The City Mouse

"We just have to lose the me from urbanisme."

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 10:49:58 +1000

“We just have to lose the me from urbanisme.”

- Another great article from Elizabeth Farrelly - what is the real cost of nimbism?

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/less-of-me-in-planning-would-help-rest-of-us-20120530-1zjga.html#ixzz1wUx6B8ti

"Criticism must make the critic’s view and reasoning, however bizarre, quite plain, thus..."

Thu, 10 May 2012 10:29:49 +1000

“Criticism must make the critic’s view and reasoning, however bizarre, quite plain, thus helping readers to form and articulate their own views.
MCA architect Sam Marshall is wrong to dismiss people’s likes and dislikes as petty, wrong to insist that opinion is valid only when backed with 20 pages of “intelligent” reasoning. Sigh.
People’s likes matter greatly; only when these responses are articulated can they be understood, refined, shared and educated.
What many architects do not see is that, while they might be the targets of criticism, they’re not its audience - any more than film reviews are intended for filmmakers.”

- http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/bold-frank-criticism-can-only-nourish-architecture-20120509-1ycxm.html

What do you think about the new extension to the Museum of Contemporary Art?

"The gentrification of areas tends to drive out services for the local people who need them, explains..."

Fri, 04 May 2012 13:04:00 +1000

“The gentrification of areas tends to drive out services for the local people who need them, explains Rohit Talwar, chief executive at Fast Future, a research company that analyses future trends. “Councils argue that they are justified in getting rid of services such as post offices and pubs because the people who would have needed them have sold up and moved away.””

- http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/740fff32-8d34-11e1-8b49-00144feab49a.html#axzz1tXkWeVKU

"The Just Space Network is critical of the London Plan model for encouraging market led development..."

Wed, 02 May 2012 16:16:36 +1000

“

The Just Space Network is critical of the London Plan model for encouraging market led development under the guise of promoting London as a ‘world class city’. Unless there is a proper analysis of the model and its detrimental impact on the majority of Londoners, the capital will remain ‘world class’ only for an elite. They say there is serious need for a rethink.

Just Space ensured that a very large number of community voices were heard at the 6 month long public examination into the London Plan. They succeeded in persuading the Mayor to strengthen policy on protecting local shops, extending green infrastructure, and promoting Community Land Trusts and Community Development Trusts.

On the big issues of affordable housing, road user charging, air quality, and avoiding displacement of ordinary Londoners from ‘regeneration’ areas the Network persuaded the independent Inspectors of their arguments. It is hugely disappointing then that the Mayor has rejected the Inspectors’ recommendations.

The London Plan is supposed to be ‘evidenced based’. But it has completely ignored the evidence on housing need and gypsy and traveller pitches and fails to produce an evidence base that demonstrates the benefits of large regeneration schemes for London’s established communities.

The Mayor’s 20 year development plan for London is a hugely significant document which the majority of Londoners are totally unaware of. Our view is that there is a pressing need for wider debate in the media on the significance of the London Plan and how much it impacts on the kind of development that is occurring every day in our own neighbourhoods.

”

- http://justspace2010.wordpress.com/about-the-final-plan-2011/

"Most city dwellers spend a considerable part of their lives in roughly the same place. Therefore,..."

Wed, 02 May 2012 13:07:05 +1000

“Most city dwellers spend a considerable part of their lives in roughly the same place. Therefore, the quality of that place matters – the range and affordability of housing, the job opportunities, the schools, healthcare and public transport – because it shapes day-to-day life and long-term opportunities.”

- http://www.theurbn.com/2012/04/place-built-environment/

The ‘Which Bird is That’ Mural in Edgely Street,...

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 09:27:48 +1000

The ‘Which Bird is That’ Mural in Edgely Street, Surry Hills has been restored. Being located in my street we are happy that City of Sydney has employed the same artist Peter Day. His original mural painted back in 1981 was designed to instil an appreciation of nature and bird life into the children of Surry Hills. My neighbours, flatmates and I are pretty happy with the result, particularly as the original artist was employed and that the community was consulted. Good to see Clover made it out with her dogs for the opening too.

Centenntial Park Improvement Program - safe or dangerous?

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 19:11:39 +1100

Centenntial Park Improvement Program - safe or dangerous?:

The Randwick-Botany Cycle Club summarises the issues well:

Centennial Parklands are proposing radical traffic changes to Centennial Park which they say addresses the blackspots (accident injuries) that they have been experiencing in Centennial Park. The radical proposals include speed humps in the Grand Drive adjacent to the children’s cycle track and perhaps even more restrictive is a proposed 24/7, 20kph maximum speed limit. Whilst we are 1000% behind any initiative that seeks to ensure safety for Mothers and toddlers crossing the Grand Drive, we feel that they should not even be crossing it at all. Quite frankly, the kids track is in the wrong place. Cycle Centennial informed Centennial Parklands of this some 10 years ago and even recommended an alternate location which ensured safety for kids and adequate parking and access for parents.

This plan is ill conceived and in a word selfish. To inconvenience all other park users on a 24 hr basis to address the tiny window in terms of overall time when mothers and kids attend the kiddies track. Para- athletes such as hand cyclists will be unable to train in the park at all as I am informed that they are simply incapable, because of their design, to negotiate over speed humps.

Ten years ago, a consortium of user groups, including delegates from many of the Sydney cycling and triathlon clubs, came together to address concerns over the last ill conceived plan by Centennial Parklands which not only proposed speed humps but also a contra flow bike lane. Cycle Centennial successfully demonstrated that their plans were unsafe and many of these unsafe aspects were removed from the traffic management plan. Cycle Centennial has once again convened in relation to the latest proposals and will be once again making submissions to Centennial Parklands in respect of the latest proposed traffic management scheme.

Thank you to all those who have sent in personal submissions to Centennial Parklands. Really, we would urge every single member of Randwick Botany and indeed all users of the Park, to send in their objection to these planned changes.

Comment is open till this Friday 30 March, so I would urge everyone to voice objection to the proposed changes by sending an email to info@centennialparklands.com.au

"Launching Grattan’s new report, Social cities, Ms Kelly emphasised that relationships are critical..."

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 19:06:30 +1100

“Launching Grattan’s new report, Social cities, Ms Kelly emphasised that
relationships are critical to wellbeing. “A lack of face-to-face contact can put our
health at risk,” Ms Kelly said. “Unfortunately, there are worrying signs that isolation
and loneliness are growing in Australia.””

- http://www.grattan.edu.au/pub_page/130_social_cities.html

Great new research released by the Grattan Institute - definitely worth a read

Support your local shops - think about the impact that online...

Sun, 18 Mar 2012 17:39:45 +1100

Support your local shops - think about the impact that online shopping has on local retail.

"Beauty, it turns out, is relative for urbanites. A well-designed urban environment matters much more..."

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 08:58:35 +1100

“Beauty, it turns out, is relative for urbanites. A well-designed urban environment matters much more than the amount of trash on the sidewalk.”

- http://www.fastcoexist.com/1679263/forget-the-suburbs-living-in-beautiful-well-designed-cities-makes-people-happy

Check out this groundbreaking project underway in the remote...

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:31:00 +1100

Check out this groundbreaking project underway in the remote town of Warburton in Western Australia, led by AECOM, the University of Western Australia and the Shire Council of Ngaanyatjarraku.

IKEA Urbanism!? New suburb coming to London.

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 11:34:06 +1100

IKEA Urbanism!? New suburb coming to London.

Video

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 23:08:28 +1100

Gallery 2166 - please help to make this gallery in Western...

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 23:02:30 +1100

Gallery 2166 - please help to make this gallery in Western Sydney a reality

Gallery 2166 at Cabramatta High by Gallery 2166 on Pozible

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 22:56:47 +1100

Gallery 2166 at Cabramatta High by Gallery 2166 on Pozible:

Place making meets art out west

I am a supporter of this great new concept led by my artistic partner Saha Jones. Basically, the concept is bringing an art gallery to underprivileged kids in Western Sydney. Gallery 2166 is to be built in a demountable at Cabramatta High School.

Basically, this is one of the concepts that has come out of my collaboration with Saha last year – connecting art to place. Gallery 2166 responds to the local community, their needs and fosters their aspirations. Imagine if every school had a gallery?

Please give if you can we are half way to $20,000. Thanks for your support.

http://gallery2166.tumblr.com/

"Nicole Dennis, urban planner from the Academy of Emergency Art disagreed. “It may be affordable to..."

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 11:16:56 +1100

“

Nicole Dennis, urban planner from the Academy of Emergency Art disagreed.

“It may be affordable to be an artist, but what type of artist and is that the kind of artist our society needs, of course there is a market for a range of things, but are we pricing out those artists that challenge us conceptually and produce the kind of art which doesn’t have a market.”

Ms Dennis criticised the government and the private sector for neglecting creativity in their planning.
“This is really a planning issue, planners have not planned for creativity in Sydney really at all, the new Sydney metropolitan plan 2036 doesn’t map or analyse cultural or creative capital.”

I just got sent this article, it is from a few months ago - but this debate is still relevant. I spent the October long weekend at Sound Summit debating this issue again. People are moving, if you are an artist that is unsatisfied with the way art is valued in Sydney (and Australia) please send me an email contact@thecitymouse.org

”

- http://www.altmedia.net.au/can-sydney-keep-creativity/37499

Whilst participating in The Global Contemporary Exhibition at...

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 09:13:00 +1100

Whilst participating in The Global Contemporary Exhibition at ZKM in Karlsruhe, Germany I was fascinated by design of the town. The same population as Canberra but designed with a density that resulted in great street life, a diversity of activities, frequent trams and a permeable street network for walking and cycling. I had a great day wandering the streets, sitting in the parks and discovering some beautiful buildings, plazas and parks. A nice break from the heat of Oman and the intensity of the exhibition conference. I will post soon about my experience at the art exhibition - just still catching up with so much work from being away!

"If you want to protect wilderness, live in a dense urban centre. Same if you want to avert climate..."

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 08:56:24 +1100

“

If you want to protect wilderness, live in a dense urban centre. Same if you want to avert climate change. Same if you want cheaper housing, better transport, decent coffee or a choice of walk-to tapas.

As Richard Rogers told the House of Lords last week, Britain’s urban renaissance over the past decade has been driven by tight controls on out-of-town development. Put more simply, opposing high-density development on inner-city sites such as Barangaroo or Broadway (as ”greens” and NIMBYs still archaically do) drives sprawl.

Australia needs four more Sydneys (or 16 more Adelaides) within four decades. If it doesn’t go here, it goes somewhere else.

Work it out. Grow it up.

”

- http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/be-happy-be-more-interesting-be-dense-20111019-1m809.html

Some snaps from some work I have been doing in Muscat, Oman....

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 23:24:33 +1000

Some snaps from some work I have been doing in Muscat, Oman. Enduring over 40 degree heat (I’m too pale for it) was worth the wonderful experience of learning about the Omani culture and working out how to create some great public domain and places that are not only unqiue to Oman, but attractive, comfortable and exciting for Omanis and visitors.

"In booming cities, old industrial sites, railyards, shipyards and decommissioned military bases are..."

Tue, 30 Aug 2011 23:54:28 +1000

“In booming cities, old industrial sites, railyards, shipyards and decommissioned military bases are frequently among the last large empty spaces ripe for infill. The communities near these sites are often low-income. Like Bayview, many have weathered the economic and environmental blows of declining industries and their toxic legacies. Now, they find themselves caught between hope for much-needed investment and fear of the change it might bring. “One of the complaints about the (smart growth) movement has been, ‘It’s always upscale, it’s expensive, it drives people out,’ ” says John Frece, the director of the EPA’s Office of Sustainable Communities. To prevent displacement, federal funding for smart-growth projects through the Partnership includes requirements for affordable housing, job-training programs and community engagement in the planning process. The administration’s goal, Frece says, is to make sure communities aren’t “penalized just because their environmental problems get cleaned up.” Accomplishing that, though, isn’t easy. Says Malo Hutson, assistant professor of city and regional planning at UC Berkeley: “You would get the Nobel Prize in Economics — or Peace — if you could figure out a way to keep the community that existed before the redevelopment project came along.””

- Greening a city … and pushing other colors out — High Country News