The Paint Factory Placebook - Report - Page 40
THE PAINT FACTORY, 115 HYDE ROAD, YERONGA
3.3
The benefits of residential
with creative uses
In places such as the UK the concept of ‘social prescribing’ is
gaining traction. This sees GPs, nurses and other therapeutic
care professionals referring people to a range of local,
non-clinical services, everything from volunteering, arts
activities, group learning, gardening, cookery and healthy
eating advice to various sports.
Volunteering, organising an arts group, serving on a board,
and other forms of stewardship are important ways to build
community organisational capacity, identify and develop
leaders, and engender a variety of skills needed for community
action. These activities can also facilitate the cooperation
between arts and non-arts groups that is essential for
community building.
In London, Lucy Greenwood is Director of Residential Research
and Consultancy at Savills, the world’s leading property agents.
She notes that:
More and more development clients
are interested in what makes a place
“the best it can be”.
Greenwood says, “The social value side of things, the need to
feel you are part of the community, is only going to get more
important … As a developer it’s great when you can integrate
these things for resident health and wellbeing.”
Taking the next step of embedding these resources – exposing
local communities to arts and related goods, services and
practitioners in an “everyday” way – into a residential
neighbourhood such as The Paint Factory can only accentuate
and extend the benefits. The innovative element of this
development model could, for Brisbane, represent yet another
marker for the profile and performance of a global city.
“You can’t be
what you can’t see.”
MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN, AMERICAN ACTIVIST
FOR CIVIL RIGHTS AND CHILDREN’S RIGHTS
PAGE 40