A 13-week community-driven activation in Murnong Street, Point Cook, attracted some 90,000 visits and brought locals together through 273 events in January to April, 2019.
Built on the success of a similar seven-week project in 2018, the 2019 Pop Up was awarded $200,000 from Pick My Project, a $30m Victorian Government community grants program decided by popular vote.
Murnong Street was closed to cars and softened with astroturf, furnished with moveable seating, hand-painted cubbies, games, shady umbrellas, a container for events and screen for outdoor films.
CoLocal Founder and project co-lead Sara Mitchell says 190 of the events were hosted by community groups and local businesses, with Wyndham City Council also supporting activities.
“While we had some of our own programming, the bulk of events were run by the community. The Pop Up really lent itself to showcasing the work of these local groups and businesses,” she says.
“We were especially proud to be associated with the ever-popular Lunar festival run by the Point Cook Cultural Community, and were pleased at how well the park complemented the activities and gave patrons a comfortable place to relax, hang out and enjoy the festivities.”
Movie night at the Point Cook Pop Up Park.
Bringing neighbours together was a priority, Mitchell says, with 66% of visitors surveyed reporting that they’d met new people through the Pop Up.
“We live in a fast-growing and incredibly diverse community – we are home to people from 160 ethnic backgrounds, so it’s important to make new connections,” she says.
In addition to social impacts, the activations also had quantified economic effects.
The seven-week 2018 activation significantly impacted the surrounding Stockland Point Cook Shopping Centre, says Mitchell, with a 7.4% increase in revenue and 8.8% higher footfall traffic reported.
Uplifts from 30% to an incredible 100% were reported by the surrounding restaurant businesses.
She expects the 2019 effort to surpass these figures.
With Murnong Street returned to normal for now, CoLocal intends to continue to run grassroots community-lead activations in local areas and beyond.
“We want to show what can happen if you nurture community engagement with a collaborative approach, particularly in the outer regions and new developments,” says Mitchell.
“A community-led placemaking mix with support of Council, shopping centres, property developers, community groups and local businesses works extremely well to create stickiness, so people are attracted to visit, dwell and build new connections.”
Yoga at the Pop Up Park.
Movable Cafe Stools in Lobster Red, Sensation Orange, Brilliant Yellow, Bondi Blue and Telemagenta Pink added colour and amenity to the park, used in play, as seating and tables.
Two Cafe Round Tables in Lobster Red also freestanding, provided places to eat, work and rest.
“We wanted the furniture to be very movable. Over the 13 weeks we did not lose a stick. Nothing was damaged,” says Mitchell.
An Aria Bench with PowerMe Table allowed visitors to charge their phones and devices, in response to feedback from the 2018 iteration.
“I certainly used the Aria. On some nice days I used it as a desk, working on my laptop. I noticed people having meetings and charging up devices. I saw a lot of people testing the wireless charging,” says Mitchell.
“I think it’s an incredibly cool piece of furniture that people enjoyed. It stood up well considering the amount of kids we had in the park, they climbed all over everything – it is robust.
“To me, that is the kind of furniture you need in public spaces: we all need a place to sit, to recharge ourselves, our phones and devices.”
Aria with PowerMe, in position for parents to recharge and supervise.
Some survey responses:
- “It’s nice to see community spending time together and kids having fun, keep doing the stuff, thumbs up for it.”
- “Amazing that the community feels more connected since the pop up park has been running.”
- “Love that it brings the community together outdoors and would love to see it here permanently.”
- “Wish it would stay. Sad it’s going.”
- “Enjoy meeting up with friends in the park.”
- “The space is a happy one, with smiling faces.”
- “Great atmosphere. Would love to have the pop up park permanently established. Everyone loves it!”
- “The kids enjoy the park and I enjoy my coffee.”
A timelapse of the Pop-Up Park by CoLocal and Relativity 3D Photography.
