Australian-first study hopes to see Perth become leader in ‘smart parks’

It sounds like something from a Michael Jackson video clip — Perth parks with glow-in-the-dark paths and lights powered by footsteps, alongside technology to get people of all ages moving and barbecues that tell you when they need to be cleaned or fixed.

These may sound like far-fetched visions from the future but in reality are the cutting-edge of technologies already being used across the globe to make the humble park “smarter”.

Cities in Europe, China and the US are blending the divide between the technological and the natural to future-proof their urban centres and get more people outdoors.

And a Perth planner thinks our city has what it takes to lead the country in embracing the trend.

Smart cities, planning and urban design firm Hook Consulting director Ieuan Hook is working on an Australian-first study to better understand what people know about smart parks and how Perth councils can make them happen across our suburbs.

“The goal for smart parks and why we should invest in them is to increase park user satisfaction, but also allow people to spend longer in park spaces and get more out of the spaces — so they’re more enjoyable and also more comfortable,” Mr Hook said.

“It’s not only increasing the user experience but there’s a lot of great things local governments can find out about parks such as how they’re being used, where the most active and inactive areas are; you can even have different types of environmental monitoring in the space.

“My main hope is to give local governments and State governments a really good base of what smart cities are and what the opportunities are... because it is still a term that is evolving every day with technology.”

With help from the Australian Urban Design Research Centre, the project has analysed Perth’s more than 8400 parks to map which are best suited to make the change.

Fifteen local governments — including two in Victoria — have signed on to be involved in the next stage, picking 76 parks to be put under the microscope by their users to find out what smart technologies they want to see in them.

Early results from more than 400 respondents found about 92 per cent want to see at least one form of smart technology in their parks and only 7.8 per cent were against the idea altogether.

Nearly 90 per cent thought integrating smart technology would make parks more enjoyable and more than half said they would visit parks more often if they had technology in them.

Mr Hook — who has travelled across the globe to study smart cities — said Perth had the appetite and expertise to make it happen.

“Perth is literally bustling with talent and opportunity,” he said.

“The way things are heading — and hopefully I help to push the curve with this study — I think Perth could be a really leading smart city of Australia and potentially even world recognised for smart cities going forward.”

A peek into the future is already on show at Shenton Park’s Montario Quarter multi-generational playground and the City of Canning’s Wharf Street Basin.

Canning’s multi-award-winning project became WA’s first smart park in 2019 after it transformed a fenced-off stormwater basin into a thriving public open space.

Environmental sensors across the park measure water levels and quality in real time, reporting it back to the council and to the public via an augmented reality app — all powered by free Wi-Fi.

Irrigation, lighting and rubbish bins are also all operated by smart technology, with the data tracked and publicly available.

“The City of Canning is now viewed as one of the leaders in providing smart infrastructure with the delivery of the transformative Wharf Street Basin project,” mayor Patrick Hall said.

“Both State and Federal governments recognise there is an extreme need for housing diversity and affordability in proximity to the city centres.

“To achieve the required inner urban densities to support this, they require parks and greater amenity for the new populations they want to attract. Wharf Street Basin is a magnificent example of what can be done.”

Mr Hook’s survey has so far found people were most keen on interactive and sustainable technologies in their parks, such as smart water fountains, lighting, bins and barbecues, solar-powered benches with phone charging ports and playgrounds with built-in digital elements.

Mr Hook said nearly 70 per cent of respondents thought the playgrounds in their parks were uninspiring and wanted to see more innovation, with the features a good way for local governments to introduce smart technology.

A trial of Perth’s first smart playground was launched at Kinkuna Park in the far northern suburb of Eglinton in 2018.

It used a mobile app to encourage users to interact with the play equipment and prompt different physical activity.

“These playgrounds are really interactive and inclusive for people of all age, all abilities,” Mr Hook said.

“They can be connected to the internet and you can download interactive games that really bring life into the park.”

To take part in the survey, visit forms.gle/MEoqu6Z8eaQJfZZFA.