A Tale of Two Steel Cities

By architect Ben Wollen

During the summer holidays, we visited some family and friends in Newcastle. I spent my teenage years and some of my 20s in Newcastle, so I have a bit of a soft spot for the place. And that soft spot has now increased, because I’ve noticed a breath of fresh air has been blown into Newcastle’s sails!

Back when I was a teenager, Newcastle was not a pretty place. The steelworks were still operating and emitted an odour I have only ever smelled in one other place – Rotorua. Yep, on the days that the wind was blowing over the steelworks, across the harbour and onto the fair town of Newcastle, it smelt like Mordor was across the water.

The main drag of Hunter Street was derelict, most shops were boarded up and you never wanted to be alone there after 9pm for fear of getting glassed. The outdoor shopping strip suffered the same fate, with all brand label shops moving out to the big indoor shopping malls in suburbia; dollar stores, cheap clothing outlets and dingy convenience stores were all that remained. The downtown David Jones struggled along for years, but eventually joined the suburban mega-malls.

Well, Newcastle has undergone a major uplift! The heavy rail line, splitting the harbour and the CBD, has been removed and Hunter Street has a light rail running along it. Businesses are vying for a spot along its stretch. There are trendy bars (bar-hopping into the wee hours is safe); fancy fashion retailers have returned, alongside cafes with outdoor dining areas. The old DJs is an uber trendy hotel and now the only lingering aroma is that of freshly ground coffee, with a hint of sea air.

I think there are some interesting lessons to be learnt from Wollongong and Newcastle – two steel cities. Both have industrial roots, working harbours, and beautiful surrounding scenery, as well as an engaged and loyal creative community. Unfortunately, I think Wollongong’s CBD leaves a lot to be desired and some of its surrounding urban environments are just plain nasty.

I love the Gong, but I want to see it reach its full potential. Here are some lessons to be learnt from its big sister, Newcastle.

1. Heritage – Somehow Newcastle preserved a lot more of its older buildings and they hold pivotal positions in its landscape. This is most clearly exemplified by the cathedral on top of the hill overlooking Newcastle, but there are other less prominent ones like the old DJs, the art gallery and library and Fort Scratchley. These provide important markers on the urban environment and are nods to its past.

2. New architecture – Newcastle has a number of award-winning apartment blocks in and around the CBD. Increasingly, it’s also receiving some excellent new civic architecture with the law courts, University buildings and the new art gallery extension. Newcastle has its own architecture awards, as well as a small but illustrious architecture faculty at the University. Wollongong has neither an architectural faculty or its own architecture awards.

3. Community involvement – Back in Newie’s bad old days there was a grassroots movement called Renew Newcastle led by a local Uni student, Marcus Westbury. Marcus set up an arts festival and organised a way that creative people could occupy all of the CBD’s empty shops on subsidised rents. The downtown was enlivened with new energy and cultural capital. Commercial entities have since replaced the creatives, but for a long time it was the creatives who brought social value back into the city. Marcus has been nabbed by Collingwood in Melbourne, but I reckon we could entice him back to some better weather!

There’s no lack of vision for Wollongong. Back in 2016, the well-respected urban architect Jan Gehl was engaged to provide a vision strategy for Wollongong. It’s been seven years since that document came out and I haven’t seen a lot of difference to the downtown area. Maybe we need to give it more time, or maybe we need to vote ourselves into a swing seat position so we can receive precious state government funding!