Megan Taylor of the University of Technology Sydney surveyed and interviewed highly experienced urban planners from across state and local governments about local parks as part of her PhD thesis. Now she’s won a prestigious prize that takes her to the national competition for her work.
Why do public policy makers favour car parks over green parks? Megan Taylor, of the University of Technology Sydney’s faculty of design, architecture and building says local parks are low on the amenity grocery list because they are not a direct driver of economic growth. It’s time for governments to change that.
Taylor recently took home the $3000 winner’s prize for Three Minute Thesis (3MT) on the urban planning challenges faced by Sydney’s green spaces, for her topic “Sydney, It’s Not Easy Being Green”. Taylor will go on to represent UTS at the 2022 Virtual Asia-Pacific 3MT Semi-Final on 26 September 2022.
A 100,000 word PhD thesis would normally take around nine hours to present in full, but 3MT challenges Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and Professional Doctorate (Research) candidates to present the nub of their theses in just three minutes.
The international academic competition was developed by the University of Queensland and the gala 3MT event was held in the Great Hall at UTS.
(For those who didn’t know, The Fifth Estate is currently working from an office space in the UTS Ultimo campus for a six-month period, as a way to better understand academic work and research at a time when the entire world needs to skill up and educate itself on sustainability, urgently.)
Taylor said it took weeks to get her thesis down to three minutes.
“It was harder than I thought – a lot of work but amazing on so many levels.
“I’m delighted to win, especially since the subject matter is so important, to have it recognised as a valued contribution… but the best thing I got out of it was the shared experience, and for me that’s the biggest win.”
“We need 21st Century solutions for 21st Century problems”
Taylor’s research is focused on how to make the outdoor environment “functional for everyone”.
She says we’re not taking the issue of green urban spaces seriously enough.
Green spaces [should be] at the forefront of how we approach our urban development strategies and policies, rather than being a nice add-on.
“It’s a very nuanced and complex problem that’s going to take enormous effort to solve. We don’t want to inadvertently commodify public urban spaces for the sake of economic growth.
“The ideal is that we start with green spaces rather than end with them… Green spaces [should be] at the forefront of how we approach our urban development strategies and policies, rather than being a nice add-on.
She says we need more transparent conversations around our green spaces, to reconcile tensions and find compromises, and make sure no-one feels left out of the conversation.
Covid “new normal” as a “natural experiment”
Her presentation covered her research into the use of parks, using Covid as a “natural experiment” to uncover whether planning for local parks had changed as a result of the “new normal”.
“History shows us this won’t be the last time we use our local parks as a panacea for urban de-stressing or to improve public health. The difference this time? It affected all of us.
“It’s important we understand what’s happening with our local parks, because if the mechanisms used to put them in place are not meeting scaleable expectations, we’re going to end up with a city that does not function.”
Low on the amenity grocery list
Taylor has been working on her thesis since the beginning of 2019 and will be finished in 2023.
She surveyed and interviewed a group of highly experienced urban planners from across state and local government organisations in Sydney, to see if a consensus was emerging about the post-Covid importance of local park provision.
She found that land in developed areas is scarce and expensive, developer contributions are not adequate subsidy for the new park spaces required to serve new residents, and local parks are “low on the amenity grocery list because they are not a direct driver of economic growth – they don’t fund revenue in the way car parks do”.
The solution
Taylor says we need to get inventive with our existing public space, by utilising parklands, smartparks, and rooftop parks.
“We recognise society can’t function without the extraordinary health and social benefits provided by parks, they need to be funded and prioritised accordingly.
“We need to rethink our government priorities. Why do we build carparks because they are funded by revenue and not parks because they consume revenue?
“My thesis provides a platform for a broader conversation about how we value and treat our local parks… we can change the conversation, and maybe change the world.”
Ayusha Dahal from the Faculty of Science took home the runner-up prize in the 3MT of $1000 and people’s choice award of $1000 for her topic “The Search For The Unidentified”.
Professor Helene de Burgh-Woodman, dean of the Graduate Research School said 3MT was a chance for research students to showcase the diversity and excellence of their work.
“Congratulations to all the finalists who presented at the 3MT UTS Finals. It was inspiring to be in the room and hear the energy and passion of all 8 researchers. We wish our winner Megan all the best in the Asia-Pacific 3MT Semi-Final.”
We did have a developer, first name Harry, who wanted more grey and less green. So far he is winning.