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New Perspective

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Sydney - With a New Perspective 


I have a penchant for exploring newer destinations. And now on my target is Sydney. While browsing I have a penchant for exploring newer destinations. And now on the target is Sydney. While browsing through a local newspaper The Sydney Herald, I came across an advertisement on the city talk show “The Art of City Making”. The subject was captivating and more so it was being hosted at State Theatre. I could see a twin objective being fulfilled; Visit to an interesting theatre hopefully coupled with some creative talk. I feel they were sufficient reasons for me to be there.

The speaker, Mr. Charles Landry, raised few fundamental questions on the aspects of city making. In spite of being naive to the subject a simple thought did arise in my mind as well. Why are some cities more vibrant than the others?

Adjectives like creative and interactive when get attached to a city name, adds a feather to the city’s cap. Sydney is already one of the popular cities of the world.  To continue to be in the fore front in 2030 city thinkers feel it needs a revisit, a transformation. How is the city going to channelize the creative energies of its people? Gone are the days where people selected the company over the city to live. Today people select the city to live over the company. With this transformation already in vogue, a city has to keep up to its image and future prospect. I certainly share the same line of thought. I was born and brought up in the financial capital of India, Mumbai. As a typical Mumbaite, I always said I only want to live in Mumbai. The pace of life and enthusiasm which I saw in Mumbai, I never felt the same pulse in other Indian cities.

That brings me to a new perspective of thinking. There will be different ways in which city planners will be directing their efforts to increase the sociability and interactions among the city dwellers. This macro perspective has helped me put all the initiatives taken by Sydney thinkers in place.  The month of October saw ‘Crave’ the food festival, followed by an extra ordinary initiative ‘Sculptures by the Sea’. The next in talks is ‘Food on Wheels’. It is really insightful to realise how initiatives are designed and developed at macro level to keep up the high city spirits!!

So the next time when you step out and be a part of an event, make an attempt to see the bigger picture. Along with the sensory and emotional experience, relate it to the intellect working towards it. A newer perspective broadens your horizon of understanding.

For the ones who want to know more on the city creativity index can browse www.charleslandry.com

Comments

  1. Charmee Nune25 November 2011 at 09:57

    My new blog.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Aswin25 November 2011 at 10:07

    The issues raised in the talk show are very relevant and there is an urgent need to re-invent Sydney. The general consensus is that Sydney has been losing the bragging rights for a while and Melbourne has now been established as the “entertainment capital” of Australia. The initiatives such as “Crave”, while commendable are but a pathetic attempt to revive the city’s flagging attractiveness.

    What is needed (from both an economic and social perspective) is to increase density around inner city areas. Growing “Up” instead of “Out” not only improves the city’s vibrancy, it will also enable us to harness our most important resource – the biggest and most diverse multicultural base in Australia.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Charmee Nune25 November 2011 at 10:29

    I agree the city planners will be surely focusing on variety of macro issues like redevelopment of suburbs, newer suburb creation, infrastructure development, entrepreneurial opportunities. A mix of big and small steps get things going!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous30 November 2011 at 18:05

    very nice..keep blogging

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ameya Paleja11 December 2011 at 00:27

    An interesting topic to start off your blog.

    Please follow it up with some interesting and 'vibrant' pictures of these events.

    Also, where do you think is Mumbai when it comes to taking these initiatives.

    But before you comment, have a look at this.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iyt16efRrBo . It would have been difficult to keep you out, I guess. :)

    ReplyDelete

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