Abstract: The analysis of Water’s Edge Public Spaces (WEPS) in the Asia-Pacific region is considered important, especially locally, because these spaces are a key to the identity and perceived image of place. Emerging water's edge public spaces in the Asia-Pacific region display environmental connections while also: i) encouraging mixed use functionality; ii) preserving heritage and promoting adaptive re-use; iii) applying green urbanism principles; iv) implementing technological connectivity, establishing and maintaining connections with and in urban networks; v) allowing avenues of incomplete urbanism; and vi) harnessing renewable energies in the public domain. The authors found that there is a link between global design language uptake (in both, the East and West) and local design upgrades; however, this global-local link has suffered in times of financial uncertainty and socio-economic transformation. For example, Australian cities are focussing more strongly on 'the local' during financial woes. This paper is part of a larger study that uses a comparative urbanism framework to evaluate the sustainability of WEPS. The purpose of this paper is to discuss smaller scale Australian WEPS and connect these to the outcomes of a pilot study that compared three WEPS: in Sydney, Hong Kong and Singapore, at different stages of their lifecycle. The paper analyses and discusses factors in the sustainable design and renewal of Australian water’s edge spaces. Results are presented within the context of changing relationship dynamics, understanding underlying subservient associations established both locally and globally, while continuing to keep in mind the valued and reliant social, architectural and cultural site-specific relationships, locally, and, between the East and the West.