The World’s Longest City

“Crumbs”, grumbled every local government urban planner in the room. “Shoulda kept my site inspection photos. They’re clearly worth a fortune”.

Have housing outcomes genuinely improved since the Medium Density Codes- oops, I mean R-Codes Part C, mustn’t call them Medium Density – were introduced into our planning framework?

Not to be confused with the “RMD Codes” still in effect which would have facilitated many of the urban growth outcomes we see laid bare, on print, before our very eyes to our great shame.

Fortified streets of garage doors. Glorified sandpits next to brick 4x2s jammed up against one another. A petrol station next a slice of hot real estate. Black roofs baking over treeless asphalt.

Wonder if one of my old approvals is amongst them. Did I fight for a better outcome? If not, did I stand a chance of winning?

Is Perth a city designed for people or for cars?

Good question, Harry. Ask a planner.

***

“The World’s Longest City” by Harry Cunningham is showing at 410 Murray Street, Perth, from 25 March to 8 April 2025.

You might recognise Harry if you visited the pop up “shophouse” in Fremantle Malls during last year’s DesignFreo festival. Harry interviewed myself and a few friends while capturing that event. His documentary on the mammoth journey to travel along each corridor of Perth and photograph the pot of urban sprawl gold at the end screens on Thursday 17 April 2025 at the State Library WA.

By Gayle O’Leary. If you’d like to catch up on more by Gayle here on Fremantle Shipping News, look right here!

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