Two essays - from two APA Members - give different yet complementary reasons for why your Park Lands matter: “For democracy” and as “An economic asset”.
“For Democracy”
by Jan Bowman
In 2013, political thinker Bonnie Honig gave a series of lectures about the importance of what she calls public things—shared spaces and objects like our parks, libraries, and schools. These places do more than provide services. They help people feel connected, not only to one another but also to the idea of a shared democratic life.
Seen in this light, your Adelaide Park Lands are not just green spaces. They are places of memory, gathering, rest, celebration, protest, and belonging. They are part of the social and civic fabric that holds a community together.
Socialising in Rymill Park / Murlawirrapurka (Park 14). Pic: Shane Sody
But Honig warns that this social fabric is fragile. In her book Public Things: Democracy in Disrepair, she argues that the logic of privatisation, profit, and efficiency—the hallmarks of neoliberalism—puts these shared spaces at risk.
When a government repurposes public land, such as re-developing a Park Lands golf course for the benefit of multi-millionaire competitors, it involves more than just changes in land use. It weakens the democratic connection between the people and the place. It sends a message: this is no longer a space for all of you. It's now a venue for profit.
The recent North Adelaide Public Golf Course Act 2025, giving the State Government expanded powers to clear the way for more infrastructure and car parks in the Adelaide Park Lands is a case in point.
Instead of protecting a site where democracy is lived—through protests, children playing, cultural festivals, and quiet walks—it paves the way for fenced fairways, ticketed grandstands, and commercial gain.
It is important to note that this legislation is not limited to enabling the LIV Golf tournament.
During the debate, the Greens’ Robert Simms proposed an amendment to cap “declared periods” — which allow the golf course to be fenced - at a maximum of three months in any 12-month period.
Mr Simms argued this would prevent excessive disruption and limit the overreach of ministerial powers. However, Minister Emily Bourke opposed the amendment on behalf of the Government, claiming it could hinder the hosting of LIV Golf and other major tournaments.
“As I am advised, this proposed amendment could have the effect of limiting the opportunity to stage other national and international championship golf tournaments, not only the annual LIV Golf event,” (Hansard 26 June 2025 p9257).
Honig reminds us that public things invite both love and disagreement. They are spaces where different people—dog walkers, football players, artists, and readers—come together with diverse needs. That friction is not a flaw; it's a feature of democracy.
However, when a space is narrowed to serve a single purpose—such as a corporate sporting event—it ceases to be truly public. The space is no longer dynamic or diverse. It becomes controlled, managed, and commodified.
This concern echoes the work of French anthropologist Marc Augé, who describes the rise of non-places in modern life—places like airports, shopping centres, and hotel lobbies that lack memory, identity, or meaningful social connection. He warns that when these non-places replace real places with history and shared use, something vital is lost.
Festival Plaza in your Park 26: part-way through the process of corporatisation. Pic: Cheryl Willsdon
This is exactly what is at stake with your Adelaide Park Lands. When the Government replaces open, accessible green space with commercial infrastructure, it is turning a public thing into a non-place. What was once a common good becomes merely a backdrop for consumer experience.
Honig stresses that caring for public things is how people learn democracy. When this care is outsourced to private contractors, ordinary civic life is pushed aside.
Augé adds that when heritage sites—such as those important to the Kaurna people—or century-old trees are treated as barriers to profit, we sever ties to community and history.
Possum Park / Pirltawardli (Park 1) of significance to the Kaurna community; part of the North Adelaide golf course, now targeted for commercial infrastructure.
To protect your Park Lands, both Honig and Augé need to be taken seriously. That means pushing back against the ever-increasing commercialisation of your public spaces. It means working with Kaurna custodians, community groups, and local artists to bring life to your Park Lands throughout the year through storytelling, planting, cultural festivals, and more.
A shared public space in Bonython Park / Tulya Wardli (Park 27). Pic: Jan Bowman
It also means defending these spaces legally—so that fence-ticketed events are limited to existing sports venues and don't take over more and more of the “commons”; your Open Green Public Adelaide Park Lands.
If ever-more fenced and ticketed events keep transforming public spaces into non-places, we all risk losing the areas where we learn about citizenship, share community, and practice collective care.
Your Adelaide Park Lands are more than land. They are democratic infrastructure. To keep our democracy alive, we must keep these spaces public—and keep them open and free.
Note: This interpretation is the author's, and while based on the cited works, it does not represent the specific conclusions of those sources.
“An economic asset”
by Ian Milroy
Of great historic, environmental and recreational value, your Adelaide Park Lands are also a major economic asset.
When an organisation is planning to move or expand their operations into a new city, a key consideration is “the liveability factor”. This is the extent to which it will be possible, in the proposed location, to attract and retain high quality personnel.
The Park Lands, which completely encircle the city, give Adelaide a unique advantage in this competition.
Blue Gum Park/Kurangga (Park 20). Pic: Shane Sody
This factor was certainly a consideration in my own case, when in 1968, I chose a lecturer position at the then SA Institute of Technology, ahead of a similar position at a higher salary, which I had been offered at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the USA.
The Adelaide Park Lands were first laid out by William Light in 1837, in his original plan for the city.
With a state election pending, it is now time for each political party to commit to placing them on the SA Heritage Register, thus fully protecting this unique asset into the future.
A unique treasure: your Adelaide Park Lands.
Many South Australians are keen supporters of the Park Lands, so there are votes to be won.
Note: Ian Milroy’s short essay was first published on 1 July 2025, as a letter to the editor of The Advertiser.
