Chief Executive Officer, Southbank, Brisbane

“Creating Value through Regenerated Places: the South Bank Story”

The sponsors are to be congratulated for staging this Series promoting discussion on a topic critical to the future of cities everywhere. In the brief time allocated I’ve been asked to offer my reflections on place making in the context of urban regeneration, specifically to the theme of this series, the creation of value. To draw out my key points I will use South Bank Brisbane as my reference place. That’s South Bank two words by the way, not the eponymous place not far from Federation Square and whose mail we politely return to sender every so often! I begin with a question or more accurately, a challenge to you and that is when we think and talk about the concept of value I ask, value for whom and in what form? In giving old places new meaning should we not first discuss values and what attributes we should ascribe to the task, the place and the players? Too often it seems to me, the journey starts without this focus. South Bank has, and continues to be, about the creation of a compelling value proposition. We nearly blew it though. As EXPO 88 was reaching its finale having seen more than 16 million people pass through the turnstiles, the Bjelke Peterson government whose commendable vision it took to stage the event when no other State Premier would when Bob Hawke offered it to

them, displayed developers plans for high rise, Corbusian-inspired towers marching across the cleared site. Fortunately people power prevailed, the Government backed off and an alternative plan retaining 17 hectares of landscaped public space surrounded by human scale buildings setback from the riverfront were publicly endorsed as a far more appropriate legacy to an event which I describe as Brisbane’s cultural and social epiphany

The point I want to make is that in retrofitting our cities for greater density, lower carbon footprints and more intensive use, there is, in a public policy sense, a stronger obligation on the part of Governments to be absolutely clear and unerring in deciding who should be the beneficiaries. This is a topical issue because virtually all the capital cities and many regional cities are pursuing urban renewal agendas in the face of State Government imposed urban consolidation and growth management targets.

In every State there are now numerous special purpose authorities similar to South Bank Corporation whose specific charter is to manage large scale urban makeovers on difficult sites or strategic locations. This is a responsibility that increasingly local government will be required to be a more active player such is the scale and urgency of the task. Issues of accountability, transparency and community engagement in setting and implementing the new place vision will apply irrespective of who is responsible.

I’m not convinced though that handing the entire task to a single company necessarily guarantees that the public interest will always come first. Experience tells us that when the development of whole city blocks is left in the hands of a single private entity, somewhere along the way the original, well-intentioned place vision, more often driven by margin retention, than by public interest, inexorably shifts. Far better and consistent with the way the surrounding urban fabric has been created that we invite many hands and minds to take on the challenge and from it achieve the richness of activity and diversity of use so critical to making successful places.

For South Bank, our terms of reference amongst other things, requires us to achieve the maximum prudent financial return for the taxpayers of Queensland in developing the precinct. The numbers are impressive in this regard. Some 22 years on since EXPO, a relatively modest $500 million public infrastructure cost has been the catalyst for attracting more than $2.5 billion in new private sector investment across the precinct. To the credit of successive Corporation Boards however, financial return on investment has not necessarily been the primary factor in assessing development proposals.

What has usually been given greater weight has been the proponent’s understanding and contribution to our vision and to our values as a place. It has been the Corporation, having tested its master planning through extensive community consultation and critical peer review, who has set the rules and the development sector (or at least those committed to quality place creation), has responded positively. Why, because they saw clarity of purpose in our planning and place making aims. We said openly in full public scrutiny, that this is what we are seeking to create and unless you can demonstrate that your ideas and designs align and reinforce our place aspirations, you will not be a contender.

The word compromise has never been part of our lexicon and while that may at times been frustrating for those seeking it, we are bearing the fruits of our firm stance today as Brisbane undergoes its own transformation. A transformation that will see the area surrounding South Bank increase in population by 140% to be, by 2025, what is predicted to be one of the densest areas in Australia. This somewhat daunting prospect poses big challenges for our precinct because it has demanded we reaffirm our place values; that we continue to be the people’s place, egalitarian, green and creative in providing the public realm experiences that truly successful cities provide.

South Bank already welcomes more 11 million visitors annually. In 2008 market research told us that 87% of Greater Brisbane residents had visited the precinct in the past 6 months. Our challenge as we continue our evolution from place maker to place manager is how we sustain our places in the face of such massive population growth. The shift from the backyard to the balcony is preoccupying our strategic planning. With greater demographic diversity and I might add, greater competition from other waterfront mixed-use precincts, should we rethink our places or should we stay true to our original DNA? The answer probably lies somewhere in between because in reality we must be responsive to user values. Failing to acknowledge that city dwellers are more discerning in what they expect from their experience of place, from the kind of stimulation they expect to encounter and from the types of exchange they want to conduct, is not an option. This I believe poses a big challenge for the designers of urban spaces across Australia. Set piece, rigid design incapable of adaptation and flexibility of use, will no longer be relevant.

I’m very confident South Bank will remain true to its vision in the face of the demands that will be imposed on us. I say that because South Bank the precinct has in a short 2 decades, already achieved iconic status in the hearts and minds of Queenslanders. The decisions we take as the place custodian are highly scrutinized and so they should be. Our success has been our partner’s success and those who have come on the journey with us, whether it was University, developer, City Council, resident, tenant or successive State governments of different political persuasion, all have recognized that true place making is an enabling activity. It provides a reference context and setting within which others are invited to make their contribution to the reinforcement of societal values as well as the realization of economic value. Not mutually exclusive goals, but goals operating in concert. Thank you.