Walls that sing in the rain, pop-up parks or a city-wide working bee could be on the cards in Wollongong's near future, as a new city revitalisation project gets under way.
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The Illawarra branch of the Property Council of Australia hired Melbourne-based consultancy Hello City for a project called Shaping Wollongong, and invited residents to an "ideas-a-thon" in Globe Lane next month.
Working with Wollongong City Council, the University of Wollongong and GPT Group, the Property Council is urging students, businesses, developers and residents of all ages to form teams and attend the afternoon event.
The aim is to come up with quirky, practical, artistic or business-related ideas to revitalise Wollongong.
The best five ideas will progress to an "ideas lab", where residents will be able to workshop their proposal with council staff and business owners.
Hello City consultant Kate McMahon said ideas could include temporary shops or bars, outdoor art exhibitions or upgrading the facades of buildings to create something like the "singing wall" in Dresden, Germany, which makes noise through a series of pipes when it rains.
Ms McMahon said the project intended to build on what was happening in the city's laneways and artistic communities.
"There are so many emerging things happening in Wollongong at the moment," she said.
"[Council staff said] that at least 10 new emerging businesses have opened in the past three months, so this project is about supporting that."
Registration for the ideas-a-thon will open tomorrow.
The event itself will be held on May 10.
For more information visit Hello City: Ideas for Greater Goodness.
