The Ordinary City
Oct 11A handful of cities attract most of the world’s attention. Some are old, some are relatively new, but they’re all massive. They’re intensely competitive. They’re people magnets and money machines.
One common theme we heard from you, whether you were born in Hobart or chose to move here, was an aversion to the globalised city.
You don’t hate big cities. You simply choose to live somewhere else.
Why? Big cities are dirty. They’re expensive and exhausting and alienating. They can be dangerous. People can be indifferent or unkind to one another. If we want a house in a big city, we spend a frightening percentage of our short lives in traffic. It takes days to plan and execute a three-hour weekend bushwalk.
The bigger point you made is about globalisation. In recent years, ordinary cities have become bland and homogenous. Despite their differences, in language and architecture, something about the vast global city feels the same.
There is an easy pattern for Hobart to follow, to become one of those cities: an economic model, a social model, a model of design. And you don’t want it.
Despite your diverse backgrounds you’re united in this: you are deeply anxious about losing what you most love about this city. You’re not against growth and change. You’re against growth and change that does not retain Hobart-ness.
If we are attracted to Hobart because it’s unique, isn’t it dangerous to erode that uniqueness? Can we not preserve and enhance it instead?
Whether it’s through good luck or bad, Hobart has developed into a different sort of city. Nature plays a huge role in our lives. So does history. There is a spirit in this community that inspires unusual behaviour. We encourage and protect our kooks and rebels. We want fine food and culture without sacrificing tranquillity or the grit that keeps us real.
You know this is a ridiculously difficult balance to keep in a growing city. The world is beginning to notice Hobart and it keeps us up at night. Random decisions and political bickering won’t get us where we want to go. We can’t say yes to everything. We can’t say no to everything. We need a strategy even though we distrust strategies.
Almost no one we met wants Hobart to become an ordinary big city.
What special aspects of Hobart should we preserve, to avoid becoming an ordinary big city? What should we avoid?
What aspects of the big global city should we avoid as we grow, to retain what makes us special?
October 13, 2017 at 12:13 pm
JamesI believe Hobart should grow and advance as a small city without losing its sense of nearby nature. By this, I mean avoiding infrastructure and development that clouds out the view of Mt Wellington and the nearby Derwent River.
October 18, 2017 at 4:23 pm
StephenI too, love the many “glimpses” of nature – particularly the mountain, the river and the hills which are visible from many vantage points throughout the city. There are a number of views of the river that I used to enjoy that have already been built out over the last several years. We should avoid blocking out the natural landscape by our built landscape like many other cities have done.
October 13, 2017 at 8:28 pm
MelissaIt doesn’t keep me up at night!!!! I’m excited about what’s just around the corner for this city. There’s a new energy. It feels like we’re about to blossom. It feels like my friends from interstate don’t laugh at where I’m from anymore.
October 15, 2017 at 8:43 am
LindsayNot against development as long as we don’t look like just another soulless city. Totally against the proposed Fragrance skyscraper; it would be an ugly, over-dominant blot on the city’s skyline. David Walsh’s planned hotel – wonderful!
October 23, 2017 at 5:48 pm
BenThere are quite a few double standards applied to Walshie. Not knocking him with this comment, but idolisation of a person does create double standards.
October 15, 2017 at 12:44 pm
StewartHobart has been so lucky to have missed the worst of ‘the big global city’ and the way it grows. If we choose a different path we’ll be totally different and successful in a different way. I agree with the comment above. Can MONA help curate it?
October 16, 2017 at 10:22 am
PipWe should avoid pollution – noise and fumes caused by bumper to bumper traffic, avoid high rise development in and around Hobart – but include unique low rise design that blends with the environment. Avoid social exclusion.
October 16, 2017 at 12:11 pm
CraigAvoid:
Insecure comparisons – Hobart is not somewhere else
Boxing the question to Hobart’s urban boundaries – Hobart exists extant because of the natural island surrounding it – naturalness that generations of residents have fought for
October 17, 2017 at 9:20 am
AlbertI think it’s the opposite of insecurity, to understand what makes you different and to really go for it. But where Hobart ends and Tasmania begins, I’ve been thinking a lot about that
October 17, 2017 at 1:17 pm
TonyI do not think that Hobart ends and Tasmania begins. Everything needs a ‘hub’ for it to function. Hobart is the ‘hub’ – it can creates the energy and direction for Tasmania to become very special, a place that is set apart
October 23, 2017 at 5:44 pm
BenMost interesting comment thus far. Hobart is certainly Tasmania’s capital but Tasmania is not hugely centralised in Hobart. Containers come into Burnie and Triabunna, not Hobart. Government departments and other large employers (farms, factories) are somewhat spread around.
That all fits with basic demand and supply of labour and other resources, therefore realistic.
But a separation in culture between Hobart and the rest of Tasmania, is certainly on the cards if not already happened or happening. Some would say that’s a good thing. Does Hobart end and Tas begin, or the other way round?
October 23, 2017 at 6:48 pm
tonyI don’t think it matters.
Energy needs to come from something – better that it be people!
October 18, 2017 at 8:33 am
CarrieWe should avoid high rise buildings; we can do this by encouraging low rise developments that respect the natural landscape and streetscape. We should avoid traffic; we can do this by establishing 1. a ferry service; 2. a train service; 3. park&ride bus services, & not encouraging the development of further car parks in the city centre. We should avoid becoming cold&hard people; we can do this by maintaining the sunlight, open spaces and views that currently exist in our city, and by continuing to encourage art, culture&community through things like the Franko Market and the MoFo festivals.
October 18, 2017 at 4:42 pm
KimDefinitely agree – I’d love a CBD with fewer cars and more green, open spaces.
October 30, 2017 at 2:51 pm
TonyAn interesting post in The Conversation -https://theconversation.com/freeing-up-the-huge-areas-set-aside-for-parking-can-transform-our-cities-85331
October 19, 2017 at 1:28 pm
RKDRetain: clean ness, access to the bush and the water for everyone, not just the wealthy and the tourists, easy walking access an public transport. Improve : access to near Hobart parks, food and wine and whisky and beer producers, islands, areas. Link public transport further out. Retain : great food access in the inner city. Stop: silly white elephant solutions instead of systemic change and planning (mawson skate ring anyone)
October 21, 2017 at 2:04 am
Kaywow, growing up i always thought our city special but i needed to escape it to appreciate it.
now at 56, i know we live in a city that is so precious in many ways but i still struggle to describe all we are and can be.
i really dislike the current hcc logo-it looks like a cheap, lazy revamp of another existing business and says very little about who, what or where we are.
Having been born (albeit not totally family bred here),what i appreciate most is that we live in a place many people dream about.
October 23, 2017 at 5:10 pm
tonydreams can become reality
October 24, 2017 at 10:47 am
SandieThis IS it. If we’re not careful we’ll lose what we have here. If we know what makes Tasmania not-ordinary we can keep it that way!
October 28, 2017 at 5:34 pm
BillWe are of a scale in which experiments in innovation designed to build and enhance livability and community can thrive. We need leadership to ensure that we take advantage of this.
October 29, 2017 at 12:11 pm
Michaelthe best thing about Hobart as a city is its lack of horrendous high rise buildings, the resultant view of surrounding hills and mountains and the glimpses of sea.
the paradox of course is that Hobart will grow and diversify its population base as the secret gets out…and one of the best things about Hobart, its affordable real estate, will become and is becoming a thing of the past.
We need to increase supply of housing in order to manage price increases without destroying the essence of Hobart…this is the fundamental challenge going forward
November 22, 2017 at 2:59 pm
CarrieI agree – also we need to regulate AirBnB to limit the number of nights properties can be let by AirBnB in a year. This will return many properties to the rental market. We need to make renting properties to long-term tenants more attractive to landlords than AirBnBing them.
November 24, 2017 at 6:30 pm
melissaI disagree that Aibnb is the main problem with housing. i think we are forgetting the rise in overseas student numbers at the university. With the uni providing less college based housing the inceasing number of overseas students needing housing is impacting on rentals.
November 25, 2017 at 8:00 am
CarrieThat’s true too, but the ability of landlords to let out entire properties as permanent Airbnb has had a huge impact on rental availability. Uni students only use certain kinds of accommodation in certain areas, but we have a rental shortage across the board. We must something about it. Building more housing will help, but regulating Airbnb will be much cheaper and quicker, with a bigger impact. I’m not talking about homeowners who let out a room of their house or small granny flat connected to their own home. I’m talking about absent landlords who let out entire properties as permanent Airbnbs
November 22, 2017 at 2:36 pm
Lynn GiddingsAs an ‘oldie’, I am one of the pests who wants to park close to me chosen destination. I sympathise with those who do not want to see our beautiful city become one great big car park. But I visit the museum regularly, because of its car park! How to make car parks more invisible and take up less space? Underground? Like Tokyo with lifts for the cars? I don’t know the answer to this dilemma. I just know, I don’t want Hobart to become like every other capital city – one great big nervous breakdown!
November 22, 2017 at 5:04 pm
tonyI like your description of a city as a great big nervous breakdown – something we should avoid at all cost!
November 24, 2017 at 10:42 am
JanI have lived in many cities in Australia and overseas. These cities all have their vibrancy and charm but it is generally only in small pockets that have to be discovered because ad hoc development has displaced them.
I would like to see a values-based vision for our city. Some of the values that come to mind are ‘respect for pedestrians’ in our road and pathway design, ‘recognition of diversity’ in cultural events, ‘acknowledgement of our indigenous heritage’ in more dual naming of places, and ‘celebration of our recent 200-year heritage’ in adaptive re-use of our heritage buildings.