Traffic island picnic

Melbourne is a vibrant and young city, growing at a rate between 70,000-280,000 people a year. Like many other former British colonies, the urban fabric of Melbourne developed heavily around cars – a feature that communities are trying to challenge through tactical urbanism or spontaneous reclamation of space. Like in the case of these neighbours in Carlton. Every spring and summer weekend, you can spot groups of friends bringing their picnic chairs to the median grass strip between the car lanes in front of their houses to sip some wine, have a chat, or read a book. These “Guerrilla picnics” may reflect the laid back attitude of Australia or, perhaps, embodies that converting our neighbourhood roads to slow-traffic benefits the sense of community. One way or another, it is cheerful how Aussies live the green patch across the road like a natural extension of their garden - or perhaps living room.