Even the most ardent admirers of Canberra will admit our city centre has been a long-time work in progress. But this unfinished business could be our greatest advantage as the geography of work evolves, says city-shaper Tim Williams.
Williams was in town recently to share his thoughts with a crowd of Salon Canberra guests interested in the future of our city.
The former chief executive of the Committee for Sydney and an architect of the Greater Sydney Commission, Williams was also advisor to the mayor of London and helped the city shape London’s post-Olympics legacy.
When Williams talks, people listen – and he had a clear message for everyone with a stake in the future of Canberra: “The rules of the game have to change because the game has changed.”
Twenty years of transformation have been truncated into two, and some of the world’s “superstar cities” are now scrambling to keep up with the shift in working patterns.
Office occupancy in London only reached 50 per cent for the first time in September, for instance, while cheers rang out when New York hit 46 per cent of pre-pandemic levels in early October.
The CBDs of Sydney and Melbourne are now attracting just 52 per cent and 41 per cent of the workers they once did – leading to huge economic and cultural consequences.
The CBDs of Sydney and Melbourne were home to around 20 per cent of our national economy before the pandemic, according to EY’s Reimagining our Economic Powerhouses report.
According to Williams, around 90 per cent of Sydney’s arts budget is funnelled into 10 institutions in the centre of the city.
Meanwhile, Melbourne Theatre Company research has found almost one-third of its audience worked in the CBD pre-pandemic – and that has dropped to 16 per cent earlier this year.
Many city centres must now “earn the commute,” Williams warned. But what does this mean for Canberra, a city famous for its scattered workforce and short commutes? Our challenge is to “curate the transformation” we want for our city.
After three days of sitting at home, people want to head to the city “not to work, but to play,” Williams said.
Smaller cities are best placed to respond to urban pivot. While London’s daytime footfall languishes at half what it was pre-pandemic, Leeds has almost recovered, with weekend activity at 130 per cent. Why is this? Williams suspects it’s the city’s accessibility and party atmosphere.
For Canberra – a city that acclaimed Danish urbanist Jan Gehl once famously observed was “trying to have a party in too many rooms” – we must focus our collective efforts on Civic.
Our city’s heart is close to mine, and I’ve spent many years championing Civic’s potential.
Six years ago, I wrote that Civic’s transformation required much more than “changing the street furniture or staging a few events”.
Since then, we’ve made much progress, despite the bumps in the road caused by the pandemic.
Now, with the Australian Tax Office slated to depart Civic in 2025, urban “compression” is ahead. As “business models of urban life are recalibrated,” we are presented with an oversized opportunity to turn our CBD into a “central experience district”. But what might this look like?
A party city obviously needs a thriving night-time economy.
A recent report from the Council of Capital City Lord Mayors offers surprises, as well as some suggestions for our future strategy. Canberra’s night-time economy grew by 8 per cent over the 2020/21 financial year, and by June 2021 both employment and turnover in food establishments had exceeded pre-pandemic levels.
Per capita, Canberra trumps the national average in terms of establishments, employment and turnover.
The number of bars and pubs has grown, but we have a lower proportion of entertainment establishments than the national average.
This offers one area of opportunity. Williams shared NSW Government research which found 79 per cent of Sydneysiders want more night-time activities that do not centre around alcohol.
Michael Rodrigues, NSW’s first 24-Hour Economy Commissioner is using that insight to build a “neon grid” of night-time cultural activities.
The Canberra Moon Festival and Enlighten’s Civic Illuminations are a good start for Civic – but we need more than one-off events.
Williams also talked that Canberra is capitalising on its “soft power”. Success stories from other cities are inspiring – from Cardiff’s Sports Arena (“simply the best rugby stadium in the world”) to Titanic Belfast, a museum which was named the world’s top tourist attraction just four years after it opened. Soft power stretches beyond physical assets; it is also found in heritage, history and people, Williams argued.
Birmingham’s Consulate General of India is an unexpected soft power asset that strengthens business and cultural ties, for example.
Our planning system must also adapt and evolve. Williams recently helped the city of Cardiff develop a post-Covid strategy based on “missions” – in other words end goals – rather than the planning inputs.
Barcelona’s “Let’s fill the streets with life” strategy has redefined public space, with games, greenery, history and human activity bringing new life to neighbourhoods.
All cities reinvent themselves, but not without everyone rolling up their sleeves. “Governments must work more collaboratively and creatively with the private sector,” Williams said. We need a coalition of support and a collaborative platform that brings everyone together. To get Civic’s party started, we need to get everyone in the same room.
