On 7 November 2011, Place Partners hosted a great line up of urban entrepreneurs, thinkers and doers to discuss Collaborative Urbanism and its role in transforming our cities. The night was part of our annual free city talk series with the first being held last year titled ‘Better Cities Great Waterfronts’. The night was a great success with our passionate speakers entertaining a full house. Here’s a quick run down of the night’s agenda. 

Kylie Legge, Director of Place Partners, opened the night with an introduction to Collaborative Urbanism, the philosophy behind the movement and what it means for us in terms of community involvement and rejuvenating place. Kylie explained that Collaborative Urbanism has evolved from collaborative consumption - a different mode of communicating, sharing and owning. Kylie gave several examples of ways in which citizens were reclaiming the places they live or work in. Starting with Jane Jacobs and ending with DC week, a collaborative think tank sponsored by ford, Kylie explained the growing popularity of this concept and how we are seeing more and more challenges being reinterpreted into opportunities.

Our next speaker was Jan Campbell, from the City of Sydney, who spoke about the importance of local government in providing the environment in which collaborations can be achieved. Jan mentioned the Sydney City Talks 2011 program, Business Awards and Open – a consultation initiative to discuss the future of our late night economy, as platforms for educating citizens and being involved. Newtown was used as a case study to show how the community can help define its local area, branding and identity. Jan also discussed how businesses are supporting local events such as the shop local campaigns and various city festivals and how these initiatives have real potential to kick start urban change.

Following on from Jan, Martin O’Sullivan from Grasshopper Bar, spoke about the global pop up movement and the establishment of small bars in Sydney. Martin discussed how it’s all about doing something different and creating a buzz around an event that usually has a limited life, which is not always pre-determined. Martin stated that these pop up movements can make the most of events by being a cheaper and more approachable venue, “It’s all about collaboration between venue owners/managers and galleries, events, event organises all supporting one another” he said. Martin finished by talking about the importance of building relationships for the betterment of the city. The NSW Small Bar Association has “no competition because we are all so different, we are in it together, helping each other and the little guy who just wants a place without pokies” he said.

John O’Callaghan, from Place Partners, continued on from Martin's introduction to pop up, speaking about Park(ing) Day, how it originated, and how its now influencing change in our cities in a big way. In September 2011 John and the team at Place Partners helped convert a local parking space into a park, reclaiming space along Oxford Street for the public realm. In doing so the park became a member of the global movement with over 800 parks participating worldwide. John stressed the importance of these initiatives in reminding us that the possibilities are endless and that there once was a time when cars were the new kids on the block and had little impact on the way we lived. John explained that while Park(ing) Day had humble beginnings, it is now influencing more permanent change in our cities. Local residents and businesses are driving the growth of parklets in San Francisco, Vancouver and New York. They want to see less concrete and more places designed for people. At a macro scale, John also gave the example of New York where the pedestrianisation of Times Square has seen an 85% increase in pedestrian traffic and the largest increase in retail rents the city has ever seen.

Our last speaker for the night was Sam Crawford from SamCrawford Architects. Sam spoke about our cities laneways and what could be achieved by opening dialogue with local businesses and government. As part of this conversation, Sam and his team have designed an edible garden pop up that is currently waiting Council consent and will convert two parking bays into pocket parks. If approved, these gardens will provide an experiment in options,which may lead to footpath widening, traffic calming and urban greening. Sam has the support of resident groups and local businesses that have promised to care for the plants. 

The diversity of projects that fall under the Collaborative Urbanism umbrella range in scale, complexity, and degree of participant and stakeholder involvement. From the relatively innocuous guerrilla gardening of previous decades to current community led economic regeneration programs. Collaborative Urbanism speaks of a new era of shared leadership;collectivism over the individual.

Thanks to all our speakers and those of you who attended the night. Check out photos from the night HERE. Stay in touch for our next city talk in 2012.