By Stephen Burton | Featuring Cam Perkins
High Street in Melbourne’s north (crossing the suburbs of Northcote, Thornbury, and Preston) was crowned the coolest street in the world by Time Out in 2024. Cam Perkins is an Australian placemaker and landscape architect leading economic development and activation in Melbourne’s north - he is one of the people in local government responsible for this street.
Cam began his career as a landscape architect, travelling the world designing private tourism destinations, hotels, and resorts. The goal was simple: create spaces so compelling that people wanted to stay and spend money.
But eventually, he began to question the broader value of his work.
“What if cities could do the same?” Cam asks. “Can you imagine how amazing our cities would be if we took the position of really thinking about all the people who come to our cities as customers?”.
He realised that local government design briefs were often rigid internal documents. To create truly vibrant public realms, he needed to uncover who was writing those briefs and how to incorporate the voices of everyday people into the foundation of city planning.
Authentic placemaking requires deep listening. Cam draws inspiration from a Maori phrase he learned while working in New Zealand, which translates to “one thousand cups of tea”.
“It loosely talks about the fact that there wouldn’t be a formal meeting held until you’d sat down and had a lot of cups of tea with someone to get to know them,” Cam explains.
This philosophy is essential for local governments and placemakers. Rather than rushing into a project, practitioners must invest time in understanding the true meaning behind the community’s words. This creates a unified front, helping councils partner confidently with local residents rather than battling fractured stakeholder groups.
High Street’s recognition by Time Out magazine wasn’t an overnight success created by a council directive. It was the result of decades of local creativity and investment.
Cam notes that the street thrives because of its authenticity:
Cam’s work role is to ensure that economic frameworks and policies support this existing vibrancy, empowering traders with the tools they need to market and create their own identities together.
One of the greatest challenges in urban design is the disconnect between placemakers and economic development teams. While both aim to improve cities, they often speak different languages. Economic teams want hard data to justify investment, whereas placemakers struggle to quantify the value of a great public space.
Cam believes the solution is capability building and narrative.
“Once we can start to weave those beautiful stories in with the actual data, then you’re looking at gold,” Cam says. By treating a community’s story as a legitimate piece of data, placemakers can help decision-makers understand the true value of their investments.
For Cam, storytelling isn’t just PR; it is the fundamental tool for human connection and the ultimate driver of successful urban change.
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