SXSW Sydney

We feel very strongly that these are important topics which impact the cities and communities that we live in at a macro and micro level. If either of them resonate with you please support their inclusion in SXSW Sydney 2023 by voting for them via the links below.

Thank you and we hope to see you at the event!

Want To Drive Real Change? Become A Mayor

Andrew Hoyne once had the most senior person at a council tell him that his standard answer was “no”, even before he knew the question. His reasoning? “It’s better to push back so we get more time. Plus, no one can blame me afterwards if something doesn’t work, I’m on the record as having said ‘no’.”

How many of us have the sad sense that many mayors prefer cutting ribbons and building a personal profile to reducing red tape or building transformative programs and infrastructure?

Luckily, change is coming. While researching his book on the value of placemaking, The Place Economy Volume 3, Andrew uncovered a new generation of mayors harnessing grassroots connections and knowledge to initiate change that will benefit entire communities. As Sadiq Khan, the first Muslim mayor of London, said in 2021, “Nation states are too slow. In the 21st century, cities and mayors are where the action is.”

In this session Andrew will join Jess Miller, Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney from 2017 to 2018, for a truly inspiring conversation about what it takes to build the perfect mayor, how they can and will transform our cities and why we should all aspire to be one.

Vote for this session here.

Grab Your Pitchforks, The Developers Are Here!

‘All you’re going to do is bring changes in that force poor people out!’ is the anti-developer response heard in cities all over the world today. ‘Gentrification’ is a dirty word, but with a housing crisis on our hands how do we create more homes without killing existing communities and shape better cities for the future?

We can’t just have a dichotomy between economic stasis, where you have a neighbourhood where poverty exists for generations and nothing materially improves, or the alternative, where existing residents and businesses get washed out of their homes through rapid, institutional development, and the entire area loses its character and people’s lives are adversely affected.

While researching his book on the value of placemaking, The Place Economy Volume 3, Andrew Hoyne uncovered individuals, organisations and case studies that show us how we can genuinely break the cycle of displacement that often follows real estate investments.

In this session Andrew and Jeremy McLeod, Director of sustainable architectural practice Breathe and co-Founder of not-for-profit organisation Nightingale Housing, will discuss new approaches that spark positive changes in our cities, allowing neighbourhoods to evolve while nurturing diverse communities, protecting the most vulnerable and providing people with much needed infrastructure.

Vote for this session here.