UDIA recently published an article by Michelle Cramer, National Portfolio Leader in Urban Development with Hames Sharley, on the “Australian Sameness,” the proliferation of developments that all look like each other. Ms Cramer said the title was intentionally a play on Robyn Boyd’s seminal text which was first published in Australia 52 years ago.
“In the book, Boyd observed that, while Australians had terrific technical competence in design, as a nation we managed to produce a design aesthetic and a suburbia, which was, well, ugly.”
Ms Cramer disagrees with Boyd saying that, “rather than producing ugly cities, we are producing the same city. Australia is being created with a lack of identity. This is a lost opportunity for a country which is world famous for being like no other.”
With Perth growing rapidly we are very vulnerable to the “sameness” dilemma. We need to deliver housing quickly to meet demand and that leads to compromises as a “vanilla” outcome is easier to get through the approvals process than something that is innovative.
Ms Cramer believes that the “Australian Sameness” stems from a top down approach to decision making with the current planning process itself promoting sameness.
“With all the right intentions, policies are created for best practice sustainability and built form outcomes but the problem is the policies, regardless of location, are more or less the same.”
Ms Cramer jokingly suggested that kerb detail rather than great urban outcomes dominate our planning leaving the marketing department “to reach for holiday snaps to decide what theme the project is going to have.”
But all is not lost she says. “The opportunity lies with turning the process upside down, determining what makes the place tick and why people want to be there. In a world of fast growth, the notion of difference should be embraced.”
Developers in Western Australia have struggled for years against vanilla, seeking to leave a legacy through fantastic, innovative developments. Whilst innovation is in theory supported by government, squeezing those projects through the standard approvals process makes many developers old before their time. It is time that all levels of government became proactive champions of innovation and celebrate what makes us unique here in the West.