Coalition of the willing needed for Civic

A “coalition of the willing” is needed to restart Civic, say the architects, urban planners, designers and policy makers who came together yesterday for a forum to kick-start Canberra’s heart.

The Transforming Canberra’s CBD forum, hosted by the Property Council of Australia, Canberra CBD Limited and the Canberra Business Chamber, attracted more than 300 attendees keen to make a difference to Civic, and address the 15 per cent street-level and office vacancies that currently plague the city.

Speakers included former CEO of Melbourne’s Federation Square Kate Brennan, who warned that there is “no silver bullet to developing a great place – there is no one single great act. Instead, it will be a series of complementary acts.”

But she also said it was clear that there was “no shortage of energisers in Canberra” and that these people must come together as “champions of change”.

Professor of Architecture at RMIT University Leon van Schaik challenged the audience to create an “authentic Canberra” through architecture, while Dorte Ekelund, Director-General of the ACT Government’s Environment and Planning Directorate, said enhancing the “Northbourne corridor as a gateway to the city centre” must be a priority.

Futurist and economist Brian Haratsis said Canberra can no longer rely on the public sector to drive growth, and that two realms of jobs will create the best opportunities to revitalise Civic: tourism and international students.

Dan Stewart, the former Coordinator-General for Urban Renewal in the ACT and now Director of Elton Consulting, observed that we needed more than just “advocates”. “Advocates talk a lot, but champions do– which is what we need,” he said.

Malcolm Snow said Canberra needed a “coalition of the willing and able” with government, business and community working together to demonstrate “not just the value but the power of collective urban leadership with a big injection of a can do attitude.”

The next step for Canberra, the speakers agreed, was to bring together “not just the usual suspects”, but people from the sciences, arts, humanities, small and large businesses and not-for-profits to create a shared vision for Canberra’s CBD.

The Property Council of Australia will be distilling the outcomes from the forum, and will release a report in coming weeks.

Media contact: Catherine Carter | M 0412 330 079 | P 02 6248 6902