Recently a debate has been raging in the community about what Canberra will look like in 2030.
One issue I have been seeking to highlight in this debate is the fact that Canberrans under the age of 45 (Generations X and Y) don’t seem to have the voice that reflects their numbers.
Younger Canberrans have, until now, been relatively silent about the sort of city they want to live in.
Is their relative silence a reflection of the fact that they have nothing to say?
I doubt it. It’s just that Gen X and Gen Y, communicate in a different way.
They have moved beyond traditional media and 20th century community meetings – you don’t see them writing “letters to the editor” of the Canberra Times or attending that many public ‘town hall’ style meetings.
They are much more likely to post a blog, participate in an online forum or use the booming social media like facebook or twitter to express their views.
And so through the ACT Government’s online Canberra 2030 conversation and through my own online interactions my aim is to ensure that all Canberrans are heard.
By 2050, Canberra will house half a million people. Our city has a relative over-representation of those aged 20 to 34, and a relative under-representation of those aged 60 and over.
So while the population is ageing, youth will continue to dominate numerically – and this will be driven by interstate migration of skilled workers and growth in our world-class higher education institutions.
Canberra will never be a ‘retirement village’, like Port Macquarie or some parts of the South Coast. It will always be a ‘working city’, and a ‘learning city’.
So our second century as a city must be about responding to the emerging needs of the citizens of our working and learning city.
We know that many of the educated young from Canberra leave for Melbourne, Sydney or further afield because our city lacks the excitement that they seek.
How then can a city appeal to a wider audience and cater for a range of lifestyles?
In part, this requires a diversification in our economy to further promote creative industries and provide for employment opportunities in emerging technologies, particularly those associated with a sustainable economy.
We also need to invest in the public domain of our city to move the ordinary into the imaginative.
However, we need to cultivate a showcase of what is possible through the reinvestment that is already taking place within established parts of the city, a phenomenon not previously experienced in Canberra, but routine to other cities that are much older.
Urban planning has always been the ultimate policy area for balancing interests. Balancing individualism with community needs. Balancing the economic with the social.
And now, urban planning and design has an overriding interest – sustainability.
The average Canberran now depends on approximately 8.9 hectares of land in order to sustain their lifestyle. This compares with the average person on the planet, who requires 1.9 hectares. In other words, if every person on the planet lived like we do, we would need four planets.
This equation is simply unsustainable. And it is why the Government has legislated for a 40% greenhouse gas reduction target. To achieve it we are going to need higher urban density. We need to develop our urban transport corridors. We will need to reappraise our patterns of consumption and innovate in the way we develop and live within our city.
So what should Canberra look like in 2030?
In my view, Canberra should be a city of ideas and a city that can quickly adapt to change. A place where everyone has a home and where every household is valued, respected and included. A city with a diversified economy built on unlimited growth of intellectual capital. We should lead the world in sustainable design and planning and be a city where the apartment or townhouse is just as accepted as the quarter acre block.
We should be Australia’s most liveable and vibrant modern city.
