FREO’S movers and shakers will gather this week to discuss the resuscitation of the CBD, featuring community celebrities Sarah Booth and Kate Hulett. 

The talk, which is hosted by Design Freo, is a culmination of a research mission taken by Ms Booth as part of her Churchill Fellowship, where she and Ms Hulett travelled around Europe to explore ideas as to how cities like Amsterdam, London, and Athens were built “people focused” to promote “community, vibrancy, and care”. 

In the armchair conversation held at Tannock Hall on Thursday, Ms Booth says the ideas she and Ms Hulett gathered “aren’t radical” but says Freo has “far more potential” to mirror those European stalwarts of community and liveability. 

“We found so many things that could be so perfect for Fremantle… it was really pleasurable to go through all of our photos, and pull out the ideas we thought would be most appropriate to be reproduced here, but in a very authentically Fremantle way,” Ms Booth said. 

“We’re not trying to bring Europe back to Fremantle, but certainly Fremantle has the bones of what made these good cities great, and we want to [work out] how we can add a bit more magic into our city centre.” 

“We want to show people what’s possible… Kate and I are often told things aren’t possible, which is very West Australian, but what we wanted to do with this slideshow is show people it is possible, because we’ve seen it, and none of it is putting someone on the moon.”

Design Freo creative director Pippa Hurst says the event was first held at the end of August, but was so popular they decided to go once more around the block. 

“We had over 200 people come to the first one, and a lot of people said they were disappointed that they couldn’t make it,” Ms Hurst said. 

“It’s all about empowering people to think ‘we don’t have to wait for someone else to do this, and there is nothing stopping us from coming up with our own ideas and making them happen’.

“Fremantle has always been a progressive place where people are quite engaged and involved in what goes on in the community.

Conversations

“That’s why we like to have these conversations; to inspire people and get everyone in the community involved in making our city a better place.” 

Ms Hurst says Fremantle is suffering from what she calls a “real death of imagination” thanks to technology, cost of living, and a plethora of negative global events, which is why conversations about its reinvigoration are so necessary. 

“We need to change our mindset to be a bit more fun, with a bit more creativity, because it breeds… we know in urban design that when you create places where people pause, that’s where people follow, and where investment and activity follows,” Ms Hurst said. 

“We’re seeing it now that the council’s had to give back space where the skate park is over at Captain Munchies… it’s a perfect example of a space that is activated by young people, it’s a place where they can go to hang out, they don’t spend money, they’re doing something active, and now we want to replace it with a car park where cars are going to sit all day, taking up space and contributing nothing.

“It’s a classic example of somewhere where we shouldn’t be going backwards.”

by KATHERINE KRAAYVANGER