Designing Liveable Cities

There is alot that goes into town planning these days and alot more people are requiring alot more out of their communities than previous generations as the world around us is rapidly changing. COVID has also provided a glimpse on how disproportionate community assets are and how some communities have alot more. This isn't so much down to funding or wealth but rather town planning.

As I've previously mentioned my wife is a local councillor and as a young mum we have have two children aged 4 and 1. Quite often younger people don't nominate for office because we are busy getting our lives in order. This results in our voices often drowned out amongst all the other lobby groups.

But as you can see my wife has been advocating and providing community direction on things that the community really wants. The median age is 30s and young families which all require more educational and community assets for growing families.

The location we attended today is in a suburb that is under development called Atherston. It has homes and families already in and soon will also have a hospital. Buy today I wanted to focus on the education and sports precinct that is under way.

The image above is of a traffic school currently underway to support road safety as the west is quite prone to hooning and dangerous car related behaviour. The school above will be a fun learning environment for kids to learn about road safety.

Opposite the soon to be traffic school is a national level little athletics field with hurdles, sprints, endurance, high jump and various other sports such as gymnastics, javelin, shot put. Pretty much all the sports you can do on an open field that are found at the Olympics.

Part of this is because the west is a low socio-economic area and education is not a strong point for us as we are tradies, services workers, labourers, the working class.

But we produce the most successful athletes per capita in comparison to other communities. Sports and Athletics has received a significant boost and investment.

Also found on site is a kids open park filled with play equipment but a little more advanced. There are wonderful native bush walks and paths to sit amongst for a picnic or ride your scooter or bike and some basic obstacle courses to help kids with their development and ignite their imagination.

But also located are some more advanced equipment which are rocks that were dug up during construction, made as safe as possible and turned into kid rock climbing courses which can be found all across the park.

Swings and slides also cover the ground as well as a flying fox with many other obstacles and a BBQ and picnic area.

Disability inclusion is also on offer with many all abilities equipment located on the site. Previously people who lived with a disability were often forgotten about but were seeing a larger push for local leaders to ensure equity is provided in community life build better communities for all.

Another thing you will start to see in our area is alot more native trees to enhance the look and feel of our communities as well as aid in heat reduction. There was a recent study undertaken which provided insight on the significance trees played in keeping suburbs cool in summer.

As Australia is quite a hot nation this is vital for many and not just people but the native birds and animals that call our community home.

Water becomes a challenge in hot weather as summer can exceed 40 degrees Celsius. You'll notice in the above image the gutter has a opening in the cement by the tree which is guarded by a grate. This is to enable water run off from the road to seep into the soil ensuring the tree gets water.

I'm not sure about the environmental impacts of water run off from the roads but I've been assured that it is safe for trees. This is a new trial so I guess we will see over the next few months.

Our community is in a growth corridor which is a vacant patch of land between the CBD and outter suburbs. It was under developed and primarily used for farming. But over the years the farmers have retired and sold off parcels of land.

The local government has been there to ensure that building and town planning incorporates community voice and needs. It is a rare opportunity one that many previously did not have an opportunity to do.

Fortunately we have great strong local leaders utilising their broad backgrounds to develop some of the best communities.

If you had a blank slate to build a city, what are some of the things you'd like to see?