The Melbourne Royal Show is back, bringing rides, showbags, animals, food, entertainment and thousands of visitors to the Melbourne Showgrounds.

But have you ever stopped to think about how everything actually fits?

For a couple of weeks, the Showgrounds becomes something like a temporary city. There are huge rides to position, marquees and stages to set up, animal areas to organise, food outlets and displays to accommodate, and pathways that need to safely move thousands of people around the site.

And before much of that can happen, you need one very important thing: accurate information about the space you’re working with.

That’s where surveying and spatial information come in.

It all starts with knowing exactly where things are

You can’t simply turn up with a giant ride and decide where it looks good!

Large events rely on detailed site plans and accurate spatial information to understand the location of buildings, roads, paths, boundaries, services and other infrastructure.

Surveyors use specialised equipment and technology to measure and map the world around us. That information can then help planners, engineers, designers and event organisers understand the site and make decisions about how the available space can be used.

At an event as busy as the Melbourne Royal Show, every metre counts.

Making room for the fun

Think about everything squeezed into the Showgrounds during the Show.

There are rides, showbags, agricultural displays, animals, stages, food trucks, seating areas, toilets and countless other temporary structures.

They all need space — and they can’t interfere with existing buildings, underground or above-ground infrastructure, vehicle access or pedestrian routes.

Accurate mapping helps create a clear picture of the site so all those pieces can come together.

What about those enormous rides?

Some of the most impressive structures at the Show aren’t permanent at all.

Large carnival rides arrive, are assembled, operate for a short period and then disappear again.

While engineers and ride operators are responsible for their installation and safety, accurate site information is an important part of planning where large temporary structures can be positioned.

The same applies to stages, marquees, displays and other temporary infrastructure.

When you’re dealing with something several storeys high, “somewhere around here” isn’t quite accurate enough!

There’s more happening underground

What you see above ground is only part of the story.

Sites like the Melbourne Showgrounds also have networks of underground infrastructure and services. Knowing where existing infrastructure is located is important when planning temporary structures, equipment and site works.

Modern surveying and geospatial technology can help create detailed digital records of the built environment, giving project teams much more information to work with than a simple paper map.

Surveying is everywhere — even during the school holidays

One of the interesting things about surveying is how often it is connected to places and experiences we might never associate with the profession.

Festivals, sporting events, concerts, theme parks and major public events all depend on carefully planned spaces and accurate information about the environments in which they operate.

So, if you’re heading to the Melbourne Royal Show these school holidays, take a look around.

Between the rides, showbags and fairy floss, think about everything that had to be measured, mapped, planned and positioned to transform the Showgrounds into the event you see today.

Because before you can build a temporary city, you need to know exactly where everything goes.