“200
Mile City” Conference Charter
Alan
Chenoweth
October 2004
The
200 Mile City Conference at the Queensland Institute of Technology
last week provided
many insightful thoughts from Australia’s
landscape architects about the how best to manage rapid
population growth in South-East Queensland and in other
coastal areas
nationally and internationally.
200
Mile City Spokesperson Alan Chenoweth said landscape architects
profession met
to address the prospect of
a city stretching from
Noosa to the Tweed River as well as similar coastal developments
throughout the world.
“
The outcome of the conference was that delegates call on
all levels of government to collaborate with land owners,
developers, consultants
and the community to consider the objectives outlined
in our charter,” Mr
Chenoweth said.
The
Conference Charter major objectives were:
-
Recognise
that residents seek and value the region’s
liveability. Our subtropical lifestyle is both
relaxed and vibrant, within a
sensuous and sublime landscape of nature, rich
colours, sunshine and outdoor
living. These are the values that must inform our
planning and design choices, from the local scale to the
regional
scale, requiring
all
stakeholders to ensure South-East Queensland remains
special. The same applies through the world to similar
urban developments.
-
Acknowledge
the imperative for higher residential
densities, and promote distinctive subtropical
integrations of
built form and landscape
attractive to new home buyers.
-
Protect
existing open space as a significant part of our distinctive
quality
of life. Such
areas
must be
assessed for a wide range of
values (biodiversity, rural production, scenic
amenity, water catchment and recreation) before
any further
open space is lost to urban sprawl.
-
Enrich
the public realm within cities as opportunities for the community
to participate and socialise,
and to balance the trend towards privatised
community spaces by providing high quality
urban open spaces.
-
Encourage
diversity and identity of local communities by retaining
and enhancing
those
things which
make each part
of the region different,
by designing for sense of place, protecting
inter-urban breaks and working closely
with communities to
celebrate local history and culture.
Mr
Chenoweth said landscape architects call on planners and
decision makers to
work with
them
and communities
to ensure these values remain
for future generations.
For
further comment: Alan Chenoweth (07) 3831 8582
