Adelaide Archives - Page 3 of 16

August 27, 2014

Adelaide's City South precinct

Australia is commonly seen as the one country that managed to avoid the global financial crisis (GFC) in 2007-8. But the effects of the GFC can be seen in Adelaide as you walk around the city and see the numerous holes in the ground in the CBD.

These are the traces of developments –urban renewal–that came crashing to a halt because the finance from the banks for development dried up post GFC. 6 years on and most of the CBD’s holes in the ground remain. Maybe the holes in the ground keep changing hands as they are bought and sold, plans are drawn up, approval is granted, but then fail to get off the ground because it is difficult to get the necessary finance.

Most of the development that is taking place is apartments with only the odd office building being constructed. In the above case in King William St in the City South precinct the proposed 28 storey development is called VUE on King William designed by Woods Bagot and developed by the Asian Pacific Group.

It is heralded as a new residential benchmark in Adelaide and it is designed to attract empty nesters planning to move into the city from the suburbs and young professionals. The finance will come if 70% of the building is sold pre-plan. So we will see what happens.

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August 23, 2014

where to next for Adelaide?

As Ari and I walk around Adelaide’s CBD I am acutely aware that Adelaide, and South Australia, is in a slump due to the decline of manufacturing and the end of car manufacturing in particular. The old industrial age is coming to an end. So what replaces it? What are the new drivers of economic growth. What can Adelaide do to reinvent itself, and prevent itself from becoming a rust bucket state? There doesn’t seem to many realistic options.

Many in government circles say mining. Or defence? Or high tech manufacturing. Or bioscience. Or education. Or agriculture. Rarely do they say the creative economy. The latter is a joke to Treasury and Big Business still beholden to their resource based and industrial cargo cults and frozen in the resource-trade mindset. The creative economy is art and design and that’s not business or the economy.

What they don’t seem to get is that the current derelict industrial complexes and buildings could be filled with hip restaurants, shops, design studios and galleries created by innovative locals and frequented by design-savvy tourists.

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August 18, 2014

wandering in Adelaide's Flinder's St precinct

Ari and I wandered around the Flinders Street/Hutt Street/Pirie area. We started out from The Mill in Angas Street where I’d been to see a photographic exhibition about the sea by Che Chorley.

It has been ages since we’ve walked around this area and it has changed. This precinct is being redeveloped and it has become much more residential.

A large section of the precinct is being redeveloped as executive style high rise apartments–known as the Art Apartments in the Flinders precinct. These are being developed by Guava Lime in association with the architects Loucas Zahds. It will be followed by another residential development known as Zen 2.

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August 12, 2014

a laneway culture in Adelaide?

Adelaide’s city centre is traditionally empty outside of business hours. Suburban malls have lured a lot of retail out of the city, and there are very few people living in the core. It had, and still has, a dull city core.

People are slowly returning to the city centre to live. Will the small bars, that are starting to set up all over the city help to bring people back to the city as they did in Melbourne? Will a fine-grain laneway culture develop in Adelaide as it did in Melbourne?

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August 10, 2014

urban renewal?

Ari and I wandered around Adelaide’s Chinatown the other morning. It’s expanding and it is attracting more people to the Central Market precinct. This is one area of Adelaide that is lively and it is largely due to the Asian students.

It makes such a contrast to the ever-increasing empty retail shops and offices in my neighbourhood, which I find depressing. So many buildings stand empty.

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July 28, 2014

an upbeat Adelaide?

The household has been based at Encounter Bay, Victor Harbor for the last week or so whilst Suzanne is on holidays. We’ve been making the occasional trip to Adelaide. It’s a reversal of what we normally do, and a precursor of what will happen when we sell the townhouse and shift to Encounter Bay in 2015. We’ve been living in the CBD for 10 years or more and it is time to shift to a different mode of life.

So the poodle walks in the CBD have been limited.

We are leaving at a time when the area around Sturt St/King William St is starting to be redeveloped with new office blocks and a high rise apartments. The city is finally starting to look different.

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July 21, 2014

Peter Drews: Asylum seeker street art

When Ari and I were walking Adelaide’s CBD last week I couldn’t help but notice the asylum seeker street art of Peter Drews scattered around the city. I only saw about 4-5 of the 36 that Drews had put up over a period of two weeks in early June. Some property owners were not pleased.

The posters are simply constructed around the individual stories of refugees and asylum seekers, both in detention and on bridging visas, that subvert the politicised stereotypes in the “stop the boats” narrative in main stream media.

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July 5, 2014

the more things change ….

In the last week or so Ari and I on our afternoon poodle walks have been wandering around the north western part of Adelaide’s CBD near the western campus of the University of South Australia. This is an area of the CBD that is marked for substantial re-development flowing from the new Royal Adelaide Hospital and the associated buildings that are currently being built.

There is little sign of the promised residential re-development happening:

The theory is that people will want to live in the area when they work in the hospital/university precinct. More people in the area leads to small businesses to provide services for the residents, workforce and students. All I can see is lots of car parks not high rise residential towers.

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June 18, 2014

the conservative prescription for Adelaide

As Ari and I wander around the CBD I cannot help but noticing how lively the city of Adelaide is becoming as a result of the state Labor government and the Adelaide City Council’s attempts to make the CBD a more vibrant place to live.

So it is with some dismay that I read the two Liberal candidates for Lord Mayor–Mark Hamilton and Michael Henningsen— are intent on rolling back the gains because we have lost our pride in Adelaide.

Between them these two candidates want more cars in the city; they want to do away with bike and bus lanes; they are opposed to high rise apartments; see the attempts to make the CBD a more vibrant place (eg., the upgrade to Victoria Square) as flawed and self-indulgent; and they want to return council to refocus on repairing the streets i.e. to focus on the traditional roads, rates and rubbish.

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June 17, 2014

pavement art

On a recent poodlewalk Ari and I stumbled upon a trail of pavement art that started from the Sturt St Community School. We followed it along Wilcox St to the children’s playground on South Terrace in the southern part of the Adelaide parklands. I would expect that the trail of brightly painted insects would be very popular with the local community.

Since Sturt St was where the trial of a separated bicycle lane was a failure it was good to see something to liven up the neglected south western corner of Adelaide.

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