Victoria Square Visions

[Norman]

It's 3.3M (the limit for an attachment was 2M)

Cheers, Caroline

Send it to me via E-Mail (it's the same as my MSN address) and I'll upload it for you guys

Thanks very much Norman, it's much appreciated

I've uploaded it here: http://www.galoresoftware.net/Indianapo ... nities.pdf

[Wayno]

http://www.galoresoftware.net/Indianapo ... nities.pdf

The Indianapolis document is most interesting - especially the Time Square benchmark comparison. I was there about 9 months ago and agree 100% with this statement (copy/paste from the above document):

Times Square has achieved the status of an iconic world landmark and has become a symbol of its home city.
Although Times Square’s billboards and lights give it perhaps the most strikingly visual sense of place of any urban square in the world, anyone who visits Times Square as a pedestrian can instantly see that its attractions virtually all lie above the ground floor.
The experience of the district’s lights and energy is still thrilling, but Times Square offers little beyond the initial impact, and therefore lacks a critical quality of every successful public space: it doesn’t make you want to go back.
As a result, except for the theaters, Times Square is not a “local attraction.” To be sustained as a local attraction, a public space must first be an authentic expression of and for the people who live in that city. If it is not, its attraction will wane as visitors realize it is a place constructed solely for them. People visit cities to see “real” places, and Time’s Square’s many assets should be built upon to create a high quality destination for New Yorkers as well as visitors.

Golden Rule #1 - Don't create a place for tourists. Create it for yourself!

[Gazeby]

Article in the Adelaide review regarding Vic Sq - SQUARE STATE OF MIND

http://www.adelaidereview.com.au/dynami ... tart_from=&

[Wayno]

Article in the Adelaide review regarding Vic Sq - SQUARE STATE OF MIND

http://www.adelaidereview.com.au/dynami ... tart_from=&

i like this sentence from the above article - it says a lot about aussies, but i'm not exactly sure what!

Unlike the Italians and Spanish who flock into the streets at every opportunity to check each other out, we tend to need an invitation to gather en masse outdoors, unless it’s on the beach. Our use of public space in cities is more prescriptive – give us a reason to go there otherwise we’ll stay inside

[Prince George]

Personally, I find it funny when I look at the "artist's impression" illustrations in plans and concepts. They always seem to be filled with some sort of rent-a-crowd, always with the same characters: the cyclist, the husband and wife pushing a stroller, the young couple overflowing with joy lounging under a tree. They're like those advert people, who can't believe how good they feel after only 10 minutes a day on Ab-Mazing, or who know that Depends will never give away their secret.

One of the other things that strikes me is that all these scenes must be taking place on the weekend. Surely, that's why the cyclists, families, and couples have time to be swanning around there. No doubt a good space would be popular on weekends, but why settle for a 2-day-a-week square? Could we do something that will have people using it all week?

Weekdays mean work, and there is a growing amount of office space close to Victoria Square. What if the square had facilities that could let you use it as a kind of outdoor workspace? Most of the things that would let you do that are things that the square needs anyway if it's going to attract people: decent access, comfortable places to sit, some food or coffee options would be good. What I think could really up the amenity would be offering WiFi in the area as well.

This seems like an idea that we could trial and test the waters to see if people would use it. You could hardly build a temporary observation tower (a very tall ladder, perhaps?) to see if people will "love going up [it]", but building up a network in a few locations, particularly in the northern end, and providing some seating and tables is simple enough.

[Wayno]

Personally i like the notion of a free wifi hotspot in VSQ. Would not cost much. There might be some commercial/legal conflict issues to work through with the local ISPs though...

[Shuz]

I thought it already was a free Wi-Fi spot?

It shouldn't just be Victoria Square. It should be for the whole CBD. Now that would really encourage a lot more people to utilise the CBD more.

Just out of curiousity - isn't Wi-Fi already sort of available, but at your own cost?

[rogue]

I'm pretty sure that free WiFi is already available throughout the CBD as part of an ACC initiative.

This is all the information I could find...
http://www.adelaidecitycouncil.com/scri ... ::pc=PC_83

[Prince George]

I'm pretty sure that free WiFi is already available throughout the CBD as part of an ACC initiative.

Aha, it's the system-formerly-known-as-Citylan, which is run by Internode. I don't know if this coverage map is up to date https://hotspot.internode.on.net/pdf/ci ... verage.pdf, but it shows coverage only at one spot, in the northwest corner. Which makes sense, it's the only spot with seating and a cafe. According to the Internode Wikipedia entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internode_Systems)

Guests may only use a limited number of services, while internode customers that log in to the service get all ports opened, allowing, for instance, the use of email clients like Thunderbird or Outlook.

If guests don't have access to email clients, then I guess they just have http. That would be a start, but the mobile workspace probably needs ports for VPN, remote desktop, VNC ...

[Wayno]

Aha, it's the system-formerly-known-as-Citylan, which is run by Internode. I don't know if this coverage map is up to date https://hotspot.internode.on.net/pdf/ci ... verage.pdf, but it shows coverage only at one spot, in the northwest corner. Which makes sense, it's the only spot with seating and a cafe. According to the Internode Wikipedia entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internode_Systems)

Further to this, Internode recently announced free hotspot access with your iPhone, which is great news coz there are lots of these hotspots around Adelaide! pity i don't have an iphone

http://www.smarthouse.com.au/Wireless_A ... d/L6V3Q6L7

South Australian-based ISP Internode has added free access for any iPhone using an Internode Wireless hotspot.

The hotspots allow any iPhone user from any network to select the ‘Internode' network name from the hotspot giving access advanced functions via the hotspot's wireless network at no cost – rather than adding to their 3G data usage.

Although most of the hotspots are in South Australia, the company currently also operates more than 100 Internode Wireless hotspots in the NT, NSW, Queensland and Victoria and Internode MD Simon Hackett, himself a keen iPhone advocate, said Internode Wireless hotspots now welcomed iPhones. "After your one-off setup, an Internode hotspot now works at WiFi broadband speeds – for free," he said, adding that, "This overcomes a real-world problem where advanced services will fail if your iPhone is configured to automatically connect to a wireless hotspot that requires a manual log on to the Internet.

Details of their location can be found at https://hotspot.internode.on.net

[omada]

Prince George said: No doubt a good space would be popular on weekends, but why settle for a 2-day-a-week square? Could we do something that will have people using it all week?

A good point, we have enough parks and landscaping in Adelaide, so dare I mention a Federation Square style development? Now that's certainly a 7 day a week public space, a multi use space, now I realise not all of Fed Square is actually public, as there is the privately run Transport/Taxi Bar (very cool) , but it has created activity and is actually used.

[Pat28]

Prince George said: No doubt a good space would be popular on weekends, but why settle for a 2-day-a-week square? Could we do something that will have people using it all week?

A good point, we have enough parks and landscaping in Adelaide, so dare I mention a Federation Square style development? Now that's certainly a 7 day a week public space, a multi use space, now I realise not all of Fed Square is actually public, as there is the privately run Transport/Taxi Bar (very cool) , but it has created activity and is actually used.

How about a Fed Square behind Parliament, the place is currently just a big 70's concrete slab with a few "artistic" obstacles, waste of space really.

[Norman]

Prince George said: No doubt a good space would be popular on weekends, but why settle for a 2-day-a-week square? Could we do something that will have people using it all week?

A good point, we have enough parks and landscaping in Adelaide, so dare I mention a Federation Square style development? Now that's certainly a 7 day a week public space, a multi use space, now I realise not all of Fed Square is actually public, as there is the privately run Transport/Taxi Bar (very cool) , but it has created activity and is actually used.

How about a Fed Square behind Parliament, the place is currently just a big 70's concrete slab with a few "artistic" obstacles, waste of space really.

4 words: Olympics at Elder Park

[Queen Anne]

Hi all,

Sorry to be changing the subject when you are discussing something but I have been meaning, for days, to post my latest findings regarding PPS/Victoria Square. I hope you'll forgive me for butting in

I have emailed the ACC to ask whether PPS might be involved in the re-birth of Victoria Square and received a kind reply from the urban design team. They told me that it is possible that PPS might be involved in Vic Square but it all depends on the outcome of the procurement process - no big revelations there, I guess. But they did assure me that the guiding principles for the redesign of the Square are closely aligned with the ethos of PPS - which, to me, is hopeful news.

I wrote back to ask who else I could write to, in council, to express my support for PPS' involvment in the square, and also to ask what other opportunities there will be for public involvement in this whole process. I feel that if PPS, itself, is not involved in Vic Square but a PPS *like* ethic/group is used instead, I want to know exactly what is going to be done so I can feel confident that the PPS ethos really is being followed - it would be nice to know what the guiding principles for the redesign of the square actually are, come to think of it.

Anyway, I hope to hear back from the council with some advice as to who I should bug next

Cheers, Caroline

[Pat28]

4 words: Olympics at Elder Park

And, why not move them up the road a bit closer to the city