Future Brisbane: How to make our city a truly vibrant destination

BRISBANE is on the verge of becoming a great international city, but there are pieces of the puzzle missing if we want to make it a truly vibrant destination.

BRISBANE is on the verge of becoming a great international city, but there are pieces of the puzzle missing if we want to make it a truly vibrant destination to attract tourists, new residents and businesses.

That is the view of a group of city leaders and influencers at a roundtable luncheon discussion, hosted by The Courier-Mail, to discuss the future of Queensland’s capital.

The need for well-planned integrated road and rail transport, and new approaches to housing was top of mind, if we are to avoid following southern centres and preserve our enviable liveability.

And they pondered the city’s identity, why local residents are Brisbane’s worst advocates – and how we can put the heat on Melbourne.

Our panel of experts for the Future Brisbane roundtable.

YOU AIN’T SEEN NOTHING YET

Tom Seymour, managing partner with professional services company PwC, told the group that Greater Brisbane’s population would swell by nearly a million people.

“By 2031, almost the population of Adelaide will move here,” he said.

“So big opportunities and also some big challenges in how you absorb that many people into a place and do it in a smart way. How do you learn from where Sydney is today and have the benefit of knowing 10 years ahead of that curve, and design for that versus where Sydney is in trying to retrofit?”

Deputy Brisbane Mayor Adrian Schrinner said: “I think we will see more change in the next five or so years than we’ve seen in a really long time.

“The growth of Brisbane has really gone in bursts – and I think we’ve got a burst coming on now and it’s an exciting time.”

James Tuma, national director of city-shaping specialists Urbis, said: “There’s so much going on. I don’t think we’ll know ourselves in five to 10 years.’’

A series of multibillion-dollar infrastructure projects will transform the city and how we get around. Picture: Tourism and Events Queensland

BUILD IT ... THEY’RE COMING

A series of multibillion-dollar infrastructure projects to be completed over the next decade – including Cross River Rail, Brisbane Metro, the new Brisbane Airport runway and the Queens Wharf entertainment precinct – will transform the city and how we get around, as well as how we position ourselves as a magnet.

Geoff Hogg, Queensland managing director of The Star Entertainment Group, said: “Tourism across the whole state is going to go through a boom over the next 10 years. Brisbane is certainly setting itself up to really leverage that. Investment in the airport and the cruise terminal is wonderful.’’

Brisbane Airport Corporation chief executive and managing director Julieanne Alroe said: “Infrastructure is the great enabler. It gives a lot of confidence. I really do think that mega-city life is going to get pretty dystopian in some cases and we have the chance to have a very, very different situation here if we can put in those enabling structures.’’

Wes Ballantine, Queensland general manager for toll roads operator Transurban, said while the tunnels network meant Brisbane was rare in having “built road infrastructure with the capacity to grow into the future”, the great challenge now was being brave in finding new models of funding the transport options needed to service enormous residential growth on the city fringes.

Property Council Queensland executive director Chris Mountford urged an expansion of the City Deals approach to align all levels of government.

“For me, that’s probably what’s missing in SEQ – to work as a region and come up with the higher priority projects,” Mr Mountford said.

LIVING THE DREAM

More people means more homes and more pressure on precious living space, with implications for where and how we build in future.

Marina Vit, chief executive of the Urban Development Institute of Australia (Queensland) told the group: “We do a lot of research and what that shows is this tidal wave of desire for lifestyle. Young people were abandoning the notion of moving out to single-level dwellings in the suburbs when they had children, opting to live in and around urban villages in a variety of home types.”

South Bank Corporation chief executive Jemina Dunn said: “Green space is going to be absolutely critical because we’re going to have higher density development than we’ve ever seen before, and people need to get out and experience the city but they also need areas of sanctuary.’’

Precincts such as the Fish Lane dining zone created by Aria Property Group in South Brisbane, and entertainment hubs such as the Queens Wharf integrated casino-resort and the Brisbane Live arena proposed for Roma Street railyards were highlighted by the group.

“The one piece that’s missing is that real inner-city cosmopolitan vibrancy and I’m extremely passionate about wanting Brisbane to be the best inner-city hub in Australia,” Aria founder Tim Forrester said. “The way we do that is about the laneways, the boulevards, the pocket parks – it’s about the sense of discovery as you explore these inner-city areas.’’

Why are the local residents of Brisbane the city’s worst advocates?

SIMPLY THE BEST

University of Queensland Deputy Vice-Chancellor Iain Watson suggested establishing the 20 things Brisbane was best at and promoting them – and our universities would be among them.

Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland general manager advocacy, Kate Whittle, said: “We need to have a serious conversation about how we educate our kids for that new economy and have it industry-facing.’’

And Jock Fairweather, whose firm Little Tokyo Two runs The Capital start-up hub, says Brisbane can be an entrepreneurial hotspot, if more established wealth is directed to young up-and-coming companies as venture capital.

SELLING THE CITY

What is Brisbane’s brand?

Brisbane Marketing chief executive Brett Fraser said there was an unrivalled level of collaboration between main players in promoting the city as a “highly attractive destination’’ with “more red carpet than red tape”.

Mr Hogg said the city needed a local narrative that everyone would embrace. “Talk to the one in four people who moved here or were born overseas and they will rave about the place. Talk to a big chunk of those who grew up here and they talk about the Gold Coast.’’

Mr Schrinner said: “Melbourne tried to claim to be the world’s most liveable city. We know that’s s--- – absolute rubbish. But for 20 years, they have told people that.’’

Mr Di Bella’s solution: “Put a billboard up in Melbourne – right in Flinders St – showing Brisbane’s weather. It’s four degrees or something down there today.”