The City We Choose to Become

I chose to make Geelong home because I believed in its future.

Like everyone who chooses to live here, my family backed this city. Not simply by buying a home, but by investing in a place and a community we wanted to be part of. Every family, every business owner, every student, every volunteer and every employer makes that same investment. We all hope for a return - not simply in property values, but in pride, opportunity, belonging and memorable experiences. That kind of return is priceless.

Over more than thirty years working with cities around the world, I've come to believe that one of the greatest predictors of a city's future isn't simply its economy or infrastructure. It's whether its people can recognise the good things already there.

Recognising the good doesn't mean ignoring the challenges. Every city has them, and Geelong is no exception. I understand why some people feel frustrated. Many remember when going downtown was an occasion in itself -when the city centre was full of life and somewhere you proudly took family and friends. That sense of pride doesn't disappear overnight, and neither does the desire to see it return.

Cities become the stories they repeatedly tell themselves. If we only talk about decline, that's all we'll see. But if we recognise our strengths and build on them, confidence grows. Confidence attracts people. People attract investment. Investment creates opportunity.

Nostalgia alone won't build tomorrow's Geelong.

The challenge is no longer attracting growth. Growth is already happening. The challenge now is ensuring Geelong doesn't simply become bigger, but better. Growth should improve quality of life, not diminish it. It must be shaped, choreographed and sequenced.

The public realm - the space between buildings - is the theatre of public life. Its quality says a great deal about a city and what it values. When it is clean, safe, beautifully maintained and full of life, confidence grows. People return. Businesses invest. Visitors follow. None of this happens by accident. It requires constant care and deliberate leadership.

That is why the future of the city centre matters. It is far more than a Central Business District. It is the symbolic heart of the region - a place where communities celebrate, connect, commiserate and create memories. It belongs to everyone, regardless of which suburb they call home. Attract the locals, especially families, and you attract the visitors.

Great cities don't change through one project. They change through hundreds of aligned decisions moving in the same direction.

There are many precedents. During COVID, Melbourne's city centre shopfront vacancy rate climbed to around 32 per cent. Today it is around 5 per cent - the lowest in the country. Auckland's city centre grew from fewer than 2,000 residents in the early 1990s to almost 40,000 today. Neither transformation came from one masterstroke. Both were the result of years of deliberate decisions reinforcing a shared vision.

Geelong deserves that same clarity of purpose. A City Centre Plan that aligns housing, transport, public realm, culture, investment and economic development behind one compelling ambition. Not another document to sit on a shelf, but a delivery framework that builds confidence because people can see progress.

Every city has challenges.

Not every city has Geelong's opportunities.

The best chapter in Geelong's story has not yet been written.

The question is whether we choose to write it together.

Ludo Campbell-Reid

11/07/26