Creek naturalisation is a growing trend across Australia, seen in projects like Powells Creek in Sydney and the newly constructed Reimagining Moonee Ponds Creek project. These projects replace hard concrete channels with naturalised waterways with an aim to improve biodiversity and water quality, cool urban areas, and engage people with the natural world. Completed in 2025, the Reimagining Moonee Ponds Creek project revitalised a 700-metre stretch through Oak Park and Strathmore, adding 43,000 native plants, a new shared path and pedestrian bridge, and a Wurundjeri-led Wilami Wunmabil Trail. The creek is now a place to play, relax, and experience nature close up. This project, and projects like it, highlight a visible shift in how we value water, land and public space.
Reimagining Mooney Ponds Creek
This episode of The Landscape Architecture Podcast is a must-listen for designers rethinking how they show up online. Real estate agent Kaitlin Hannig, known for her brutally honest and funny ‘asshole home tours’ shares insights that hit home for landscape architects navigating digital presence. The key takeaway? “People distrust perfection.” Kaitlin’s success comes from leaning into flaws, humor, and relatability - something rare to see in design fields. As host Michael Todoran says, “If there was a firm that had the brevity to show the vulnerability of our profession... I think it would be amazing.” The episode encourages landscape architects to move beyond polished, overly professional content and instead create work that taps into shared experiences with your online audience, humor, and authenticity - because, as Kaitlin puts it, “People love to see beauty, but they don’t interact with it.”
In Reykjavik, designer and tech leader Haraldur Thorleifsson launched the Ramp Up Reykjavik initiative to make the city more accessible for wheelchair users. Over four years, the project installed 1,756 site-specific ramps, overcoming resistance from business owners worried about cost and aesthetics. The ramp designs are site specific and integrate with the materiality of the surrounding architecture. “The role of the designer is to make something simple and beautiful to use, for as many people as possible” says Thorleifsson. Ramp Up Reykjavik is a beautiful reminder that truly good design serves as many people as possible.
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