?

Vancouver airport - brings the outside in the comfort of your own "living room." See the seating to the bottom left of the picture.

"Exclusive Luxury Apartments"

26 April 2013

When does exclusive expand to inclusive? One could argue affordable housing is exclusive if it doesn’t exist! When will the bottom fall out of this market?

Thoughts based on sightseeing tour when nearly every area surrounding the harbour and Bondi was redeveloped for “exclusive” luxury apartments… when does the demand for million dollar houses weaken and the demand for affordable housing get noticed by developers!?

Over the mid-semester break I played the tacky tourist and took a sightseeing tour of Sydney and Bondi in the open-top red double decker tour bus. Please reserve your eye rolls. The bus covered more area than I could in a week on foot. It gave me a good view of the city’s main attractions but also raised some questions from the Planner in me. All water front views on the Harbour have been monopolized by “exclusive luxury apartments,” as the tour guide described them. These exclusive apartments included new buildings and old industry warehouses refurbished into multi-million dollar condos with private marinas!

Bondi is Australia’s most popular beach and probably most popular area as well, although starting to appear run down. However, I think a complete neighbourhood decline is unlikely. The tour bus squeezed its way down the most expensive residential street in Sydney with views over-looking Bondi beach. Living here over 2 months now, yes, I get it; it is expensive to live here. Point made! Although I am still learning about the housing market here, and am forming my opinions from my observations, the housing market is incredibly unbalanced. When will the demand for middle-income/affordable housing out strip the demand for “exclusive luxury apartments?”

Sydney is labeled a world city for it is financial, high-level producer industries but that is all. The more reading I do on global economics and global cities the lower Sydney falls in rankings of world cities. With world city status, international investment in real estate is likely strong, I’m sure many rich globetrotters have a house in Sydney among other cities. Obviously, people are purchasing these luxury apartments! But do they represent the majority of Sydney-siders? If you didn’t know any better you would assume everyone in Sydney were rich based on the sightseeing tour!

When do exclusive places stop being exclusive? If everyone owns an exclusive luxury apartment, does it stop being exclusive and become inclusive if “everyone” owns one?

Can mixing affordable housing and exclusive housing work? Planners work hard to create inclusive spaces but as Jane Jacobs explains in her book The Death and Life of Great American Cities, forced inclusivity rarely works out. Interaction needs space to develop on its own. 

Jacobs, J. (2000). The death and life of great American cities. London: Pimlico.

Images:

Top - Sydney/Bondi sightseeing tour bus

Bottom - "Luxury Apartments" in Pyrmont

Gated Sydney: Bars on Windows and Doors - Everywhere!

24 April 2013

"Bars on the door, bars on the heart?" – the lyrics from a Tim McGraw song echo in my brain while observing the street from bus windows I’ve noticed along Anzac Parade that houses fronting the street have bars on windows and doors. Seeing the odd house or shop front look like this is fine, but it appears more common than not! Even yards have little stone walls along the perimeter of their yard with a gate for the sidewalk and a gate for the driveway. The gates and stone wall fences often have decorative metal work on them, as do the barred windows and doors. While running around Kensington off Anzac Parade, yards still had fences and gates and beautifully stained glass windows were obscured by bars!

It is a decorative touch, but the principle remains – gates, fences, and barred windows/doors are not welcoming. They don’t make the neighbourhood feel very safe. Although I feel safe enough walking around during the day, I wouldn’t wonder about in the evening. When I asked a local living in Redfern, she explained that inner Sydney experienced a huge increase in “opportunity robberies” where people’s homes were broken into in broad daylight and emptied of their expensive goods such as TVs, laptops, etc. The lady I spoke with explained her flat was robbed three times in six months… Wow! As a result everyone put bars on their windows and doors to prevent these petty crimes.

House in Kensington, NSW. Note bars on windows and door, small brick "wall" fence, with gate across drive way. Though a decorative touch and definitely has curb appeal, but look closely and it isn't a very welcoming sight.

More On Sidewalks

22 April 2013

Sidewalk on Belmore Road in Randwick

Sidewalks – they really are more than just the concrete domain for pedestrians. Jane Jacobs takes three chapters to talk about sidewalks as the means for safety, interaction and socializing children. The safety argument was the most interesting. Safety is determined by the amount of human interaction going on in the street – people coming and going, people watching the comings and going, kids playing, etc, etc. Safety and this interaction make neighbourhoods attractive, makes people want to live there. As soon as areas are perceived as unsafe, people leave. It seems an easy concept: how do we make streets safe and appealing? Keep people in them through retail, restaurants etc. But that too can not be completely controlled by the planner.

Book mentioned:

Jacobs, J. (2000). The death and life of great American cities. London: Pimlico.

Image:

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