A committed urbanist, Lord Mayor Clover Moore delivered the opening address of the 2015 Festival of Urbanism at the University of Sydney.
Urbanisation is one of the most effective and responsible ways to address key challenges of the 21st century, says Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore.
The renowned urbanist, Jane Jacobs believed in dense, mixed use and multicultural urban environments. She saw the community benefit and beauty in the energetic nature of people-focussed city streets that enabled many cultures, many uses and a diversity of transport options to create rich experiences and dynamic places and neighbourhoods.
She was a strong advocate that a thriving city could only be built through public participation and civic activism.
Like Jane, I am a committed urbanist – both philosophically and politically.
As many of you here today would agree - urbanisation is one of the most effective and responsible ways to address key challenges of the 21st century.
CITIES AND SUBURBIA
For the first time in history, over half the world’s population live in cities, and that proportion is growing. By 2050, it’s been estimated it will have risen to about 70 per cent. Despite the mythologising of the land and rural Australia, we have long been a highly urbanised country. Today, two-thirds of our population live in capital cities. It’s estimated that by 2031, the number of families in the City of Sydney will increase by 45 per cent.
Our State and Federal Governments however are yet to catch up. Their policies still reflect the idea that a ‘good life’ is exemplified by quarter-acre block, serviced by radial roads carrying drivers to work in the city and a district mega-mall for shopping.
Blather, blather and more blather.
http://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2015/09/02/festival-of-urbanism-address-by-sydney-lord-mayor-...
Clover has been drinking from the Pieran Spring.
Clover Moore alarmed by Waterloo apartment plans that dwarf Singapore's squeeze
Apartment density of the scale seen only in pockets of New York or Hong Kong but greater than anything in Singapore is being planned for inner Sydney by the state government, according to an alarmed City of Sydney Council.
The government is planning a precinct of 20 and 30-storey towers that would increase the density around Waterloo, where a new rail station is planned, to the equivalent of 70,000 people per square kilometre, the council says.
That would be more than four times as dense as the current densest area in Australia, Pyrmont, which houses 14,000 people per square kilometre. The Green Square area, which is already an emerging transport nightmare, is planned to house a comparatively modest 22,000 people per square kilometre.
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/clover-moore-alarmed-by-waterloo-apartment-plans-that-dwarf-singapore-2016...
