2022 Folio 4: Redeveloping the Built Environment
Topic Group 2: Contemporary Challenges - People and the Environment
What assessment are we working towards?After going global for Folio 3, we are now coming back home. You will be creating an academic poster about the dynamic nature of our school neighbourhood. Much has changed since the West Lakes Development was first created. We will examine four key sites as a class, and you will pick a fifth of interest to you.
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Pre-European colonisation
To understand our neighbourhood from a geographical perspective, you need to understand that the natural environment has had significant interference since European settlement. Known to Kaurna people as Wittonga, the Karra Wirra Parri (River Torrens) used to discharge into this area, forming what became known as the Reedbeds. This ephemeral wetland was rich in flora and fauna but this changed dramatically, especially once Breakout Creek was built in the 1930s to provide an earlier outlet to the sea. The saltwater lakes that form West Lakes are artificial. The beachfront has also been drastically developed, with the Tennyson Dunes one of the only remnant stretches of sand dunes that still exist along the Adelaide coastline.
Further reading: City of Charles Sturt, 'Wittonga: Reed Place', www.charlessturt.sa.gov.au/community/arts,-culture-and-history/kaurna-culture/witongga, accessed May 2022. |
The Delfin Development
In the 1970s, a major project was undertaken by the State Government in partnership with the developer Delfin, to create the suburb of West Lakes. This transformed the area into how it looks today, including the formation of the lakes which connect with the Port River and Delfin Island.
Most of the houses were built in the 1970s and 80s and are now subject to redevelopment. The Westfield Shopping Centre and nearby facilities like the Lakes Resort hotel, and the SANFL Headquarters at Football Park, formed the centrepiece of the development. Delfin went on to create other large-scale greenfield developments in Adelaide, including Golden Grove and Mawson Lakes. Further reading: Susan Marsden, A Year Round Holiday: The histories of West Lakes, Wakefield Press, Adelaide, 2015. ABC TV, Streets of Your Town, 2016, available on Clickview. |
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Decommissioning of Footy Park
Football Park, later known as AAMI Stadium under a sponsorship agreement, was the heart of the SANFL from 1974 and the Adelaide Crows, once they joined the AFL in 1991. It was also the home ground of Port Power from 1997. The last league game was played there in 2013, when matches shifted to the redeveloped Adelaide Oval.
The stadium could hold up to 50,000 people. Many football fans have fond memories of this significant place in South Australian culture. There were also many concerts held there due to its large capacity - even Kanye played there! Rather than provide you with a source about this, I encourage you to speak to your parents, grandparents, teachers and others who can share their memories with you. For example, did you know people used to park on the Seaton High School oval as a fundraiser? Deciding what to do with the considerable tract of land that was formerly the Football Park precinct presented state and local government with an opportunity to transform the area. This is the focus of your assignment. |