"The Glitter Strip" is a label the Gold Coast has been trying to ditch.
asserted
Coast → try → ?
The Queensland city grew into a tourism powerhouse over half a century, gaining a reputation for a laid-back beach lifestyle.
Motels under neon lights once lined the coast, while bikini-clad meter maids posed for photos with tourists.
asserted
maids → grow → tourists
"The way that the Gold Coast a generation ago talked about itself was as really fun but also fairly cheap," the city council's marketing boss Todd Babiak said.
asserted
boss → talk → itself
Mr Babiak leads Brand Gold Coast, a council-owned organisation working to reinvent the city's reputation.
asserted
Babiak → lead → reputation
It found inspiration on the other side of the world.
asserted
It → find → world
Austin, Texas, underwent a transformation that saw it become an engine of the technology economy, fuelled by a "weird" reputation.
asserted
it → undergo → reputation
But some worry the Gold Coast, like Austin, could lose part of itself along the way.
uncertain
Coast → worry → way
'Keep Austin Weird'
Every year, Austin celebrates a public birthday party for Eeyore, the donkey from Winnie the Pooh.
asserted
Austin → keep → Winnie
It's held just 7 kilometres from a 60-tonne cathedral built from junk.
asserted
It → hold → junk
Willie Nelson — a legend of conservative country music yet a vocal supporter of marijuana and LGBTQIA+ rights — called the city home.
asserted
Nelson → call → city
Austin also hosts SXSW, a world-renowned ideas festival that once featured a concert where patrons were encouraged to fall asleep.
asserted
patrons → host → concert
"If the rest of Texas rejects you, whether it's for your political views, your sexual orientation, your background, whatever it is, Austin will take you in," Southwestern University's professor Joshua Long said.
"
asserted
professor → reject → you
Dr Long's book Weird City explores Austin's effort to maintain its eccentric character amid rapid economic change.
asserted
book → explore → change
It centres around "Keep Austin Weird" — an offhand comment made on a community radio station 26 years ago, expressing a fear that corporate growth could turn Austin into a copy of every other American city.
uncertain
growth → centre → city
"Keep Austin Weird" spread onto bumper stickers and shopfronts, morphing into an unofficial city slogan that encouraged locals to embrace what made them different.
asserted
them → keep → locals
"[Austin] does feel like an oasis, not only geographically and physically but also metaphorically, to the rest of Texas," Dr Long said.
asserted
Long → feel → Texas
When tech meets weird
asserted
tech → meet → ?
For decades, Austin's council, universities and businesses developed coordinated policies to attract investment from the tech sector, which surged during the 1990s dot-com boom.
asserted
which → develop → boom
Tech professionals could sell their homes in more expensive cities, move to Austin and still have money left over to invest.
"Suddenly they become venture capitalists — angel investors — starting their own creative pursuits," Dr Long said.
uncertain
Long → sell → pursuits
"Rather than Silicon Valley, we became Silicon Hills."
asserted
we → become → Valley
Tech firm Dell was founded in Austin, while other corporate giants including Apple, Google and Tesla now have major offices there.
asserted
giants → found → offices
Even the world's most popular podcaster, Joe Rogan, relocated to Austin in 2020.
asserted
podcaster → relocate → 2020
Mr Babiak said Austin's organically "weird" reputation also attracted many creative entrepreneurs from other parts of the US.
asserted
reputation → say → US
"If you want to launch something weird into the world, do it in Austin," he said.
asserted
he → want → Austin
"Austin was able to absolutely transform its economy around entrepreneurship … it already had that story, the DNA just needed to be uncovered.
asserted
DNA → transform → story
What can the Gold Coast learn?
asserted
Coast → learn → What
While Austin has "weird", the Gold Coast has "wellness".
asserted
Coast → have → wellness
Mr Babiak spent 200 hours interviewing locals about the "core story" of the Gold Coast.
asserted
Babiak → spend → Coast
What has it done to me and what have I done to it?" he said.
asserted
he → do → it
Mr Babiak said perceptions of a laid-back lifestyle became "a tension" among locals whose experience went "beyond beaches and theme parks".
asserted
experience → say → beaches
"It's actually the way that they're living their lives," he said.
asserted
he → live → lives
"They get up early and go for that walk, that surf or that run, but then they work hard all day [and] it makes them more productive.
asserted
them → get → walk
"It's not leisure for the sake of leisure, it's leisure that does something to you — that positive transformation has an effect on your working life.
asserted
transformation → do → life
Perceptions have economic consequences
asserted
Perceptions → have → consequences
Mr Babiak said the cliche of laid-back beaches limits the Gold Coast's appeal for serious business, study and investment.
asserted
cliche → say → business
Lucrative overseas markets such as Vietnam, China and the United States had only "a vague idea around beaches" when it came to the Gold Coast.
asserted
it → have → Coast
By leveraging its film industry, Mr Babiak said the Gold Coast could become "a younger, more sophisticated, dynamic and complex economy".
uncertain
Coast → leverage → industry
"Really cool people make films, there must be something cool happening on the Gold Coast," he said.
"
asserted
he → make → Coast
Creative enterprise is at its heart but can we take that strength and be really clever about it, so that it starts to pervade other aspects of the Gold Coast?"
asserted
it → take → Coast
Chris Amos lived in the UK for two decades, producing documentaries including Netflix's Hating Peter Tatchell, featuring Ian McKellen and Stephen Fry.
But he moved to the Gold Coast to build his own film studio after having an "epiphany".
asserted
he → live → epiphany
…and 14 more, not listed.
The Aporia