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During the first CoP 16 Deep Dive Webinar, Brisbane has shared an executive-level look at how legacy planning for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games is being designed to shape the city well beyond 2032, aligning long-term urban outcomes with Games delivery.
Hosted by Brisbane City Council, the webinar focused on the realities of dispersed Games venues and growing community expectations. With venues spread across the city, organisers say the planning challenge is not just about outcomes linked to the Olympic and Paralympic events, but about creating an integrated city system by strengthening connectivity, enhancing the public realm, and investing in sustainability and climate resilience that will endure.
Legacy Planning as a City-Shaping Exercise
A key theme was positioning legacy as a broader “city-shaping” initiative linked to the IOC’s “New Norm.” Rebecca Arnaud, Manager 2032 Host City, outlined how inner-city venues increase the need for integrated mobility and long-term investment. These include reinforcing regional connectivity, supporting jobs, and strengthening Brisbane’s global identity.
Building Confidence Through Community Engagement
Brisbane’s legacy momentum is also being driven through major engagement efforts. Rebecca explained the “Brisbane Making Our Mark” engagement process, describing three phases of consultation that reached more than 940,000 people and generated nearly four million impressions across digital channels. The approach, she said, helps leaders advance complex, long-term decisions with community confidence and shared understanding.
Clear Legacy Criteria—and the Transition from Listening to Delivery
The City of Brisbane Legacy Framework was presented through four criteria:
- Accelerate Brisbane
- Deliver Before and Beyond the Games
- Deliver Beyond the Venues
- Uniquely Brisbane
The city is currently moving from listening to planning—using these criteria to guide what legacy should mean in practical terms and how it will be prioritised.
The Green Grid: A Connected, Climate-Resilient Network
A standout legacy initiative discussed in depth was the Green Grid, presented by Damien Thompson, Director, Landscape Architect at Lat Studios. The Green Grid is designed to create a connected, climate-resilient, and ecologically functional network—integrating active transport, urban forestry, flood adaptation, and recreation across inner Brisbane and priority Games precincts.
Damien also outlined the multi-criteria analysis behind the initiative, combining factors such as population growth, access to parks, flood systems, transport corridors, and venue locations to target interventions with the greatest benefit for each investment.
Practical delivery tactics were also highlighted, including tactical urbanism, adaptive reuse of underused infrastructure spaces, and phased rollout to test, refine, and scale outcomes.
Partnerships and Shared Ownership
Speakers emphasised that outcomes will depend on partnerships across sectors, including private developers, professional institutes, civic organisations, and cross-sector institutions. Jen Williams, CEO of Committee for Brisbane, noted that cross-sector membership helps enable coordinated city-scale action across universities, major landholders, cultural institutions, and community organisations.
Juliet Alabaster, CEO of City Parklands, added that custodianship of major inner-city assets—such as Victoria Park, Roma Street Parklands, and South Bank—positions City Parklands well to embed Green Grid principles within flagship public spaces and their connections.
Data, Indicators, and Accountability Over Time
The city also described how it is enabling delivery through digital and data initiatives, including a “Host City Readiness” portfolio with a dedicated geospatial team supporting geospatial StoryMaps and an agreed host city footprint.
Next Steps
The session concluded with agreement to continue knowledge exchange, share tools and engagement learnings, and use the Games as a catalyst to translate long-term aspirations into deliverable legacy outcomes. Brisbane welcomed opportunities for further sharing through additional topic-specific webinars and smaller bilateral or group conversations.