Major redevelopments frequently promise to deliver new or enhanced public space when negotiating planning approvals. But the passage from planning approval to final delivery can often involve twists and turns, as private and public interests continue to be renegotiated. On this guided tour, you’ll visit three recently completed redevelopments with newly created public spaces near Central, comparing the futures that were promised with the places that were delivered. Along the way, we’ll discuss what these cases mean for the provision of future public spaces in Sydney.

Your guides will be urban designer Diana Griffiths, Founding Director of Studio GL, and urban geographer Kurt Iveson, Associate Professor, University of Sydney

Meeting point: Chippendale Green, O’Connor Street Chippendale

Finish point: Darling Square, Darling Harbour

Associate Professor Kurt Iveson is an urban geographer at the University of Sydney whose teaching and research examines the relationship between cities and citizenship. Kurt has a long-standing interest in the politics of public space. His book Publics and the City examined conflicts over the use and regulation of public space in Australian cities, and he is currently writing about some of the ways that public spaces have been contested during the pandemic.

Diana Griffiths is a skilled urban designer with over 28 years of professional experience in urban planning, urban design and architecture. She is a founding director of Studio GL, a Fellow of the Planning Institute of Australia and has lectured in urban design and planning at the University of New South Wales and the University of Sydney. She is a passionate advocate for ways to plan and design more successful places.

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The annual Festival of Urbanism is an initiative of the University of Sydney's Henry Halloran Trust and is hosted in partnership with Monash University.