Design the Journey - Lessons from Geography
It is time to rethink travel - not just because we have been restricted by a pandemic but because the pandemic has provided the opportunity to re-design the journey. In 2020, when Australia locked its international, and many domestic borders, I had to reach for something new - as a travel writer, living on the Gold Coast, Australia, with few international tourists and a locked Queensland border, I turned to studying Geography - first as an interest, and gradually to re-inform my way of thinking about the road ahead. Having wandered around major world cities for the past decade, my immediate interest was Cities - and having a background in Design, I wanted to understand what this disease and its ramifications meant to my favourite cities and their ongoing life.
What geography teaches about Cities is that they are being produced, not just by landscape features such as rivers and their deltas. mountains, valleys, catchment areas, and geographical zones, and, of course, weather - but Cities are being produced by people, by advertising, by commerce and by governments and trade. Most cities are being produced by urban planners and geographers working in councils and government departments. Of course, we need infrastructure to live such as water and power and roads, but I wonder if there is a way to take back some of this planning journey into our own imaginations and design. How much voice and collective design can locals and travellers bring to new Cities?
Well, I am re-structuring my thinking around these questions and in this series of articles, I hope to explore a new direction for designing the journey.
The photo above is from the wetlands in Varsity Lakes on the Gold Coast. Visitors to the Gold Coast often head straight for the hotels and resorts, the beach and cafes, and miss the beautiful walks through the wetlands. Its sad to see just how much urbanisation has encroached on the health and well-being of urban wetlands, but it is also possible to empower ourselves by reaching for a different approach to travel and being urban citizens, by making a point to know where these beautiful locales are located in our Cities and advocate for more rurality in Cities. If visiting the Gold Coast, look for the wetland and nature walks, be guided by a deep respect for the geography of the region, take care of rubbish and your footprint, and begin to design a new journey.
Some recommended walks on the Gold Coast: