The rise of the megaproject
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With urban renewal projects looming large on the Australian landscape, the University of Sydney is hosting an event that aims to challenge conventional thinking about the role of urban redevelopment.
Australia is in a unique position to reset the global agenda for urban renewal developments that generate social, cultural and economic benefits as it rolls out two significant projects, the Bays Precinct and the Barangaroo redevelopment in Sydney, the largest urban renewal projects being undertaken in Australia.
Both projects will be featured in the first Festival of Urbanism from 15 October-6 November hosted by the University of Sydney – an event that will also showcase the work of university staff involved with urban issues.
“Cities have been a focus of teaching and research at the University of Sydney for a very long time,” said Peter Phibbs, Chair of Urban Planning and Policy at the University of Sydney. “We want to direct discourse and wider university research efforts into the growing area of widescale urban redevelopment with a three-week festival of events featuring international and local experts and the Sydney community.”
According to Phibbs, scholarship and interdisciplinary knowledge can play an instrumental role in innovative urban renewal approaches.
“The importance of large-scale urban redevelopment, socially and economically, is rising and we now have the opportunity to leverage the wealth of international research and experience, create a platform for serious conversation and plough it into some of our future major urban renewal projects.”
The Festival of Urbanism will be held ahead of a government-backed, invitation-only international experts summit for the Bays Precinct in November.
Issues that will be canvassed at the Festival of Urbanism include the sourcing of appropriate sites, consultative approaches to planning and design, incentives for private sector investment, project risk allocation, approach to tendering, and community consultation and engagement. Key issues such as defining the public interest in what happens in the Bays Precinct over the longer term and the effect on the economic geography of the city as a whole will also be addressed.
In light of demand in this emerging area, the University of Sydney has launched a new Master of Urbanism program, a two-year postgraduate course that features cross-disciplinary elements, including urban design, urban and regional planning, and heritage studies.
The festival launch is on 15 October in the Tin Sheds Gallery in the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning at the University of Sydney.
For further information contact Peter Phibbs at [email protected] or [email protected] or follow the festival on Twitter by following @FestUrbanism