Photo: Walyalup Koort, 9 Oct approx. 12:30pm
Australians have a habit of wanting our public squares to be more like the ones we fall in-love with when we’re abroad.
We want the buzz of Tokyo’s Shibuya, the time stop of Havana’s Plaza Vieja, the commercial buzz of Bangkok’s Siam Square, and the romance of anything from anywhere in Europe.
I think it’s an aspiration that often fails to see the amazing ebb and flow of life that streams through, around, over, in and out from every corner at any time in our own public squares. I also think it ignores the fact that, for better or worse, Australian public squares are an interpretation made up of many influences.
I wish everyone could spend a moment each day hanging out in their town’s public square. Because if you take a moment to just pause and study the square, I guarantee you’ll see great things emerge. It may not have the exact same flavour to what you’ve experienced abroad, but it does have similar tasting notes.
I’m lucky. I get to work smack in the middle of Fremantle’s city centre in a beautiful civic building that sits comfortably in Walyalup Koort–our public square. The Koort, formerly known as Kings Square, is probably in its third or fourth incarnation as a town square since it was established in 1839. The area has seen, and continues to experience, significant change.
Aerial view from 1957. Credit: Fremantle History Centre.
I commute to work on foot everyday, and get to journey through the arteries of my city as they funnel into the beating heart of Fremantle. I eat my lunch on the Koort’s grassy knoll when the weather is good. I gaze out the office window as people go about their business. I weave through every nook and cranny of the Koort multiple times in one day. It’s the place I spend the most amount of time in this city outside of my own house.
These daily interactions have shaped my appreciation for Walyalup Koort, while also acknowledging where and how the space could be further elevated. It’s what sparked my interest in writing this post and using the space as the key example.
If I had to score Walyalup Koort, I’d rate it an 8/10. Why?
For starters, there has been a significant evolution in the recognition of heritage, history, and cultural significance within the area. The space is beginning to acknowledge the many layers of history and culture that exists locally–in particular the culture of First Nations, Whadjuk Noongar peoples–alongside the well-established colonial settler and 19th/20th century commemorations.
Of the 19th and 20th century acknowledgements, I particularly like the original St. John’s church that stood in the area that’s now marked by a cobblestone outline in the ground.
Another one is accidental but quite delightful. Under the shadow of Fremantle Town Hall on the William St side there are a series of colourful concrete samples that were installed to test potential new looks for pending footpath upgrades. The samples are similar to how we might collect paint swatches when repainting our houses. The footpath upgrades never happened but the samples still sit, hiding in plain sight. I love this hidden moment because it’s a reminder that urban environments are a constant work-in-progress. Credit to Brad Pettitt who showed me this fun fact.
A formal name change from Kings Square to Walyalup Koort in 2021 is the most recent example of significant First Nations recognition, with more to come.
How these layers share space is no easy feat. There’s a lot of community tension that needs to be addressed for different people to exist and for their cultural significance to be included. These efforts that are transforming Walyalup Koort should be considered a great win, and an important trait of our public squares–they are places to celebrate, mourn, or reflect on the past while also opening up cultural possibilities for the future.
Aerial view from 2022. Credit: Australian Institute of Architects.
How we move through and around our town square really gives you a sense of who and what is being prioritised. Walyalup Koort makes it exceedingly clear that movement through this environment is meant to be slower and encourages the public to experience the space on foot. Again, previous generations of decision makers slowly closed off vehicle access through the square at multiple points (a road literally ran through it), rerouting traffic to shuffle around Walyalup Koort at a much safer pace for more active movement and transport to thrive. The area will see another generation’s worth of change as it continues to move towards a people-first environment.
Because of these changes Walyalup Koort is a place buzzing with movement from trickles to floods of people depending on the time of day and the weather. Walkability through the Koort gives people the chance to really admire the rich history of the surrounding heritage architecture; but more importantly, it encourages lingering and interaction instead of existing as a drive-by destination.
Not everyone agrees these are good moves. I think they’re awesome. Public squares are places for people, not parking. There is a raft of ways to unlock new opportunities for cycling and other modes of active transport to thrive through the area.
Economic activity benefits when people are encouraged to live, work, and play in and around a public square. The outer rim is thriving with a daytime commercial mix of eateries, retail stores, schools, small and large businesses, office spaces, arts venues, social services and more. There are regular pop-up market experiences that come and go every few weeks and spaces for emerging small businesses to test their value propositions. You can sip nice wines and eat good food all around the area; pop in and out of opp shops for neat finds; and dig through crates of vinyl at one of the last record stores in Fremantle.
I genuinely see the Koort as a crucial component of the open-air mall that makes up Fremantle’s city centre. The inner city’s growing residential footprint is giving even more charge to the activity happening around the Koort. Variety is slowly creeping back into the place, but the lack of nighttime activity is certainly felt when walking through the space.
The last winning point is that Walylup Koort functions as a free space for public gatherings–this is the basic core of what a public square is meant to offer for civic participation. Any age group is welcome (there’s even a pretty sick playground for kids). It’s where people meet, people play, people rally, people advocate, people protest, people cheer, people teach, people share, and people mourn. It doesn’t matter what cause you support (or oppose) because the Koort is a place for people to safely articulate their perspective to anyone passing by. I can tell you there are a lot of perspectives floating around the square.
That’s what I love about my town’s public square.
If you’ve made it this far, you’re probably wondering when I was going to mention improving public safety and reducing “anti-social behaviour” as a sticking point to any future success for the Koort. Like all public squares, access has to be open to anyone. For the most part it’s a peaceful gathering spot for people who need a refuge when they might not have one. However, on a daily basis there might be a handful of flare ups between parties which results in physical violence, yelling, and unsettling behaviour. This ultimately leads to tension between the haves and have nots who hang out in the Koort, but it’s also an issue we’ve seen in other parts of the world.
So, what would take Walyalup Koort from an 8/10 to a 10/10? Safety is definitely on the top of the list, but there are many areas to unpack that brings us back to reflecting on commercial activity, movement, and more. I’ll explore those ideas in other posts.
In fairness, most of us really only get the opportunity to truly hang out and observe public spaces when we’re on holiday visiting some other place far from home. We make the effort because we took time off to go somewhere new and experience what we think is greener grass.
My suggestion: try to make the time to hang out in your public square (if you have one). If you work near your town square, go there and take your lunch break. Stroll through on the weekend. Pick a spot when waiting for a friend. Go for a drink. Linger. My favourite thing is to grab a booth at the Short Order restaurant and watch the world stream through the place with a cheeseburger and a nice glass of wine.
If you’re a people watcher, you’ll be delighted. If you’re just curious and you’ve got time to kill, you won’t be disappointed. If you’re looking for a new spot to chill, you might land somewhere.
And If you do it just to prove me wrong? That’s fine. Let me know. I still want to know what you saw.
