165 11. Staying in place: Meanings, practices and the regulation of publicness in Sydney’s Martin Place Ann Deslandes and Justine Humphry INTRODUCTION We met on the George Street side of Martin Place on a midweek afternoon in late 2013, two cultural researchers intending to stay a while. It was lunch time, and the food court where we sucked down our noodles swelled with office workers in suits and heels. The court backs onto the Commercial Travellers’ Association, its striking mushroom-shaped structure referenc- ing an earlier era of commercial movement and affinity, complete with 1970s colour palette. We walked towards the Macquarie Street side of this pedestrian-only thoroughfare, noticing a collection point for a Jewish com- munity children’s programme and a towering Christmas tree adorned with lights and baubles. Families and children gathered to take snapshots in the midday heat, marking the imminent arrival of another holiday season. Spanning the bustle of George Street and the solemnity of Macquarie Street, Martin Place in Sydney’s city centre boasts many features associ- ated with the ‘public’: a wide pedestrian boulevard; an Australia Post outlet; war memorials; sculptures, fountains and seating; and a railway station. Martin Place is also home to Australia’s financial powerhouses: the Reserve Bank of Australia, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Macquarie Bank, along with the Sydney headquarters of many global firms and the United States consulate. Martin Place hosts the studios and offices of the Seven television network, forming the backdrop to morning television shows and news broadcasts, as well as being a site for open-air events like Fashion Week, brand launches, concerts and protests. In such a way, corporate interest and myriad practices of sociality are co-located in this public space, appearing to consolidate in what is often described as ‘the civic heart of Sydney’ (Meacham 2007). But a more dynamic and contested version of ‘publicness’ exists in Martin Place than its surface renderings would suggest. In this chapter, we ponder these LLOYD PRINT.indd 165 20/12/2016 14:44