Where is the Joy? Surfers Paradise Deserves Better than Beige

Big talk

The concept plan spoke of bold ideas: a grand spine linking river to shore, a place open to all, a supercharged experience, more greenery, and an amplified brand for Surfers. On paper, it sounded like ambition. In reality, the design delivers beige paving, dated lighting, and suburban mall trees. This isn’t a unifying vision; it’s a shopping-centre makeover.

Missing in action

The problem is not the strategies themselves. “Open to All. Supercharge the Experience. Grow the Green. Amplify Brand Surfers.” They sound promising — but they are simply a how to. What is missing is the vision. The driving objective spelled out for all. The why driving the what. 

Without it, the design is piecemeal, broken into zones and disciplines that don’t add up to a cohesive whole and the strategies falter at the first test of delivery. 

Strategies without direction

“Grow the Green” becomes cutting down iconic Norfolk Pines, Poincianas, and Pandanus palms, the very trees that have shaded Cavill and framed the postcards of Surfers for decades. To be replaced with shopping centre trees.

“Open to All” excludes drivers, tour operators, delivery crews, marathon runners, and even skaters and scooters. Instead of welcoming diverse users, the design reduces choice and access.

“Supercharge the Experience” translates to small manufactured moments dwarfed by nature’s magnificence. Like bringing a sand pit to the beach. 

“Amplify Brand Surfers” stalls before it starts because the plan never defines what Surfers Paradise is. Without that clarity, what are you amplifying?

The result

What emerges in the designs is not playful or bold, but charmless and anonymous. The visuals could belong to any suburban centre between Perth and Parramatta. 

The 2023 Concept Plan provides a narrative structure to inform the design but without the clear bold vision the project needs, it doesn’t materialise. The plan shifts from revitalisation to reduction. A shrinking of ambition. A retreat into safety. Surfers Paradise is changing, yes — but to what? Unless the answer is “to something fabulous, flamboyant, stylish, and fun,” the project will fail the very city it claims to serve.

The good news is this: Surfers Paradise has the potential for a bold reinvention that honours its unique culture, its people, and its spectacular setting.

In a follow-up piece, we’ll explore what that could look like — how to turn these ideas into a design that truly celebrates joy, vibrancy, and one of the world’s most extraordinary urban beach playgrounds.