Manningham in northeastern Melbourne is spearheading change which is lead by Greeks in the region.

Architect Christine Gouramanis has lived in Manningham for more than 30 years, and has hopped on board the municipality’s efforts to draft a Smart City Discussion Paper currently being developed by the Liveability, Innovation and Technology (LIT) Committee – a specialist advisory panel with community members working with Councillors and council officers.

“As an architect I design places and buildings with people at the centre,” she said. “I use technology and constantly seek innovative ways and products to improve how we design and build with the aim to improve our lives.”

Ms Gouramanis believes future buildings should be sustainable and intelligent, with shared services and systems. “This might include innovative systems that can turn on electricity when there is insufficient daylight, automated sun louvres to control heat gain from the sun, and water recycled from other areas of a building.

“Buildings could share resources and services; rubbish could be sorted, treated and collected on a needs basis; there are many opportunities,” Ms Gouramanis said.

Ms Gouramanis says technology innovation can also empower older residents and those who are less mobile.“Manningham extends over a large area of land and accessing services and facilities relies on physical participation. With decreasing mobility we can become less connected with our community and more isolated,” she said.

Manningham Coucil Deputy Mayor and LIT Committee chair, Cr Mike Zafiropoulos AM, agrees the time is ripe for an initiative such as the one being proposed – a decision unanimously supported by the Council.

“The rapid population growth and demographic change we are seeing in Manningham is impacting many aspects of our daily lives, in areas such as planning, parking, congestion, amenity, and open spaces. We can adopt new approaches to ensure innovation is also an integral part of our day to day lives,” Cr Zafiropoulos AM said.

Manningham is calling on residents to share their ideas for a smart city which will be included in the Smart City Discussion Paper. To have a say on what smart city opportunities should be considered for Manningham, residents are urged to complete the following survey by 2 March: yoursay.manningham.vic.gov.au/smart-city