Friday Walking Tour: Waterloo

Friday Walking Tour: Waterloo

Date: Friday, 18th October 2024

Time: 10:00am—12:30pm

Location: Waterloo Metro Station

Waterloo has been at the centre of changing visions of the role of government in housing, experiencing waves of intervention – from ‘slum clearance’ projects in the 1950s that compulsorily acquired private land to build new public housing, through the sell-off of public housing in the conservation area to fund the public housing system, to today's Waterloo estate redevelopment that builds private housing on previously public land to pay for renewed social and affordable housing no longer run by government.

Waterloo remains home to Sydney’s largest public housing estate. It has a particular significance for the area’s traditional Gadigal owners as well as the wider urban First Nations communities who constitute a significant part of its residents. The future of public housing and public urbanism may be determined by actions taken in Waterloo.

Festival of Urbanism participants have an opportunity to visit the Waterloo public housing community and learn about its past and possible futures with members of the community based ‘REDWatch’ advocacy group.

Numbers are strictly limited, so book early to avoid disappointment. 

Please note, this walking tour will involve some uneven surfaces and stairs. Please wear comfortable shoes, bring water and sun protection. The tour will proceed under most weather conditions.

Tour Lead

Geoff Turnbull, REDWatch spokesperson 

Geoff Turnbull has been a spokesperson for REDWatch since it was set up in 2004 to monitor government plans to reform human services and leverage the redevelopment of the Redfern, Eveleigh, Darlington and Waterloo (REDW) area. During the RWA times Geoff was a community member on the Redfern Waterloo Built Environment Ministerial Advisory Committee and its Heritage Taskforce.  He currently is a Co-Chair of the Waterloo Human services Collaborative’s Service Integration and Systems Coordination Group tasked with progressing a part of the Waterloo Action Plan to provide better supports for public housing tenants. He is also a member of the NGO umbrella organisation Redfern Waterloo Groundswell, the Waterloo Redevelopment Group and sits as a community member on the Executive Steering Group of the SLHD / UNSW Health Equity Research and Development Unit (HERDU). 

Festival of Public Urbanism 2024

Great cities are defined by the quality of their public realm. From parks to civic architecture, well designed public infrastructure supports and enables the social, cultural, and economic dimensions of urban life. But are these public assets, along with public processes of urban governance and planning, under attack? Over the past fifty years key legacies of the modern urban project – such as publicly funded housing and urban infrastructure; or comprehensive planning for new development – have been eroded by waves of political and economic reform. Faith in market based ‘solutions’ has reduced public planning processes to ‘red tape’ and replaced public investment in rental housing with subsidies for private investors and households. At the same time, digital transformation under ‘platformisation’ has seen private corporations able to evade domestic regulations, disrupting every facet of urban life and governance. 

The Festival of Public Urbanism will debate these topics and more. Join us to engage with academics, activists, politicians, industry leaders through our program of panel discussions, walking tours, and podcasts across Sydney and Australia.