Wollongong Public Spaces Public Life 2014

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Consultation has concluded

Wollongong City Council is partnering with internationally recognised consulting firm, Gehl Architects, and prominent urban designers, McGregor Coxall, to undertake a Public Spaces Public Life (PSPL) study. The PSPL study will complement the revitalisation of the city centre and provide a sound evidence base for decision-making.


Look out for the Impressions of Wollongong Survey – Distribution in July 2015.

The role of the survey is to find out the community’s impression of the city centre. The survey asks people to draw the city as they remember it, and asks how often people visit the city day and night. Importantly, the survey asks respondents to let us know their impression of the city during the day and at night, and for their impressions of various city attributes (streets, sense of place, atmosphere, sense of belonging, business). The survey was developed following extensive research into understanding the qualities of a lively city and asks respondents to reflect on their own perception. The survey was developed in partnership with the University of Wolllongong and the University of Tasmania and is funded by a research Linkages Grant.

The survey has been distributed to 9,000 homes, and is available here if you want to print, fill out and return it to Council (contact details below).


What is Public Spaces Public Life about?


Public Spaces Public Life Studies put people first. These studies, developed by Jan Gehl and his team and used in cities across the world, measure how cities function from the perspective of the people who use them.

Collecting data is a key focus of Public Space Public Life studies, and we having been busy data collecting since March of 2014. We have collected over 60 data sets to help us better understand how our city is functioning including numbers of people moving through the city.

What’s next?

We are busy finalising the vision and key actions for the city centre and will be sharing these with stakeholders and the community and asking for your feedback in late 2015.

Contact Us

Share your stories or thoughts by emailing records@wollongong.nsw.gov.au or writing to: The General Manager, Wollongong City Council Locked Bag 8821 Wollongong DC NSW 2500. Please quote the reference number ESP-100.03.030 in your submission. Submissions may become public documents on request, please follow this link for privacy information.

Your feedback will form part of our data collection and evidence base. We will be sharing this data and consulting with the community on specific aspects of the study in late 2015. If you would like more information about the project please contact Land Use Planning on (02) 4227 8264.


Wollongong City Council is partnering with internationally recognised consulting firm, Gehl Architects, and prominent urban designers, McGregor Coxall, to undertake a Public Spaces Public Life (PSPL) study. The PSPL study will complement the revitalisation of the city centre and provide a sound evidence base for decision-making.


Look out for the Impressions of Wollongong Survey – Distribution in July 2015.

The role of the survey is to find out the community’s impression of the city centre. The survey asks people to draw the city as they remember it, and asks how often people visit the city day and night. Importantly, the survey asks respondents to let us know their impression of the city during the day and at night, and for their impressions of various city attributes (streets, sense of place, atmosphere, sense of belonging, business). The survey was developed following extensive research into understanding the qualities of a lively city and asks respondents to reflect on their own perception. The survey was developed in partnership with the University of Wolllongong and the University of Tasmania and is funded by a research Linkages Grant.

The survey has been distributed to 9,000 homes, and is available here if you want to print, fill out and return it to Council (contact details below).


What is Public Spaces Public Life about?


Public Spaces Public Life Studies put people first. These studies, developed by Jan Gehl and his team and used in cities across the world, measure how cities function from the perspective of the people who use them.

Collecting data is a key focus of Public Space Public Life studies, and we having been busy data collecting since March of 2014. We have collected over 60 data sets to help us better understand how our city is functioning including numbers of people moving through the city.

What’s next?

We are busy finalising the vision and key actions for the city centre and will be sharing these with stakeholders and the community and asking for your feedback in late 2015.

Contact Us

Share your stories or thoughts by emailing records@wollongong.nsw.gov.au or writing to: The General Manager, Wollongong City Council Locked Bag 8821 Wollongong DC NSW 2500. Please quote the reference number ESP-100.03.030 in your submission. Submissions may become public documents on request, please follow this link for privacy information.

Your feedback will form part of our data collection and evidence base. We will be sharing this data and consulting with the community on specific aspects of the study in late 2015. If you would like more information about the project please contact Land Use Planning on (02) 4227 8264.


Consultation has concluded
  • City Facts and Stats On Show

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    Temporary signs have been placed in various locations around the city centre and have been designed to share some of the information we have collected about our city so far. More details about these stats and facts can be found within the 10 presentation boards, available under the 'Sharing the data" tab to the right

  • Shaping Wollongong - City Ambitions Revealed

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    In a major milestone, the revitalisation project Shaping Wollongong has revealed 10 ambitions for Wollongong’s future which have been praised by the region’s creative community as a “bold and inspiring vision”. For a look at the ambitions and Shaping Wollongong booklet visit this link.

  • Quotable Quote #1

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    “As far as I am concerned, the people scale is THE most important scale of all of them. We have the city plan scale, the site plan scale and the people scale. And definitely the people scale, where you touch the city, and where you touch the buildings – that’s what counts for quality… I find it striking that the quality of the urban habitat of homo sapiens is so weakly researched compared to the habitat of mountain gorillas and bengal tigers and panda bears.”

    Professor Jan Gehl, Gehl Architects


  • Town Hall Talks 18 March 2014

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    Over 200 people attended the Town Hall talks where Henriette Vamberg, Head of Cities at Gehl Architects spoke about the Public Spaces Public Life methodology and how it can be applied to cities around the world. The work Gehl Architects advocates is based on collecting and analysing evidence and taking a step-by-step approach to implementation. Henriette spoke about how this incremental change can lead to quite dramatic positive change for cities, whether they be global cities or regional cities and the need for these changes to be measured.



  • "Experts study Wollongong's Liveability" Article 18-03-14

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    The Wollongong Public Spaces Public Life Study commenced in March 2014. The Public Spaces Public Life methodology, developed by Jan Gehl of Gehl Architects, puts people first and involves robust data collection, including counting of people in public spaces. For the complete news article click here

  • Shaping Wollongong Ideas-a-thon

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    Shaping Wollongong is a strategic & visioning project that has captured the big ideas of Wollongong and the small steps needed to make them happen. Initiated by the Property Council, and delivered via a partnership, the first stage of this project was an ideas-a-thon, held in Globe Lane on 10 May 2013. This article shares the success of this event.