source : the age
This week, we’re looking at the health of Melbourne as part of our countdown to a new three-day forum bringing together the people, ideas and conversations shaping the place many of us call home.
The Melbourne Assembly, an initiative of The Age presented in partnership with the University of Melbourne, seeks to spark crucial conversations about the future of our city across four themes: shaping the city, healthy places and people, innovation and education, plus sport and the arts.
Last week, we heard from Cara Waters about the theme of shaping the city.
Today, urban affairs writer Cassandra Morgan looks at the theme of healthy places and people, including the way our suburbs are designed, how our homes are built and the walkability of our city, which can impact community wellness and resilience.
Over to Cassandra.
The proposition of what makes a healthy city extends far beyond our access to healthcare.
It starts with light, space and ventilation inside our homes in an increasingly vertical and high-density world, and stretches beyond apartment balconies to the ground floor.
What’s there to keep us connected to each other, and to nature, when many Melbourne suburbs have scarce tree canopy cover (which is linked to our psychiatric, respiratory and cardiovascular health)?
The proposition follows us, too, when we travel to work, school or the supermarket. How did we get there, and how long did it take? How did we feel on the journey, and where were we inclined to go after we fulfilled our responsibilities for the day?
Global planning pioneer Carlos Moreno, who is headlining Melbourne Assembly alongside former New York mayor Bill de Blasio, has mulled this over, and coined the idea of the “15-minute city”.
The principle that everything you need should be within 15 minutes’ walk of your home – schools, shops, libraries, parks, transport, job opportunities and healthcare – will be central to conversations for our future at Melbourne Assembly, where Moreno and de Blasio will join local experts in canvassing the brightest ideas for our city.
The first key pillar of the conference is shaping the city, and we’re exploring the challenges we face and potential solutions as the city hurtles towards a population of 10 million on the way to becoming one of the world’s great metropolises.
For the next key pillar of healthy places and people, Sydney’s deputy mayor Jess Miller, who grew up on Melbourne’s Mornington Peninsula, will be among our experts sharing ideas for the city’s future.
She’ll sit on the Melbourne Assembly panel, but will also talk to The Age about her vision for a greener, better-connected city in a series of features leading up to the event.
Kelvyn Lavelle – adviser to infrastructure business Plenary, former chair of the new Footscray Hospital project, and West of Melbourne Economic Development Alliance (WoMEDA) board member – will also join the panel, as will Liam Wallis, creative entrepreneur and founding director of ethical property developer HIP V. HYPE.
This section of the event is supported by Bupa, a major partner of the Melbourne Assembly. The health insurer will be represented on the panel by its chief health officer Nicholas Woods.
Finally, Alison Leighton, the chief executive of the City of Melbourne – also a supporting event partner – will join the panel to share her ideas for the city.
In the lead-up to the summit, The Age’s series of in-depth stories will explore how Melbourne could look in 2050 and beyond.
Following on from city editor Cara Waters’ story about Moreno’s idea for 15-minute cities, we’ll look at a suburb in Melbourne’s east that was identified as a pilot site for the concept back in 2018, and investigate how it stands up eight years later.
Sydney’s deputy mayor Miller will join architect Philip Thalis and other experts in highlighting what Sydney is getting right that Melbourne isn’t – including what Thalis believes is possibly the most “dismal” place in urban Australia.
And, Monash University gender-safe design expert Nicole Kalms will discuss in a story how Melbourne’s economy is changing with the environment, and why that might mean women are worse off financially.
Presenting partner the University of Melbourne is joining The Age to host Melbourne Assembly at The Edge in Federation Square from October 19 to 21, alongside major partners – sport and entertainment precinct Melbourne Park and Bupa. Right Angle, the City of Melbourne and the Committee for Melbourne are supporting partners.
As a subscriber, you have early access to tickets for this event at a substantial discount. You can click on this link to see the offers available for various parts of Melbourne Assembly and enter the code EditorNote to apply the subscriber discount.
Further information will be made available at the Melbourne Assembly website. Stay tuned for updates in the coming weeks about our other guest speakers.
But the best voice of the city is yours – we want to hear your experiences, your vision and the practical ideas you have to improve Melbourne.
Over the past two weeks, almost 12,000 readers voted on their favourite ways to improve Melbourne.
The most popular idea was to build Airport Rail before the Suburban Rail Loop. The idea of building a rail line to the airport has been around since the days of Sir Henry Bolte in 1963, before the version of Tullamarine we know now even opened.
Proving Melburnians love their infrastructure, three other big transport ideas closely followed airport rail – building a park over the Flinders Street rail yards, ensuring greenfield suburbs have tram connections to the nearest train station and free public transport on weekends.
The ideas shouldn’t stop there, though.
Whether you have an innovative thought about making homes healthy, a novel concept for improving wellbeing, or a fresh approach to combine community spaces and the environment, the voice of our subscribers is essential to setting the conference agenda.
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