Celebrating Adelaide Using Urban Greenspace
Michael Robertson, May 2004
The opening ceremony of the Adelaide Festival 2004 at Elder Park involved sitting on the south side of the Torrens Lake, watching smoking fire-buckets on the north side set amidst the native trees there, with amplified Australian-bush bird calls and occasional Aboriginal women‚ singing.
Luckily the bird calls were amplified. Any actual birds there would have been drowned out by the traffic-generated white-noise that blankets the area.
Leaving Elder Park and wandering back to North Terrace and King William Street, it was business as usual - the streets were thick with Friday night car traffic (but not as thick as the weekday peak hour traffic, when the traffic slows down with congestion). We had celebrated our city by parachuting in bird calls. But the sense of peace and oneness with nature had drifted away with the smoke, and the uncelebratable city had reasserted itself.
Proposal:
- Reduce the traffic capacity of North Terrace and King William Street (and in fact most other main roads in Adelaide) down to one lane each way for cars, plus an extra lane each way for buses or trams, as needed, plus an extra half lane each way for bicycles.
- Use the freed-up space to plant more trees, bushes, and grasses, especially those that would encourage native birdlife to visit or reside on the city streets (not just sparrows).
While such measures would not restore the original habitat as it was prior to Adelaide’s construction, it would create a habitat in which some native birds and other wildlife would prosper, for the benefit of both themselves and the human inhabitants who would enjoy their presence.
What is distinct about Australian cities, that tourists marvel at and travel half-way around the world to see? It is our unique fauna and flora, including melifluous birds and expressive, sinuous trees. We should put them up-front and centre.
2007.2.8