Millaa Millaa plans its future with JCU

The head of JCU’s Tropical Urbanism and Design Laboratory (TUDLab) Associate Professor Lisa Law said Millaa Millaa - 100 km south of Cairns on the Atherton Tablelands - had been doing it tough, with torrential rain and cyclones cutting off major highways, and hampering tourism to the region.

“Thanks to a grant from the Tablelands Regional Council, the Millaa Millaa Progress Association has contracted JCU to help produce a master plan for the town.

“We will be asking the community questions about what they want their town to be and then designing the master plan around what we are told,” said Dr Law.

She said unlike architecture, which focuses on the design of individual buildings, urban design looks at the larger scale of groups of buildings, streets, public spaces, neighbourhoods, districts and entire towns and cities.

“Urban design draws on different disciplines to make connections between people and place, and between nature and things built by humans, to craft a strategic vision for an area.

“The goal of urban design is to make urban areas functional, equitable, attractive and economically viable,” said Dr Law.

She said students enrolled in JCU’s Planning and Environmental Management degrees will contribute by providing site analysis, participating in community engagement activities, and proposing potential design ideas for the masterplan as part of their assessment.

“The final plan will include suggestions for placemaking, streetscape and landscape improvements, infrastructure needs, environmental and community sustainability, accessibility, as well as considering cultural heritage and the tourist experience,” said Dr Law.

She said JCU will hold community engagement sessions across the day on Monday 17 June 2024, at the RSL Hall in Oak Street, Millaa Millaa.