The $440 million Elizabeth Quay development lacks soul, a sense of place and distinction, a US expert on creative urban development says.

Key points: Visiting US urban art expert unimpressed by Elizabeth Quay

Visiting US urban art expert unimpressed by Elizabeth Quay Says lacking in sense of place and identity

Says lacking in sense of place and identity Not sure why people would be drawn to visit it

Not sure why people would be drawn to visit it Needs to make community want to use it, like art centre

Deborah Cullinan has more than 20 years experience working in urban space activation including advising the US Government on its arts strategies, and is visiting Perth to judge a street art a festival.

She told the ABC that after touring Elizabeth Quay, which opened in late January, she found it lacking in inspiration and identity.

"This has yet to achieve a sense of place, it does not feel like a place of distinction that has a soul, that is inspiring, that would draw people, especially people who live here," said Ms Cullinan, who heads the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco's premier arts centre.

"I can't quite feel Perth here, and I'm not sure exactly why if I was living in Perth I would come here.

"I see it more as a tourist destination."

Ms Cullinan said she saw possibilities in the quay, but thought it needed to be more community-oriented rather than commercial.

"I just wonder what the goal was, are we trying to create a place that's really about creating interaction between people, a place where I might come and have a picnic?" she asked.

"For me this feel like a place you might walk through but not necessarily a place yet where you would sit, stay, invest yourself in."

Challenge to appeal to tourists and locals alike

Ms Cullinan said Elizabeth Quay highlights the challenges cities face to create a place that fits within its context and appeals to residents and visitors.

Deborah Cullinan says art centres or street art installations could help people connect with the quay. ( ABC News: Robert Koenig-Luck )

She said basing an art institution at the quay could help create the "anchor" or "soul" the development is missing that pop up activities are trying to fill.

"We think a lot about our waterfront space in San Francisco and what would make it local," she said.

"What makes it beyond being a place that draws more tourists, places that are fun.

"I think festivals are awesome and doing pop up things are important but they come and go.

"So what is the anchor that can be here all the time and care about it like its home?"

She suggested a cultural centre, art institutions or street art installations could help create a feeling of "stakeholdership" and community at the quay.

1.5m visitors since opening, $4m spent on public art

Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority (MRA) executive director of place management Veronica Jeffery suggested that Ms Cullinan visiting the Quay during the day may have impacted her judgement.

"I think everyone is going to have an opinion about Elizabeth Quay," she said.

"We encourage those opinions because we're learning as we go in terms of what the public would like to see and do.

"It is a new space, it will continue to get better and I suppose people that come at different times of day and night have different experiences."

Ms Jeffery said the MRA was overwhelmed by the 1.5 million visitors to the quay since it first opened on January 29, and it would continue to evolve, as public consultation and engagement continued.

She said community interaction had not been overlooked with more than $4 million spent on public art, and plans for a Sculpture by the Sea-like temporary exhibition at the quay down the line.

Ms Cullinan will judge a $20,000 art prototyping competition at the PUBLIC Platform Festival in Claremont this weekend and will present a public forum by Perth not-for-profit arts group FORM.