The notion of Australia as an egalitarian society is outdated and the burgeoning class system of this country is becoming etched in its urban landscape.
‘Hope for the best but prepare for the worst’ is a good approach for Australian comedians performing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, especially in the current economic climate.
The measures needed to cool Australia’s rapidly heating urban environments are already clear – and the case to implement them is now urgent, as global temperature records topple.
The combined forces of the market, the internet and even Postmodern thinking have done the opposite of what they promised – narrowing rather than broadening our experience of the world – which is why the eccentric is more important than ever.
Australia’s housing crisis will not be solved by the generational conflict between the ‘nimbys’ who reject development and the ‘yimbys’ calling for more.
The nation’s capital is locked in an architectural battle between the Worst of Sydney and the Way of the Griffins. Happily, it looks as if the Griffins are slowly winning.
Paul Keating’s self-referential praise for Barangaroo is cringeful in its exultation of a development that is short on both architectural merit and social conscience.
