CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2025
PLACE LEADERS AWARDS RECIPIENTS!
The 2025 Place Leaders Asia Pacific Awards recognised the leaders, visionaries, and innovators shaping the future of our public spaces. Hosted in Port Macquarie, and co-hosted with Port Macquarie Hastings Council, the Awards showcased projects from across Australasia and the Asia Pacific that demonstrated innovation, collaboration, and measurable place impact. From Indigenous leadership to design excellence, these Awards celebrated the very best in placemaking and inspired others to rethink how we create vibrant, inclusive, and resilient communities.
ABOUT THE AWARDS
The Place Leaders Asia Pacific Awards recognise the groundbreaking work that is shaping the future of
placemaking across the Asia-Pacific.
From visionary leadership to creative use of technology, to community-driven design, these Awards honour those who are creating lasting social, economic, and environmental impact in our shared spaces. Whether you’ve revitalised a neglected space, integrated sustainability into urban design, or leveraged technology for better
placemaking, these awards are a chance to highlight your placemaking impact and contribute to the ongoing conversation on how we can build better places for people.
Entering the awards offers more than just recognition, it provides a platform to share your work with an Asia-Pacific audience and connect with other leaders in the field. By recognising these efforts, the Place Leaders Awards aim to inspire others to rethink how we create vibrant, inclusive, and resilient communities.
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2025 AWARDS JURY
Our 2025 Awards Jury brought together Place Leaders who embody the vision, resilience, and creativity that defines place leadership.
Community Engagement Startegist
A proud Larrakia woman and fierce advocate for First Nations communities, Nicole is a powerhouse for First Nations advocacy. Her initiatives create safe spaces that honour Indigenous identity, and empower young leaders and marginalised communities. Recognised as the 2022 City of Darwin Citizen of the Year, Nicole’s work echoes the inclusive and community-driven spirit at the heart of our Awards.
Senior Associate - Place and Engagement, Hatch
As a Human Geographer, Louise reimagines spaces into resilient community hubs. From co-design workshops to place-based economic strategies, Louise’s approach aligns with aligns with the Awards' mission to empower communities and build lasting connections to place with measurable impact. Louise has worked one of the world's largest solar farm and battery storage facilities in the Northern Territory.
Executive Director, Activate Darwin
Jo’s bold leadership has transformed Darwin’s public spaces into dynamic hubs of culture. A driver of urban transformation in a city on the front line of climate adaptation, Jo champions partnerships that bring ambitious ideas like the multi-award-winning Darwin International Laksa Festival and Darwin Street Art Festival to life. Jo’s work exemplifies our Awards’ values of community collaboration, cultural vibrancy, and economic vitality.
Industry Professor - Environment and Sustainability at Macquarie University Law School
The former NSW Minister for Planning and Public Spaces and Minister for Cities, Rob’s commitment to placemaking values influenced both policy and public perceptions around the value of quality public spaces in NSW, championing green, inclusive, and people-centric urban environments.
2025 AWARDS RECIPIENTS
WINNER - JAN GEHL CENTREPIECE AWARD
The GreenWay (Transport for NSW, NSW Department of Planning, Inner West Council)
The prestigious Place Leaders Asia Pacific Centrepiece Award is now named the Jan Gehl Centrepiece
Award - with Jan Gehl’s enthusiastic support. This Award celebrates Jan’s transformative impact on placemaking and firmly establishes the Place Leaders Asia-Pacific Awards as one of the region’s premier accolades for excellence in creating vibrant, people-focused spaces. Jan is a global icon of people-centred
urban design and Jan delivered an exclusive acknowledgment via video link for the Jan Gehl Centrepiece Award 2025 winner, bringing his inspiring vision directly to the Awards and Presentation Dinner in Port Macquarie on 26 March 2026.
The Jan Gehl Centrepiece Award goes to Transport for NSW, the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure, and Inner West Council for The GreenWay, a transformative six-kilometre environmental and active transport corridor connecting the Cooks River to Iron Cove. Conceived over two decades ago through passionate grassroots advocacy, this project perfectly embodies Jan’s philosophy of putting people first by reclaiming complex urban infrastructure for community life. By navigating challenging interfaces alongside the light rail corridor and major roads, the project partners successfully resolved critical "missing links" to deliver a continuous, safe route for walking and cycling. The design seamlessly integrates active travel with ecology, recreation, and culture, featuring new tunnels and underpasses, eight integrated public artworks, and the comprehensive upgrade of community nodes like Johnson Park.
The enduring success of the corridor is born from its participatory governance model. Sustained by a steering committee of residents, councils, and advocacy groups, hundreds of volunteers dedicate thousands of hours annually to manage 16 bushcare sites and facilitate community arts programs. Early post-opening data already demonstrates a clear increase in active transport among the 48,000 residents living in the catchment. The GreenWay stands as a benchmark for human-scale urban design, demonstrating how sustained community grit and cross-government partnership can deliver a lasting, multi-functional asset for community wellbeing.
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1. WINNER - PLACE LEADERSHIP
Safer Cities Program (Transport for NSW)
This Award recognises individuals or organisations demonstrating bold leadership that inspires and delivers long-term place outcomes through strategy, innovation, and whole-of-place thinking.
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The Place Leadership Award goes to Transport for NSW for the Safer Cities Program, the first statewide initiative of its kind globally to specifically address perceptions of safety, gender, and mobility in public spaces. Working in partnership with 10 councils and 12 state agencies, the program championed a co-design approach to ensure women, girls, and gender-diverse individuals actively shaped the places they use. Through night-time walkshops and targeted community surveys engaging nearly 24,000 people, the team delivered 460 trial interventions, including 136 lighting projects, public art, and accessibility upgrades, with 100 becoming permanent fixtures. The results were transformative, driving a massive improvement in how people experience these environments. The proportion of people feeling safe at project locations increased from 21% to 80% during the day and from 4% to 41% at night, while feelings of community connection among women soared from 27% to 70%. The Safer Cities Program demonstrates that when you empower vulnerable users to lead urban design, you create vibrant, inclusive places that improve autonomy and set a new standard for gender-responsive placemaking.
NSW Guide to gender-inclusive placemaking​​​
Safer Cities program - Case studies -Transport for NSW
Safer Cities program Impact Report - Transport for NSW
Shaping places together - Transport for NSW
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HIGHLY COMMENDED - PLACE LEADERSHIP
Christopher Manoski (Cumberland City Council)
Christopher Manoski of Cumberland City Council is awarded Highly Commended for his exceptional leadership in advancing placemaking, smart places, and economic development across Western Sydney. Driven by a people-first philosophy, Christopher has delivered high-impact initiatives like the Cool Carparks prototype and the revitalisation of Guildford Laneway, which saw a 600% increase in footfall and a massive boost in night-time safety perceptions. By breaking down internal silos and partnering with universities, community groups, and state agencies, he consistently turns complex place challenges into scalable, community-backed outcomes. Christopher exemplifies dynamic and inclusive place leadership.
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HIGHLY COMMENDED - PLACE LEADERSHIP
Balam Balam Place (Merri-bek City Council)
Merri-bek City Council receives a Highly Commended recognition for Balam Balam Place, a visionary creative and community hub in the heart of Brunswick. Starting as a temporary trial to meet the need for affordable spaces, Council’s $30 million investment has transformed the site into a permanent oasis that retains the raw energy locals loved. By embedding expert community operators, incorporating Indigenous heritage through art and naming, and mixing commercial, creative, and health tenancies, the site has already welcomed over 67,000 visitors. This project demonstrates how long-term place leadership can turn a trial activation into a thriving, sustainable community institution.
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HIGHLY COMMENDED - PLACE LEADERSHIP
Shaping Perth City Centre: Towards 2036 and Beyond (City of Perth Council)
The City of Perth Council receives a Highly Commended recognition for Shaping Perth City Centre: Towards 2036 and Beyond, a people-first, evidence-led framework guiding the long-term transformation of the city on Whadjuk Noongar Country. In partnership with Gehl Architects, the City built upon an extraordinary three decades of Public Space Public Life research to shift away from reactive, project-byproject interventions. By conducting 59 observational studies capturing over 155,000 people, they developed a comprehensive Public Life Report Card. This framework embeds climate adaptation, blue-green infrastructure, and authentic Indigenous narratives directly into place planning, alongside clear governance models and funding pathways for implementation. By grounding its strategy in a longitudinal dataset, the project successfully united state agencies, landowners, and the community around shared, objective priorities. This framework is a great example of civic stewardship, showing how sustained, data-driven place leadership can align diverse stakeholders and secure a resilient, inclusive future for a capital city.
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2. WINNER - PLACE GOVERNANCE
Place Activation Governance Framework (City of Joondalup)
This Award recognises effective, transparent, and collaborative management of place, underpinned by clear processes and measurable outcomes.
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The Place Governance Award goes to the City of Joondalup for its Place Activation Governance Framework, an organisational shift that successfully embedded placemaking into everyday local government decision-making. Starting with just a twoperson team, the City established a resilient tiered structure connecting cross-functional working groups directly to an Executive Steering Committee. This
collaborative framework busted silos, enabling the delivery of complex, high-impact projects like Bloom Joondalup and the weekly Night Markets, which drew 70,000 visitors and generated over $4 million for the local economy. Joondalup’s framework is a masterclass in breaking down internal bureaucracy to create shared accountability, showing that great governance is the foundation of great places.
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HIGHLY COMMENDED - PLACE GOVERNANCE
Shared Stewardship in Action: City of Vincent’s Co-Funded Framework for Town Centre Transformation (City of Vincent Council)
The City of Vincent Council receives a Highly Commended recognition for Shared Stewardship in Action, an innovative governance model that empowers local businesses to co-invest in town centre improvements. By integrating the Vibrant Public Spaces Policy with targeted enhancement grants, Council shifted from a government-led delivery approach to genuine shared stewardship. In just three years, $270,000 of public funding successfully leveraged over $750,000 in private investment, resulting in 28 new public spaces, 50 shopfront upgrades, and 15 murals. This transparent and supportive policy framework shows how local government can sustain vibrant, economically resilient high streets through continuous, design-led collaboration.​​
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HIGHLY COMMENDED - PLACE GOVERNANCE
Katoomba Civic Centre Revitalisation (Blue Mountains City Council)
Blue Mountains City Council is awarded Highly Commended for the Katoomba Civic Centre Revitalisation, an exercise in resilience and adaptive governance. Faced with funding shortfalls, pandemic delays, and significant cost escalations, Council pivoted its approach to deliver flexible, high-impact interventions to a challenging 1960s brutalist site. Through a strong partnership with the local chamber of commerce and the community, they introduced pop-up visitor information centres, gig spaces, and innovative urban canopies, driving increased footfall and dwell time in the precinct. This
project highlights how agile, persistent place governance can breathe new life into a town centre despite complex delivery hurdles.​​
3. WINNER - PLACE ENGAGEMENT
Arts, Play and Discovery (City People)
This Award recognises exceptional engagement that empowers communities to influence and co-create place outcomes through inclusive and creative processes.
The Place Engagement Award goes to City People for their Arts, Play and Discovery program, a sensitive initiative giving children and young people the agency to shape the design of two major Sydney children’s hospitals. Through extensive co-design committees, interactive art workshops, and a "Kids Reporters" program, they brought the unfiltered voices of young patients, families, and paediatric staô€†¯ directly to architects and builders. This process led to 19 co-created artworks, including imaginative lift designs and interactive digital experiences in clinical spaces to reduce treatment anxiety. This program is a powerful example of sensitive, trauma-informed engagement, proving that when you empower the most vulnerable users to co-create their environments, you can create spaces of genuine healing and joy.
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​Arts, Play and Discovery: The Children's Hospital at Westmead
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HIGHLY COMMENDED - PLACE ENGAGEMENT
The GreenWay (Transport for NSW, NSW Department of Planning, Inner West Council)
Transport for NSW, the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure, and Inner West Council are awarded Highly Commended for The GreenWay, a 6- kilometre environmental and active transport corridor sustained by years of community advocacy. Initiated by residents in the late 1990s, this multi-functional green spine now links the Cooks River to Iron Cove, incorporating new shared paths,
playgrounds, and public art. What sets this apart is its participatory governance, with hundreds of local volunteers driving bushcare, arts, and cycling initiatives year after year. The GreenWay shows how sustained collaboration and engagement between state government, local councils, and passionate residents can deliver city-shaping infrastructure.
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HIGHLY COMMENDED - PLACE ENGAGEMENT
Mrs Yorks Garden (Port Macquarie Hastings Council)
Port Macquarie Hastings Council receives a Highly Commended recognition
for Mrs Yorks Garden, an extraordinary decade-long, community-led restoration of a
beloved coastal headland. Initiated by residents and sustained by the Friends of Mrs
Yorks Garden, volunteers have contributed over 30,000 hours to plant 13,500 native
plants and build accessible walkways, boat-themed shelters, and mosaic story poles.
Council’s supportive engagement enabled locals to take full ownership of the space,
learning horticulture, governance, and construction along the way. This garden is a
literally a living testament to the power of grassroots stewardship and shows what can
happen when a community is trusted to lead.
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4. WINNER - INDIGENOUS PLACEMAKING
Muderra Way, Noble Park (City of Greater Dandenong Council)
This Award recognises projects that embed Indigenous culture, knowledge and leadership into place outcomes, with a strong connection to Country and community.
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The Indigenous Placemaking Award goes to the City of Greater Dandenong Council for Muderra Way, an exceptional initiative that transformed a visually hostile rail underpass into a meaningful cultural gateway on Bunurong Country. Developed in absolute partnership with the Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation, traditional owners held determinative authority over every stage - from the naming process to the design of a 200-metre asphalt artwork and immersive pillar murals. By prioritising Indigenous governance and navigating bureaucratic challenges to protect the artists' vision, Council restored cultural presence while also improving pedestrian safety. Muderra Way shows how genuine First Nations leadership can reclaim infrastructure and build lasting organisational capacity.
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HIGHLY COMMENDED - INDIGENOUS PLACEMAKING
'Ngabu' by Aunty Lola Ryan - City People
City People and Aunty Lola Ryan receive a Highly Commended recognition for 'Ngabu', a monumental, temporary public art installation that reclaimed First Nations sovereignty over the colonial landscape of Sydney’s Walsh Bay Arts Precinct. Set against the backdrop of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the striking pink shellwork bridge paid tribute to the matrilineal shellwork practices of Dharawal women from La Perouse. Guided by Aunty Lola Ryan, the project expanded traditional miniature shellwork into a large-scale, climbable artwork. This physical installation was paired with an augmented reality treasure hunt, allowing participants to use smartphones to uncover virtual shells, animations, and oral histories about Dharawal Dreaming, including the story of Buriburi the humpback whale. The project successfully shifted audience perceptions, with 90% of surveyed visitors reporting a better understanding of the precinct's deep First Nations history, while reaching over 1.8 million views on social media.
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5. WINNER - DESIGN EXCELLENCE IN PLACEMAKING
Barangaroo Station Park (Arcadia Landscape Architecture)
This Award celebrates outstanding design outcomes that advance public spaces, blending form, function, and cultural context to create places people value and enjoy.
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The Design Excellence in Placemaking Award goes to Arcadia Landscape Architecture for Barangaroo Station Park, seamlessly integrating world-class transport infrastructure with the natural and cultural heritage of Sydney Harbour. Responding to a highly complex site serving 16,000 daily commuters, the team designed a transparent station plaza that frames its surroundings rather than dominating them. The design includes a stunning 50-metre interpretive seat made of white concrete and oyster shells, honouring Gadigal fisherwomen, alongside a detailed paving inlay of the historic 'Barangaroo Boat'. Arcadia has shown that design excellence in placemaking can turn an everyday transit hub into an engaging, educational, and beautiful place that deeply connects people to Country.
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HIGHLY COMMENDED - DESIGN EXCELLENCE IN PLACEMAKING
mPavillion10 (Naomi Milgrom Foundation)
MPavilion is awarded a Highly Commended for design excellence that goes far beyond architecture. The 10th MPavilion, designed by legendary architect Tadao Ando, is a stunning concrete and aluminium structure that blends Japanese design principles with Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Gardens. This is a space designed to be used, activated and shared. Across a 134-day season, it hosted over 230 free events with150,000 people attending talks, performances, and workshops - many led by First Nations voices and emerging creatives. Its thoughtful geometry, stillness, and seamless connection to the landscape demonstrates how place-based design can invite people to admire, engage and come together.
6. WINNER - PLACEMAKING FOR PROSPERITY
Auckland Waterfront (TCL)
This Award recognises initiatives that have stimulated economic activity, social vibrancy, and local pride through place-based investment and activation.
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The winner of the Placemaking for Prosperity Award is the Auckland Waterfront redevelopment, a project that reinvigorated a once-derelict industrial site into a prosperous, mixed-use destination. What makes this project a standout is how it delivered real economic impact. Since opening, the precinct has drawn tens of thousands of visitors, attracted major private sector investment, and kickstarted the broader 30-year Wynyard Quarter redevelopment which is expected to support 25,000 workers and 3,000 new residents. The place-based approach keeps the working harbour alive with fishing boats, seafood markets and maritime industries all woven into the public experience. Auckland Waterfront demonstrates that prosperity comes when place-based approach enables heritage, economy, and public life to thrive together.
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HIGHLY COMMENDED - PLACEMAKING FOR PROSPERITY
The Rocks Revitalisation Strategy (Placemaking NSW)
Placemaking NSW receives a Highly Commended for its revitalisation of The Rocks - a project that’s brought one of Sydney’s oldest precincts back to life. Through clever reuse of heritage buildings, expanded outdoor dining, and a transformed market experience, the strategy has driven an 11% increase in business turnover above pre-COVID levels, cut retail vacancy to just 1%, and now welcomes over a million visitors each month. The Rocks Markets were reimagined to prioritise local makers, attracting repeat visits from locals, not just tourists. This is placemaking that respects the past while driving a thriving, modern economy - combining
HIGHLY COMMENDED - PLACEMAKING FOR PROSPERITY
Back to Guildford (Cumberland City Council)
​Cumberland City Council is awarded Highly Commended for Back to Guildford - a grassroots placemaking project that brought a forgotten laneway and a beloved street festival back to life after 20 years. Informed by ‘walk-shops’ with local women and girls, the upgraded laneway features new lighting, public art by Sophi Odling, smart poles, and free charging stations to improve safety and amenity. The relaunch festival drew 12,000 visitors in one day, with local spending up 64% and businesses reporting sell-out success. This project is a great example of how small, smart interventions - led by locals - can stimulate economic activity, bring a community back together, and deliver great results for prosperity and pride.
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7. WINNER - ENVIRONMENTAL PLACEMAKING
Strathnairn (Riverview Projects)
This Award recognises initiatives that integrate sustainability, climate resilience and ecological value into place planning, design and activation.
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The Environmental Placemaking Award goes to Strathnairn, the first suburb of Ginninderry and a standout example of sustainable placemaking in action. This is the ACT’s first all-electric suburb - achieved through extensive community engagement and innovative design - and home to a 200-hectare Conservation Corridor that’s actively co-managed by residents and a dedicated trust. Streets are up to 10 degrees cooler than neighbouring suburbs thanks to mature tree retention, light-coloured surfaces, and water-sensitive landscaping. Strathnairn is a place where nature, innovation and community are genuinely integrated - and where environmental values shape not just infrastructure, but how people live in a place every day.
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HIGHLY COMMENDED - ENVIRONMENTAL PLACEMAKING
Kedron Brook Riverine Recovery (Fourfold Studio)
Delivered by Fourfold Studio, Healthy Land & Water, and Bligh Tanner, Kedron Brook Riverine Recovery earns a Highly Commended for turning post-flood damage into a compelling opportunity for environmental renewal and community resilience. The project restored a flood-damaged urban creek using nature-based methods like log jams, native planting, and bank stabilisation and equipped residents with the tools and knowledge to regenerate their own backyards. Over 90% of participants reported improved environmental understanding, and many began their own revegetation projects after hands-on workshops. The result is a stronger, more resilient Kedron Brook - not just ecologically, but as a place where people feel empowered to care for land, water, and each other as long-term stewards of the place.
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8. WINNER - DIGITAL PLACEMAKING
Digital Placemaking (Placemaking NSW)
This Award recognises innovative use of digital tools and technologies to enhance place experience, access, storytelling, or real-time management.
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Placemaking NSW takes out the Digital Placemaking Award for its ground-breaking strategy to enrich how people connect with some of Sydney’s most iconic places. At White Bay, the new website drew over 116,000 sessions, a Google 360 tour opened the site up to virtual visitors, and an audio tour combining First Nations stories and soundscapes kept people engaged on-site for 15 minutes at a time. A campaign for the Power Up Festival translated online traffic into 17,000 real-world visitors. This is digital placemaking at its best - mixing digital storytelling, tech and real-time data to enhance access, drive visitation, and strengthen the cultural identity of a place. ​
HIGHLY COMMENDED - DIGITAL PLACEMAKING
Benchmark NSW (Transport for NSW)
Transport for NSW receives Highly Commended for Benchmark NSW - a smart, and data-rich digital placemaking initiative that combined modular seating and AI-powered sensors to understand how people, particularly women and gender-diverse groups, use and feel in a public space. The co-designed benches were made from recycled plastic and installed with motion-activated lighting. AI vision sensors anonymously captured how people sat, moved, and socialised, revealing a 8x increase in dwell time and an eightfold rise in the number of women staying after dark. With its open-source guidebook and transparent data practices, Benchmark NSW sets a precedent for tech-enabled, inclusive public space design.
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9. WINNER - POP-UP PLACEMAKING
Kwun Tong Free Space (Urban Renewal Authority, Hong Kong)
This Award recognises temporary or fast-delivery initiatives that activate underused space, test ideas, or foster new connections to place.
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The Pop-Up Placemaking Award goes to the Kwun Tong ‘Free Space’ Project, an ambitious transformation of idle redevelopment land into a vibrant, people-first public precinct. Led by the Urban Renewal Authority, this project turned seven vacant plots into active spaces for sport, art, performance, and celebration - including basketball courts, digital light projections, and Hong Kong’s first community ‘Poon Choi’ banquet. Over 1.5 million visitors engaged with over 50events in just 286 days. By listening to the community and delivering fast, creative activation in one of the world’s most densely populated cities, Free Space shows the power of temporary placemaking to shape future cities.
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HIGHLY COMMENDED - POP-UP PLACEMAKING
Wentworth Point Pop-Up Town Square (Billbergia)
Billbergia is awarded Highly Commended for the Wentworth Point Pop-Up Town Square - a temporary activation that delivered lasting impact in a high-density urban renewal precinct. The square has grown into a vital social hub, hosting over 20 monthly markets, food truck events, sports clinics, cultural festivals, and the annual school Christmas concert, transforming an underused development site into 3,000 square metres of open space, with sports fields, a playground, and an indoor hub. This is pop-up placemaking done right - it is responsive, collaborative, and shaping the future permanent space for the community.
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PAST AWARD RECIPIENTS
