NORTH SYDNEY City Centre is…
On Sydney Harbour…
• one of Sydney’s most accessible places
• in the heart of a diverse and switched-on community
At the centre of…
• Sydney, and
• Sydney’s creative industries, and
• Sydney’s knowledge economy
It is also…
• one of Australia’s largest CBDs
• in Australia’s largest school cluster
• Australia’s best-placed urban centre?
BUT… IN REALITY, it’s also:
• an office park with through traffic
• private commerce with no civic functions or activities
• canyons and wind tunnels with no sun
• concrete with no nature and nothing green
• congested footpaths, minimal public spaces
• cut off by big traffic and big rail
• neglected by governments, ignored by community
YET…
Good government and city planning based on local principles
can transform the North Sydney city centre in 20 years —
SIX PRINCIPLES for the strategic transformation of North Sydney:
- At critical private sites and in transformed streets:
fine, sunny public plazas; landscaped spaces and connections; green buildings and infrastructure. - Reconnecting the city centre to the neighbourhoods and the harbour:
Walker Street joined up again, over the railway, and the Greenwood link extended to Lavender Bay; the tram bridge reinstated over the expressway as a green walkway to Kirribilli; Pacific Highway tamed, both sides connected again… - Contributions from every development:
Contributions – on site, or cash in lieu – to public open space, people-places, venues, community services, shared spaces, start-ups, activities, events… - Recovery of places lost:
cinemas, galleries, people places – and busy, sunny, interesting places like Tower Square before Sydney Metro knocked it down. - Relentless implementation of the highest qualities:
in sustainable buildings, and in the public domain. - New infrastructure and new technologies will allow the transformation of spaces presently dominated by traffic —
Get ready for the new paradigm: the opportunities for downtown car-free places start now!
THEN… the VISION can be achieved as:
