Editorial: Let’s embrace Brisbane’s summery climate

Brisbane needs to embrace its climate, and there is a long list of ways we can do this, writes the editor.

Quinn Robinson and Dremayne Tanaka at Bougainvillea House at Brisbane’s Howard Smith Wharves. Picture: Steve Pohlner

Learning to embrace who you are and not worrying so much about copying others is a pretty solid life lesson – and it is one that holds true for cities as well, particularly ones such as Brisbane that have a tendency to compare themselves with other, often bigger, locations.

This is certainly the case when it comes to our subtropical climate. The unavoidable humidity is one of the things that sees us marked down on international liveability indexes, such as the respected one by The Economist’s Intelligence Unit that we are using to guide our Future Brisbane series this year.

It has Brisbane rated just 93.5 on its “culture and environment” score, which includes things such as sporting and cultural availability and food and drink options, but also a humidity and temperature rating, and “discomfort of climate to travellers”. Sydney is rated 94.4 and Melbourne is 95.8 (Perth is 88.7 and Adelaide is 91.4).

We have canvassed this week some ideas for how we can better plug the cultural deficiency in our ratings, through ideas including what would be a world-leading First Nations Cultural Centre (read museum) near the existing cultural precinct at South Bank. We should also not be afraid to be honest with ourselves too about the quality of the offerings at our other existing museums too ahead of the world coming to town when we host the Olympics and Paralympics in 2032.

But we also need to embrace our climate – to unlock our subtropical superpower, as we have cheekily been saying this week. And there is a long list of ways we can do this.

As we report today, it will be critical for all planners involved in the creation of precincts and the connections between them to be focused on this need – featuring things such as cooling lawns, lots of foliage and plenty of shade.

This year’s Future Brisbane theme is liveability, and last year our focus was on mobility – with one of the key recommendations to extend the city’s bougainvillea-lined Grand Arbour at South Bank across the city to form a shaded walking loop that connects the Gabba to Suncorp Stadium via South Bank and Brisbane Live at Roma St, and looping back through the central business district to Howard Smith Wharves via the Botanic Gardens.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner raised a concern about who would maintain all that bougainvillea, and fair enough, but we should set our sights high as this would surely quickly become a world icon, a true unlocking of that subtropical superpower. Build in some mist cooling fans to the design that use recycled water captured from the covered sections of the walkway (there are usually plenty of storms in summer to capture it from) and you can dial up the comfort levels pretty quickly.

You can also already find across the city plenty of spaces where we are embracing our climate.

Think of the rainforest sections of South Bank, or the increasing number of buildings – both residential and commercial – that have properly landscaped common areas with trees overhead and lawns underfoot.

It’s all about approaching this challenge as people who live in Brisbane, not people trying to copy other places such as Sydney.

It might be a bit too much to ask of all of us to accept men wearing suits with shorts in the office on weekdays, but having a built landscape that is fit for purpose is surely not too big a challenge.

PERFECT CHANCE TO CREATE A NEW NORM

It was one of the most successful advertising campaigns in Australian history and the anthem of a generation determined to live a healthier lifestyle.

And now the iconic Life. Be In It campaign has been given a new spin ahead of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Nearly 50 years ago the original series of ads – spearheaded by the lazy, beer-gutted cartoon character Norm – showed the true power of advertising and helped get Australians moving.

Like the equally successful Slip Slop Slap series of public health advertisements it had a massive positive impact on health outcomes in the 80s and 90s.

The new program called Play Well will include a mayor grants program focused on helping everyone participate in sport.

“We know Australians value sport – it’s part of the fabric of who we are – but sport also needs to change,” Australian Sports Commission chief executive and Olympic champion Kieren Perkins said yesterday. “It needs to be more open and inclusive.”

We couldn’t agree more and the Brisbane 2032 Games is a perfect opportunity to reframe the message of health through participation in sport for our community.

Indeed one of the four key points of the Games Legacy strategy Elevate 2042 is “ensuring that sport and physical activity are part of life for everyone”.

For a Brisbane Games to be successful it needs to have a lasting sporting legacy for everyone, not just the elite athletes.

Responsibility for election comment is taken by Chris Jones, corner of Mayne Rd & Campbell St, Bowen Hills, Qld 4006. Printed and published by NEWSQUEENSLAND (ACN 009 661 778). Contact details here