The campaign to 'fix' Sydney (1 Viewer)

[Generator]

This may be interesting.

Just a general thread. Any thoughts on the campaign in general, even though it has just been launched? Is it a worthwhile initiative that will galvanise Herald readers and the relevant parties into pushing for actual change in an effective manner, or is it merely an avenue for various academics and lobby groups to cry as the State government announces changes that it sees as being necessary yet practical (short-term gain, despite the long-term outlook, that is)?

Myself, I believe that it will be a combination of the two. Mobilising the masses (albeit the 'latte' masses of the smh) can only help, yet if it becomes a soapbox then it runs the risk of being dismissed by those in power. Time will tell, I guess.

The campaign being for Sydney is also an interesting idea, too. Will it be for Sydney as a whole as they claim, or will it be for the Sydney of those with a voice? Will it centre on the Harbour, or will it centre on Parramatta? In actual fact, I believe that the campaign's greatest task will be to broaden the horizons of many so that they may realise that the Sydney of one is different to the Sydney of another, and that that does not mean that one perspective is worth more than another. If it can promote a better Sydney that has an inclusive sense of belonging for all (be you at Palm Beach, Edgecliff, Mount Druitt or Macquarie Fields) at its core, then there may well be hope for the future as they believe.

Edit: Social adviser's job stuck in the too hard basket. Haha.

 

[aaaman]

you guys wanna fix Sydney....Kick out Bob Carr in next election. He takes us for granted.

 

[Rafy]

The minister for Sydney is Bob Carr isnt it?

ANyway read all the stuff and quite clearly there is need for massive changes to planning.

Infrastructure is the key word here, look at asia and the development occuring there. Meanwhile we are stuck with infrastructure from the 60-70s. The main problem of course is money. Australia's Tax base is far too small to fund its needs. The irony of course is if you boost the population, you increase the strain on the existing infrastructure.....

I hope this campaign will disturb sydney into demanding its government acts to turn the situation around.

I would get rid of local government. They seem to be the biggest blockage to development, and add another pointless layer of government to sydney.

 

[aaaman]

The minister for Sydney is Bob Carr isnt it?

ANyway read all the stuff and quite clearly there is need for massive changes to planning.

Infrastructure is the key word here, look at asia and the development occuring there. Meanwhile we are stuck with infrastructure from the 60-70s. The main problem of course is money. Australia's Tax base is far too small to fund its needs. The irony of course is if you boost the population, you increase the strain on the existing infrastructure.....

I hope this campaign will disturb sydney into demanding its government acts to turn the situation around.

I would get rid of local government. They seem to be the biggest blockage to development, and add another pointless layer of government to sydney.

I dunno, maybe but i still blame him for his poor management of it

 

[Jumbo Cactuar]

I would get rid of local government. They seem to be the biggest blockage to development, and add another pointless layer of government to sydney.

If you want to make a ruckus in local politics you need only a very few people with an opinion and inflated egos.

To do the same at a state level you need a much larger protest base.

State goverment doesn't count in ones and twos. When your street gets messed up by state planning, what are you going to do? Live with it, 'cause that's all you'll be able to do.

 

[Rafy]

There are far too many local governments in sydney. Numerous world cities are governerned by a single layer of governemnt that controls the ENTIRE city. most of theese cities have populations the size of teh entire of AUstralia!! so there is no reason why it cant be done.

The many local gov jurasdictions we have in sydney make for inconsistancies in planning, and harder to develop a city wide approach to planning.....

 

[leetom]

This may be interesting.

Just a general thread. Any thoughts on the campaign in general, even though it has just been launched? Is it a worthwhile initiative that will galvanise Herald readers and the relevant parties into pushing for actual change in an effective manner, or is it merely an avenue for various academics and lobby groups to cry as the State government announces changes that it sees as being necessary yet practical (short-term gain, despite the long-term outlook, that is)?

Myself, I believe that it will be a combination of the two. Mobilising the masses (albeit the 'latte' masses of the smh) can only help, yet if it becomes a soapbox then it runs the risk of being dismissed by those in power. Time will tell, I guess.

The campaign being for Sydney is also an interesting idea, too. Will it be for Sydney as a whole as they claim, or will it be for the Sydney of those with a voice? Will it centre on the Harbour, or will it centre on Parramatta? In actual fact, I believe that the campaign's greatest task will be to broaden the horizons of many so that they may realise that the Sydney of one is different to the Sydney of another, and that that does not mean that one perspective is worth more than another. If it can promote a better Sydney that has an inclusive sense of belonging for all (be you at Palm Beach, Edgecliff, Mount Druitt or Macquarie Fields) at its core, then there may well be hope for the future as they believe.

Edit: Social adviser's job stuck in the too hard basket. Haha.

We need impressive architecture. I call for the mass-importation of sandstone from quarries around the world. I don't care for the cost, I just want impressive buildings.

 

[iamsickofyear12]

you guys wanna fix Sydney....Kick out Bob Carr in next election. He takes us for granted.

That is exactly right.

There are far too many local governments in sydney. Numerous world cities are governerned by a single layer of governemnt that controls the ENTIRE city. most of theese cities have populations the size of teh entire of AUstralia!! so there is no reason why it cant be done.

The many local gov jurasdictions we have in sydney make for inconsistancies in planning, and harder to develop a city wide approach to planning.....

And so is that.

 

[hiphophorray123]

if we want to fix sydney then how bout we do our best to convince stupid young impressionable losers that the stereotypical leb was never and never will be 'cool' but rather 'lame' and the people that try hard to be like them are wannabe-wannabes...and then somehow burn all supre stores and convince girls not to be impressed and not to encourage the overwhelming rise of wiggerdom.

 

[MoonlightSonata]

We need impressive architecture. I call for the mass-importation of sandstone from quarries around the world. I don't care for the cost, I just want impressive buildings.

I second that!

 

[Vahl]

I dunno, maybe but i still blame him for his poor management of it

Hey, Bob Carr is a hero .... because of his focus on education and the Arts, NSW is the BEST state for education, in fact, from memory NSW is ranked 4th out of the systems of 51 nations. I think this is from the TEMPIS report but I am not sure.

 

[SashatheMan]

if we want to fix sydney then how bout we do our best to convince stupid young impressionable losers that the stereotypical leb was never and never will be 'cool' but rather 'lame' and the people that try hard to be like them are wannabe-wannabes...and then somehow burn all supre stores and convince girls not to be impressed and not to encourage the overwhelming rise of wiggerdom.

what about the real lebs? should they be transformed into some new aussie blokes?

 

[Vahl]

what about the real lebs? should they be transformed into some new aussie blokes?

No. They are the real Aussie blokes.

 

[Sarah]

Problem with trying to 'fix' sydney is that any change will be met with resistance, there will always be winners and losers.

Take Redfern for example. Plans to reinvent the suburb were met with resistance.

Likewise even my local suburb, there was resistance with the building of low-rise apartments due to the impact of traffic flow.

There seems to be too many issues which need addressing.

Additionally, each council is going to have their own agenda in what the needs are for their own locality.

A few things i think would be of importance are affordable housing, transport infrastructure (particularly for those in new residential areas), investment into public schools, and also greater awareness on environmental/sustainable living initiatives. That's my list so far.

 

[braindrainedAsh]

I think anything which encourages more environmental awareness is a good thing.

Hopefully the Herald will actually push this instead of forgetting about it quickly.

 

[malkin86]

I'd make it compulsary for all new buildings to incorporate a raintank.

 

[Vahl]

I'd make it compulsary for all new buildings to incorporate a raintank.

Mmmm, you can get ones that aren't ugly now so it shouldn't be a hassle. Also I like the shower water reuser product(from the New Inventors).

 

[supercharged]

The first thing to fix would be to blow up bob carr and his "I don't drive or take trains, so I don't care " transport ministers, fix the shithouse gridlocked transport infrastructure by forcing the new state government to borrow money from foreign investors, the world bank or anyone since they always complain how they can't afford to do shit after 20 years of feasibility studies for projects that never go ahead.

And then spend a few billion $$$ or whatever it takes so that Sydney's transport system can smoothly handle the next 50 years of population growth and the extra tax revenue in the following years from increased economic growth will easily pay back the loan

 

[ohne]

It is good to see the SMH focussing on Urban Planning issues. The way we plan large cities such as Sydney can have a huge impact on the state of the economy, more so than many areas of economic policy. And that's not to mention the improved environment for us all.

I think there are a few main problems with the planning of Sydney at the moment.

1. Too much urban sprawl - we should not be releasing huge amounts of land in the southwest and northwest of Sydney. We are beginning to reach the point where the city is becoming simply too big.

2. Not enough higher density development - There is too much emphasis on detached housing rather than higher densities which we need to discourage urban sprawl. We need more flats (especially high rise) along major public tranport corridors and in regional centres.

3. Too much emphasis upon freeways - They do not solve traffic problems on smaller streets, all they do is generate additional traffic that was not there is the first place. The are inhabitable to anything other than cars and lead to increased pollution.

4. We need more rail lines, that is Parramatta to Chatswood and also a NorthWest line through McMansion territory in the north west (an area with a population the size of Canberra with no adequate public transport). If more development occurs in the southwest we need one down to Camden too. The northern beaches remains essentially a public transport no go zone.

5. We need other initiatives to discourage car use, that is more bus lanes, cycle lanes, footpaths and most of all I believe motorists should have to pay for more of the roads they use, the technology is now available. It should not only be large motorways that people must pay for, we no longer need toll booths to do this.

6. We need better quality development that minimises water and electricity consumption, this has the potential to saves billions and improve the environment.

7. Re-develop the worst of the public housing estates in Sydney with lower percentages of public housing. Sell land to the private sector to raise money for this.

8. Encourage the development of regional centres such as Campbelltown, Liverpool, Blacktown etc. to spread some jobs more evenly out accross Sydney. The Sydney CBD should remain the most important centre because of its central location and good public transport access. Business parks should be discouraged.

9. Encourage suburbs to be more walkable to improve people's willingness to exercise, leads to less car dependency and obesity.

10. More emphasis on heritage issues. Prevent architects from placing 1960s/70s inhuman cr*p on our landscape.

 

[Sarah]

It is good to see the SMH focussing on Urban Planning issues. The way we plan large cities such as Sydney can have a huge impact on the state of the economy, more so than many areas of economic policy. And that's not to mention the improved environment for us all.

I think there are a few main problems with the planning of Sydney at the moment.

1. Too much urban sprawl - we should not be releasing huge amounts of land in the southwest and northwest of Sydney. We are beginning to reach the point where the city is becoming simply too big.

2. Not enough higher density development - There is too much emphasis on detached housing rather than higher densities which we need to discourage urban sprawl. We need more flats (especially high rise) along major public tranport corridors and in regional centres.

But wouldn't that create transport bottlenecks? I agree with what you said partially, however i favour medium density rather than high rise flats.

3. Too much emphasis upon freeways - They do not solve traffic problems on smaller streets, all they do is generate additional traffic that was not there is the first place. The are inhabitable to anything other than cars and lead to increased pollution.

Ok, so what would be an alternative solution? Ppl use smaller streets to bypass the traffic on freeways, if free ways didn't exist the back streets would be used anyway. I think the emphasis on freeways is due to the amount of traffic. More needs to be done to encourage ppl to use public transport. Public transport itself is another issue though.

4. We need more rail lines, that is Parramatta to Chatswood and also a NorthWest line through McMansion territory in the north west (an area with a population the size of Canberra with no adequate public transport). If more development occurs in the southwest we need one down to Camden too. The northern beaches remains essentially a public transport no go zone.

There are bus and ferry services. The Northern Beaches is accessible if people bothered to catch the bus or take the ferry.

5. We need other initiatives to discourage car use, that is more bus lanes, cycle lanes, footpaths and most of all I believe motorists should have to pay for more of the roads they use, the technology is now available. It should not only be large motorways that people must pay for, we no longer need toll booths to do this.

Public transport is costly. Problems with bus and train services are a dis-incentive to use them. I'm not sure what can be done other than the obvious e.g realistic timetables

Perhaps an incentive for public transport is to make it more affordable.

6. We need better quality development that minimises water and electricity consumption, this has the potential to saves billions and improve the environment.

From what i understand, new houses incorporate those measures to reduce water wastage.

7. Re-develop the worst of the public housing estates in Sydney with lower percentages of public housing. Sell land to the private sector to raise money for this.

But where would you re-locate those people living in public housing? Areas where housing is affordable are further and further on the fringes of Sydney. You would merely be shifting those who need public housing. I do agree that the worst of the public housing estate do need to be redeveloped.

8. Encourage the development of regional centres such as Campbelltown, Liverpool, Blacktown etc. to spread some jobs more evenly out accross Sydney. The Sydney CBD should remain the most important centre because of its central location and good public transport access. Business parks should be discouraged.

Yes i think encouraging the development of regional centres is a good idea however what is the problem with business parks? I would think their advantageous due to economies of scale, closer proximity to suppliers and customers.

9. Encourage suburbs to be more walkable to improve people's willingness to exercise, leads to less car dependency and obesity.

10. More emphasis on heritage issues. Prevent architects from placing 1960s/70s inhuman cr*p on our landscape.

There's been a strong move to gentrifying inner city terraces so an attempt is being made. I don't know much about individual suburbs though. Maybe it's a local govt issue?