Reconnecting and regenerating, with Claudia Bergs
Claudia is a landscape architect and Senior Urban Designer at Moreton Bay Regional Council, where she leads the urban design team to connect people to land throughout the region. Her experience in the public and private sector spans all scales of projects including city-centre master plans, urban activations, streetscapes, and waterway naturalisations. Claudia loves collaborative practices and the holistic project outcomes made possible when all disciplines have a seat at the table.
What do you love about cities?
I love cities because they're a nexus of human energy. There’s this real duality with a great city, where they can be both hyper-stimulating to your spirit and very regenerative. But if you let it, they can suck the life out of you, because you're giving so much of yourself. I love the power of cities – they’re inherently so vulnerable, and yet they seem so powerful and indestructible. I also get a thrill from the social energy of a city. I see cities as people places – we are drawn to them, and people are drawn to one another.
What changes have you seen in cities over the past 20 years that matter the most to you?
People now have real connections to places within their cities. Every level of government Is now recognising people's ownership of place, and how important it is for people to be connected to their own city. They are empowering people to have a presence in the decision-making around how their public spaces work. We've seen in this pandemic world that your local park, your local street, your front stoop is critical to your quality of life. I think it has shown us that we need to take back our cities… and that's exciting.
Tell us about a project/s you’ve worked on that has been most important to you?
A really significant project for me was the Small Creek Naturalization, in Ipswich, in Brisbane. It is a fantastic 10-kilometer regeneration of a concrete drain that was transformed into a walkable, ecological, vital corridor. It’s been a career changer for me, because it was a very collaborative experience working with stakeholders from local government, private practice, and the local community. Together, we created a great project that none of us were expecting. And hopefully, it will outlive us all!
How did this project shape your professional practice?
It was a transformative project for me, because I don't see any other way to practice now. It's very important to take the community on the journey. So, I try to bring that collaborative approach and that understanding that you have to begin a project with humility and a blank slate. In a way, you have to wipe your practitioner's brain of everything you've conceived, as much as possible, in order to go to the community with fresh eyes and say, "I'm here to help realize what you need”.
“You have to begin a project with humility and a blank slate…to go to the community with fresh eyes and say, “I’m here to help realize what you need”.”
What are the outcomes you strive for in every project?
On every scale of project, I strive to ensure there's a legacy and longevity of the landscape. The ecological world is all we've got. Hard infrastructure can only get us so far. We need air and water and all those good things to survive. So, bringing ecological practices into every project is something I try to do, whether it's a patch of permeable paving or a better shade tree or something just more human and habitable. Even if it's on a very small scale, it’s really critical.
To be a great ancestor for future generations, what does our sector need to focus on today?
Fundamentally, I think our sector needs to focus on planting more trees and laying less asphalt. We need to build fewer fences and build more gates and get people reconnected to the natural systems that we're drawn to. I think regenerative practices rather than extractive ones are what we need to focus on. And that's materiality choice. It's how contractors construct. It’s solar and water harvesting. It's urban agriculture – edible food corridors and sensory gardens in our streetscapes and public spaces. It's how we design for longevity, not just the cheapest possible outcome.
What's one piece of advice you would give to emerging urban leaders?
I think emerging practitioners need to get out from behind the screen and get into the real world. If we're designing environments for people, we need to experience them ourselves. COVID has made this more challenging, but there’s also a positive, which is the rediscovery of localism and regionalism. Your front yard and your local street and your local shops are just as vibrant and just as critical to your understanding of the world, as going to Paris or London. We also have to remember that humans aren't machines. People make cities, not infrastructure. So, always know the community you’re designing for.
