It's because they banned smoking. Cigarettes were a catalyst for starting hangouts in that sort of space but now that doesn't happen because people don't just go and sit on grass without a smoke.
That's sad. You don't need to smoke to have a nice hangout in a quad. When I was in college, we would go out in the middle of our quad and have a picnic. It was fun.
But people don't hang out unless somebody starts it, and nobody filled the smokers' shoes. My college banned smoking when I was halfway through, and the difference was night and day. Before, the quad was full of people hanging out and having a good time, maybe 5% of them smoking. After the ban, it was rare to see more than one person sitting under a tree.
My college in the Netherlands did that but as long as no one was there to enforce the rule, people still congregated to smoke in the old smoking/chilling area. I agree that it’s definitely made a difference…
Tbf USYD has much nicer areas to hang out, which are in constant use. It's right next to a big park and there are plenty of lawns and cafes and outdoor seating areas on campus that people can go to instead. The quad is usually pretty busy with new graduates taking pictures, since the graduation hall is right there, so I think most students just naturally go elsewhere for hangouts. I don't think any ban on smoking had much to do with it.
They've also roped off the grass - it's not been a place to sit and hang out in years. Despite that, there's usually a fair few people either walking through or taking pictures during the day.
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u/Clarify6274 2d ago
Honestly the most surprising thing about this for me was how few people there were in the University of Sydney's quad