On the basis of his winning entry in the 1995 “Visions for Green Square” national ideas competition Chris Elliott has been invited to teach in the Master of Urban Development and Design (MUDD) Course at UNSW. The class is examining the area immediately to the west of the Green Square station which is at the centre of the original ideas competition precinct.

The original competition area was a very large site (240Ha), that extended across the suburbs of Zetland, Alexandria, Waterloo, Beaconsfield and Rosebery. It is an ex-industrial area which is subject to regular flooding. The winning project consisted of a radical plan to connect all the redeveloped areas with a series of green spaces, canals and water elements based around an extension of the potentially marvellous Alexandra canal. The high-density project incorporated various industrial relics and a apartment buildngs lining a network of canals. The most significant gesture was a major extension of the Alexandra canal into a large water basin, which would enable a combination of transport types, including water based transport around and under a major transport interchange.

The area has the been the subject of numerous subsequent competitions for smaller areas within the original site area, including for the recently completed library. However, most of the area is still awaiting renewal so the MUDD program instigated by Professor James Weirick is a timely examination of the results so far and an exploration of the future possibilities.