{"id":3907,"date":"2016-05-03T23:12:37","date_gmt":"2016-05-03T23:12:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blogs\/turning-a-city-into-a-campus-for-innovation\/"},"modified":"2018-01-31T16:03:08","modified_gmt":"2018-01-31T21:03:08","slug":"turning-a-city-into-a-campus-for-innovation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blog\/turning-a-city-into-a-campus-for-innovation\/","title":{"rendered":"Turning a city into a campus for innovation"},"content":{"rendered":"

What do Google, Apple and Facebook have in common, apart from being three of the world\u2019s biggest and most valuable companies?<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve all created campuses for their employees.<\/p>\n

The idea is quite simple: create an environment where employees are encouraged to flourish (and hang around beyond the typical \u2018nine to five\u2019), and keep them engaged, productive and collaborative for as long as possible.<\/p>\n

These campuses are more than just offices with showers and somewhere to park your bike; rather, they cater to employees\u2019 diverse needs throughout any work day, offering on-site health care, free food and drink, and even entertainment.<\/p>\n

Designed not only to attract and retain the world\u2019s best talent, campuses are increasingly hotbeds of innovation, as the communities that typically cluster around them intersect, cross-pollinate, and create.<\/p>\n

Such an approach has clearly worked for the big three tech behemoths, who are regularly cited as employers of choice, hotbeds of innovation and remain darlings of the investor community.<\/p>\n

So what can cities like Sydney and Melbourne, who are similarly competing for global talent and investment dollars, learn from these corporate campuses?<\/p>\n

How can we create similar environments where people want to live, work and play as we transition in Australia from a \u2018rocks and crops\u2019 economy to a high-value, people-orientated knowledge economy?<\/p>\n

In the context of the city being \u2018one big campus,\u2019 how do we enable and encourage innovation everywhere?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

A truly brilliant city needs to make it possible for the thinkers, makers, consumers and financiers to hang out, kick back and interact\u2014everywhere.<\/p>\n

This week, I\u2019m taking part in the United States \u2013 Australia City Exchange on Innovation Ecosystems<\/a><\/em>. The Future Cities Collaborative, an initiative of the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, is running the 10-day exchange, which will visit some of the most successful innovation hubs and precincts on both the east and west coasts of the US.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m looking forward to reflecting on some of the key ingredients that make US places successful, and how in the Australian context we might apply them and help speed up the establishment of more liveable and productive cities.<\/p>\n

Without getting too far ahead of myself, <\/strong>I\u2019m pretty confident the types of things we will see include:<\/p>\n