How do you bring people to a place? And how do you make places that bring people? These are the questions that keeps The Space Agency’s Bec McHenry up at night.
From the moment the first hoarding is erected on site or the first sod is turned, developers face a dilemma: how to create a great place from scratch.
McHenry, chief executive of place activation and management consultancy The Space Agency,specialises in transitioning new development sites, major infrastructure projects and existing under-used assets into destinations.
McHenry takes responsibility for establishing what she calls a ‘minimum viable place’. The idea evolved from the tech industry’s ‘minimum viable product’: a product with just enough features to satisfy early adopters, and to provide feedback for future enhancement.
“A minimum viable place aims to achieve similar things for property developers and their early adopters – whether that’s the first residents moving into a 10-year greenfield community or the first commuters to use a new train line,” McHenry explains.
In much the same way a product isn’t launched and immediately ubiquitous, a minimum viable place, or MVP, “ensures these early adopters can see the promise of place begin to emerge right from day one”.
McHenry points to a recent collaboration with the City of Melbourne which saw the introduction of a pop-up park onto the corner of Elizabeth Street and Flinders Lane in early 2018. The project was sparked by impending road closures, with the MVP functioning as a green space for residents, workers and visitors while also giving Melbournians insight into the potential redevelopment of Elizabeth Street.
“The project allowed us to develop a prototype for pop-up parks and to test a range of theories – like how people cope when parts of the city are closed to traffic and how we can introduce extra green space into a concentrated built environment.”
Another recent success story is the Knowledge Market at Docklands in Melbourne. A collaboration with Lendlease, the project turned a vacant space into an adult education centre hosting classes on everything from how to meditate to mastering Snapchat.
“During our research, we discovered that many start-ups, alternative education providers and community organisations were unable to find high-quality spaces in the Melbourne CBD to host workshops, learning activities and events.”
During the first 12 months, the venue was managed by The Space Agency, with more than 500 events attracting 5,500 people to the area. Recently, the space was leased to RMIT University, which plans to continue to curate public workshops, exhibitions and community events.
Meanwhile, Moonee Valley Racecourse, which is currently being transformed by leading developer Hamton in joint venture with superannuation fund Hostplus, and in partnership with the Moonee Valley Racing Club, into a $2 billion urban lifestyle precinct, is rolling out a variety of MVPs from pop-up cafés to temporary green space.
“It will take 13 years for Hamton to transition the site from a race course to a neighbourhood. We have to start somewhere, and these MVPs offer a taste of what the development will deliver, opens the previously-gated racecourse to the community and allows us to demonstrate the project, rather than just talk about it.”
At its heart, an MVP drives behavioural change, McHenry says.
“When you want to people to buy into a community or shop in a place that doesn’t exist you have to change their behaviour. You can’t just throw open the doors and expect people to come.”
So what are McHenry’s three key lessons for place activation?
- Understand your market. “Don’t underestimate the challenge of bringing people to a place where there isn’t much happening. It’s like renting a vacant space – there’s a reason why it’s vacant. Understand why people aren’t coming and identify who you want to bring to the place – and think carefully about who those people really are, not what the brochure might say.”
- Enhance the existing character. “Creating a point of difference in a new development comes down to the character already embedded in the place. There is always something you can draw upon to initiate a revival – whether that’s something cool going on in the local neighbourhood or a great piece of history that you can amplify.”
- Look to the long-term. McHenry warns against looking at activation as a “sugar hit” that sells projects or as an exercise that “looks good from space”. “Activation should be embedded into your entire development approach. You can use temporary activation to achieve long-term goals – provided you do it well and do it right.”