Urban Planning: Travel Diary and Analysis of Wollongong Mall

This report presents a student's travel diary and analysis of a field trip to the Crown Street Mall in Wollongong, Australia. The assignment required the student to observe and document various aspects of the mall, including its city type, infrastructure, mobility patterns, energy systems, activities, aspirations, and values. The first part of the report comprises diary entries, providing a personal account of the student's experience and observations within the mall. The second part offers a formal academic discussion, linking the observations from the diary entries to core concepts and theories relevant to urban planning and high-tech city environments. The report fulfills the assessment's requirements by covering the specified trends and presenting the information in both informal and formal writing styles, providing a comprehensive overview of the Crown Street Mall as a case study in urban development.

Travel Diaries
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Instructor
Institution
Location
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Diary Entries
Date 20th May 2019
The trip to Wollongong City
Dear Diary,
The visit to the Crown Street Mall made my trip to Wollongong to be one of the most memorable
ones. My first caption on entering the mall was the buzzing activities that were going on. I
noticed how this one-stop shopping centre houses all manners of businesses that offer a wide
selection of services ranging from fashion, entertainment, dining, banks, health, family and
accessories. Firstly, I visited the North Side Aurora hair Salon and the Florentine Collection
which to me were the most outstanding shops at the centre of the Mall. Also, as a great movies
fan, it was a must to visit the Greater Union Cinemas to get a glance of the wide range of
entertainment that was available at the mall. I also enjoyed the free Wi-Fi service which I used
posting captions of this new experience. The Live Sites available similarly had a lot of activities
to offer like the art galleries, performance spaces, music program events, cinemas and parks. I
saved the best for last as I couldn’t leave the mall without experiencing a taste of the
Wollongong food culture, so I branched at the Coco Cubano café where I had one of the best
dishes. The grilled healthy burgers and criniti’s that comes with a free drink were very tasty. My
trip to the mall was a plus as I experienced the different cultures and innovations that are out of
this world. I look forward to having a similar experience again in the near future.

Discussions
City type
The Crown Street Mall is Situated is one of Australia’s smart cities that embraces the aiding of
research, digital transformations as well as the idea about global thinking. The mall is also
located in Crown Street which is the main street of the city.
Infrastructure
The two main buildings that house the mall are the North Building and the South Building. The
Crown Street Mall has been designed and repaired using the designs concepts that include an
installation that has been put on the side of the building, a landscaped play area for kids,
moveable escarpment-inspired rock features, and tiles that give the illusion that the steps of the
amphitheatre area ramp.
Mobility patterns
The pedestrian only-zone of the Crown Street Mall stretches from the corner of Crown and Keira
Streets in the west to the corner of Crown and Kemba Streets in the east. The Mall had archways
that were demolished in order to make room for a pedestrian bridge.
Energy systems
The Crown Street Mall is committed to making better and important alterations in the manner the
mall operates and develops. This is done by emphasizing the on ideas that allow proper
management of waste, water and energy. For example, the application of the skylight reduces the
need for artificial sources of light.

Activities
The Crown Street Mall is strategically located and has the amount of space to organize events,
festivals, fundraisers and promotions. The diversity the mall enjoys enables people to undertake
many activities whether it is day or night.
Aspiration & values
The mall has the main focus of driving and implementing the available innovative as well as
environmental measures and systems that will reduce the impact the mall has on the surrounding
environment.
Bibliography
Boorman, C. (2009). By Any Means: The Brand New Adventure fro Wicklow to Wollongong.
London: Little Brown.
Dinnie, K. (2010). City Branding: Theory and Cases. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Mould, O. (2015). Urban Subversion and the Creative City. London: Routledge.
Patrick, R. (2011). Twentieth Century Architecture in Wollongong. Wollongong: Wollongong
City Council.