- Brisbane’s urbanism: looking for an identity. Case study of Inala   400 kb by    Greenop, Kelly & Darchen, Sebastian | k.greenop1@uq.edu.au    Short Outline The objective of this paper is to create avenues of reflection on how to enhance the identity of urban spaces in Brisbane. We base our analysis on the Inala case study. Abstract Urban planning in Queensland is known as having been shaped by a pro- development culture. This translates strongly in the design of Brisbane’s public spaces which we argue still suffer from an ‘identity crisis’ despite recent initiatives (e.g., Brisbane City Council’s City Centre Master Plan, 2012) that are clear attempts to foster public consultation on how to generate a sense of place and to confer a more urban identity to the Brisbane CBD. The objective of this paper is to create avenues of reflection on how to enhance the identity of urban spaces in Brisbane. We argue that this will lead to a more authentic version of place, in line with place theorists. Ultimately the paper concludes on directions to develop a Brisbane urbanism in the context of an emerging city, inclusive of its past. From a theoretical point of view, the paper is based on the concepts of place and sense of place. Places are composed of three interrelated components that give meanings to place: the physical setting, activity and meaning. For example Relph (1976) referring to Lynch (1960) associates the identity of a place with the ability to evoke human senses through qualities that make it distinctive from other places. We also draw on Augé’s (1995) work examining the plethora of ‘non-places’ that he argues characterise many modern cities, and the antithesis of this, the creation of authentic place. We use the case study of the Brisbane suburb of Inala, located in the outer south-west, and characterised by public housing and a proportionately large population of migrant and Indigenous communities. We utilise ethnography to examine residents’ attachment to and identification with place, as well as the demographic, socio-economic and other quantitative aspects of place that characterise Inala. We combine these factors with an examination of the urban planning of the suburb and changes to this over time, to discuss how an authentic, resilient and sustainable place requires a combination of community, government and individuals to develop and maintain this authenticity. Based on this case, we present planning solutions that work in creating a sense of place. These have often been developed incrementally over time, and often involving initiatives driven from within the Inala community itself, rather than through a broad strategic process, but we examine how planning and other bureaucratic regimes have affected place-making in this location. One of the strategies that we wish to put forward is the importance of acknowledging the history of a place and the cultures of its people when developing place-making strategies. First we define place-making strategies as applied by planning professionals and then we develop an alternative approach - based on the case of Inala - to enhance the symbolic value of urban spaces. As Brisbane and South East Queensland works to plan for its increasing population, and the development of existing places to increase their cohesiveness and social capital (e.g., Logan and developing areas such as Springfield) issues of community identity, sustainability and inclusiveness become increasingly important for planners and policy makers. We argue that a community-centred, identity-focussed approach is an important consideration in this developing debate. Keywords Case Study presented on the ISOCARP Congress 2013: Frontiers of Planning - Evolving and declining models of city planning practice   Click to open the full paper as pdf document   Click to send an email to the author(s) of this paper