The Great Australian Dream is over and it’s now time to forge a new one, according to Professor Greg Clark, who has been to more than 300 cities around the world.
The ULI senior fellow is a big city enthusiast and knows what makes them tick.
As Australia’s capital cities continue to grapple with return to work and a flagging office sector, Clark spoke to The Urban Developer’s Taryn Paris about what is needed to reinvigorate our city centres.
Clark says Australian CBDs needed to reinvent themselves as not just an employment hub, but also the social and cultural heartland of our cities.
“We are in the century of cities,” Clark says.
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“Between 1980 and 2080 we will move from 40 per cent of the world’s population living in cities to 80 per cent.
“There will also be an increase in the number of cities over 1 million (people) from 275 to 1600. Real estate is the core technology of urbanisation.”
Clark says Australia is shifting from a commodities economy to a knowledge, service and experience economy which he says implies a “change of shape and place that’s needed”.
“Successful cities attract more people more quickly than the average,” he says.
“So if you have successful cities like Sydney and Melbourne … you’re just going to attract people faster than you can build housing.
“I like the thumping power of large numbers of people moving in cities in unison.
“There’s such an incredible appeal to big cities with diversity within them, diversity of people, diversity of place, diversity of activity.
“There are cities I care about because they are underperforming, and there are cities that I love, just because they do one thing incredibly well.”
Clark shares why he believes Australia is an optimistic country and where it needs to go from here.
Listen now to The Urban Developer’s new podcast series, The Deal and Pipeline.
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