In Perth the conversation is always about hard infrastructure and building projects, ours is about how you create a great city. It is about bringing people and place together. It is both about the container and the contents and how you create the conditions within which people can think, plan and act with imagination.
Urban Conversation is about activating life in our city. It is a programme of events and experiences designed to engage and inspire people so that they gather and connect in Perth’s public spaces in new, creative ways. We want this conversation to weave itself through the streets of the CBD, to be broad and changing, fun and stimulating. We want to invigorate the streets of Perth and get people talking.
We bring together a broad range of organizations and individuals, from musicians, artists, academics and cultural groups, to businesses and city workers. The ambition is that the participants and the audience feel a part of something larger than themselves a vibrant and dynamic community that invites dialogue and connections at all levels. By engaging people in this transformation we hope to contribute to the redefining of the city as an area of everyday creative activity.
Urban Conversation aims to project urban spaces as ever changing place that welcomes people of all ages and backgrounds. By activating the area we will endeavour to create a cultural shift, demonstrating how the area might be utilised for the benefit of the surrounding cultural institutions, businesses, local residences and the public in general.
100 Days of Urban Conversation
Summary
100 Days of Urban Conversation is about activating life in the Cultural Precinct of our city. It is a programme of events and experiences designed to engage and inspire people so that they gather and connect in Perth’s public spaces in new, creative ways.
On each weekend of the 100 days Urban Conversation will transform the Cultural Precinct into a stage, a gallery, a market place, a park, a village square. Through this we hope the community will gain a stronger sense of connection to the space and be inspired to be a part of the Cultural Precinct’s continued transformation into a more lively, dynamic place.
Aim
Urban Conversation aims to promote the Cultural Precinct as a creative, diverse and ever changing place that welcomes people of all ages and backgrounds. By activating the area we will endeavour to create a cultural shift, demonstrating how the area might be utilised for the benefit of the surrounding cultural institutions, businesses, local residences and the public in general.
We intend to bring together a broad range of organizations including musicians, sporting clubs, artists, cultural groups, vendors and performers into the generally under utilised outdoor areas of the Cultural Precinct. The ambition is that the participants and the audience feel a part of something larger than themselves a vibrant and dynamic community that invites dialogue and connections at all levels. By engaging people in this transformation we hope to contribute to the redefining of the Cultural Precinct as an area of everyday creative activity.
Objectives
The main objective is to activate and transform the Cultural Precinct into a vibrant centre for creative culture, and in doing so create a stronger sense of place for the local community and its visitors.
Urban Conversation is about encouraging creative life and relies on volunteers and support in kind from a range of organizations, businesses and individuals. Throughout the 100 days Urban Conversation will cultivate alliances between groups and encourage participants to take ownership and responsibility for the continued activation of this space into the future.
Target group
The Urban Conversation is for all people of all ages. It is for the benefit of families, tourists, office workers, local businesses, public institutions, residents, cultural groups, sporting institutions – everyone.
It is hoped that it will also provide opportunities for artists, performers and vendors to network and create useful alliances.
Outcomes
The reinvigoration of the Cultural Precinct
The enrichment of the social and cultural capital of the city
Provide a stronger sense of place for the local community and its visitors
Transform the precinct into a family safe place
The creation and strengthening of relationships between different social and cultural groups
Positive demonstration of how such events might be introduced to the City
Economic and Community Benefits
Urban Conversation believes activating life in the Cultural Precinct will have various benefits for the immediate stakeholders, the surrounding businesses and the local community.
100 Days of Urban Conversation’s programme of events and activities aims to increase the number of visitors to the precinct and the time they spend there. This will not only result in increased potential customers for the surrounding businesses, but enhance the area’s cultural value, and ultimately provide an identity of place for the local community and its visitors.
By bringing healthy activities such as Tai Chi and Capoeira dancing into the Cultural Precinct a different tempo is introduced to the fabric of the city and healthy lifestyles are promoted.
The programme for 100 Days of Urban Conversation is broad and inclusive, it is aimed at attracting a diverse group of people and enriching the social and cultural capital of the city. The accessibility of the Cultural Precinct by public transport makes it an ideal location for community activities for people from all areas of Perth. An increase in occupation will help transform the precinct into a family safe place and promote people’s experience of the inner city as a whole.
Conclusion
100 Days of Urban Conversation will attempt to demonstrate how the Cultural Precinct can be transformed into a vibrant centre for creative culture by inviting a broad spectrum of community groups and performers to commit to the spirit of the Urban Conversation. By cultivating alliance between these groups and encouraging participants to take ownership and responsibility for the precinct the continued activation of this space may become inherent.
Urban Conversation also believes that activation of the Cultural Precinct will have various benefits for the immediate stakeholders, the surrounding businesses as well as provide an identity of place for the local community and its visitors.