Walkshop - Little India, Harris Park – Planning for Cultural Place
Description
Walkshop - Little India, Harris Park – Planning for Cultural Place
Date: Thursday, 10 September 2026
Time: 4:00pm - 5:00pm
This walking tour offers an immersive exploration of how Harris Park’s “Little India” precinct is being shaped through targeted planning and public investment which celebrate cultural identity. With $3.5M in Australian Government funding and ongoing City of Parramatta initiatives, the precinct represents a live case study in culturally-led urban regeneration. Led by a small group of practitioners and contributors with direct experience in urban design, planning, and local place-making within the Parramatta/Harris Park context, the ‘walk-shop’ will demonstrate how governance and planning frameworks can actively support migrant-ledplace-making while balancing tourism, authenticity, and local needs.
Meeting Point: to be provided following registeration
Tour Leads:
Bianca Simpson, Group Manager Integrated Grants & Projects, City of Parramatta
Amitabha Choudhury, Urban Designer, Transport for NSW
Gauri Torgalkar, Visual Artist Urban Design Associate, Studio GL
Rishi Gujarathi, Researcher, University of Sydney
Tour Leads
Amitabha Choudhury
Amit Choudhury is a Registered Urban Designer (RUDA), Registered Planner (RPIA) and Senior Urban Designer at Transport for NSW with more than 25 years of experience across urban design, architecture and master planning. He spent a decade with the City of Parramatta, contributing to major city-shaping projects and gaining a deep understanding of Parramatta and Harris Park. Amit also teaches urban design at the University of New South Wales, where he frequently uses Western Sydney as a case study for exploring multicultural place-making, urban transformation and the relationship between culture and city-building.
Bianca Simpson
Bianca Simpson is Acting Group Manager Integrated Grants & Projects at the City of Parramatta Council. An urban designer with more than 20 years' experience, Bianca has worked across planning policy, public domain design and the delivery of major civic and open space projects. She currently leads a range of strategic projects and grant-funded initiatives, including the Harris Park Cultural Precinct, which is supporting the ongoing evolution of Harris Park’s Little India through public domain improvements, public art and place-based investment.
Gauri Torgalkar,
Gauri Torgalkar is an urban designer and visual artist whose interdisciplinary practice explores the relationship between storytelling, community, and place. With over 25 years of experience in urban design, placemaking, and community consultation, she brings together strategic thinking and creative practice to explore how culture, memory, and identity shape our connection to place. Through murals, paintings, and participatory public artworks, Gauri transforms personal and collective narratives into shared visual experiences. Drawing on Indian storytelling traditions and community-led design processes, her work explores migration, belonging, and cultural exchange, creating spaces where diverse histories and voices can coexist. Originally trained in architecture in Mumbai, India, Gauri holds a Master of Architecture from Kent State University, USA, and currently works part-time as an Associate and Senior Urban Designer with Studio GL in Chippendale. Most recently, Gauri collaborated with artists Em Hatton and Patrick (Ink) Hunter to create A Tapestry of Little India, a 120-metre immersive mural in Harris Park which is part of a cultural precinct project led by the City of Parramatta and supported by the Australian Government.
Rishi Gujarathi
Rishi is an urban planner, urban designer, architect, and graphic designer with more than 14 years of industry experience. Passionate about creating sustainable, resilient, and inclusive places, he brings a multidisciplinary perspective to urban challenges, combining strategic planning, design excellence, and research-driven thinking. Rishi currently serves on the NSW Emerging Planners Committee of the Planning Institute of Australia and is also undertaking housing research at the University of Sydney.
Festival of translocal Urbanism 2026
Sydney Festival 7-11 September
National events September – October 2026
Translocality describes the interconnectedness between different places and people, beyond national boundaries. The circulation of people, goods, knowledge and capital, though an ancient process, is facilitated and impacted by new technologies, bringing new opportunities and challenges for cities and regions. Increasingly important, a translocal lens highlights these deep and intersecting relationships between people and places over time – from the legacies of colonisation and environmental change to contemporary patterns of migration and cultural diversity. Through panel discussions, debates, exhibitions, and tours, and featuring thought leaders from academia, the arts, industry, and civil society, the 2026 Festival of translocal Urbanism examines and celebrates the complex social, economic and environmental connections between local and global communities.
Tickets for good, not greed Humanitix dedicates 100% of profits from booking fees to charity
