Another “conspiracy theory” that’ looks more like a done deal now:
Sydney to get a brand new ’30-minute city’ with car-free streets: Here’s what it will look like
- Bradfield City being built near new airport
- ‘Sustainable and green’ with car-free streets
‘Australia’s newest city’ has set high expectations promising to be greener and more sustainable while promoting car-free streets and quick access to facilities.
Bradfield City is being built next to Western Sydney Airport at Badgerys Creek with the first buildings to be ready by the time the airport opens in 2026.
Planning documents state the entire aerotropolis will sit on more than 11,000 hectares and that it will be centred around pedestrian-only thoroughfares.
Bradfield City will be a 30-minute city meaning residents will be able to jump on public transport and access all CBD amenities from their home within half-an-hour.
Bradfield City, which is being built next to the new Badgerys Creek airport, will have car-free streets (artist’s concept)
The city will be built as the state government looks to fulfill its ambitious three-cities strategy, with Parramatta and Sydney CBD the other two major hubs.
The plan is aimed at decentralising work, shopping and leisure activities into regional areas and reduce car use and travel times for residents.
The NSW government released its master plan hoping to receive community feedback on the design.
What is a 15-minute neighbourhood?
The concept – also known as 15mC – dates back to the 1960s and says all day-to-day needs like shopping, healthcare and workplaces should be within quarter of an hour of your home.
It requires developing high-density housing near associated infrastructure along public transport corridors to ease traffic congestion, coupled to increased cycle lanes and walkways, and usable outdoor spaces.
It aims to ‘reduce car dependency, promote healthy and sustainable living, and improve wellbeing and quality of life for city dwellers’.
‘We used to have 15-minute cities as the norm,’ Vancouver’s former chief planner Brent Toderian told the ABC.
‘They were called good neighbourhoods – where you didn’t have to get into a car for everything.’
But it’s provoked a divide among some, split into NIMBY [Not In My Back Yard] opponents of the intense developments and YIMBY [Yes In My Back Yard] supporters who want to lower house prices and reduce human environmental impact.
It’s also sparked a conspiracy theory – which grew in popularity during the pandemic lockdowns – that it’s part of a global government program to oppress citizens and ultimately prohibit locals from leaving their designated area as part of an ‘open-air prison’.
Continued:
Bradfield City will have a central park to add to the vegetation interspersed throughout the area, a pool near natural wetlands and a ‘green loop’ for active transport.
‘We’re creating a beautiful and sustainable city that will be green, advanced, and connected to world-class transport,’ the planning website says.
‘Bradfield City Centre will be cyber smart and digitally led, with commercial and community facilities including retail, cultural facilities, and open green spaces.’
It will be one of the biggest urban developments ever undertaken in Australia and the first major city to be built in over 100 years.
Attracting high-tech industry will be vital to the ambitious promise of creating 200,000 jobs with publicly funded science organisation CSIRO already committing to a facility.
The timeframe to get it all up and running is tight with the first buildings hoped to be ready in time for the airport and metro line opening in 2026.
‘While the master plan says that it’s a 50-year time horizon for this complete city to come out of the ground, I think you’ll find that it happens a whole lot quicker than that based on the absolute demand for it,’ planning minister Paul Scully told the Sydney Morning Herald.
‘There’s going to be construction that’s going on here for a long time – the entire aerotropolis is more than 11,000 hectares. That’s going to take a while to grow.’
Liverpool mayor Ned Mannoun, who presides over the local government area, said the new city centre offers hope to ease the chronic traffic congestion being suffered by his constituents.
‘We have a community in Austral that is getting a thousand new houses every year and the people there are stuck in traffic jams 4.5 kilometres long every morning,’ he said.
‘We have a community in Austral that is getting a thousand new houses every year and the people there are stuck in traffic jams 4.5 kilometres long every morning,’ he said.
‘NSW is planning 30-minute cities, where people can access great jobs, housing, health care and social connections,’ the state government’s website says.
‘All public transport modes contribute to delivering 30-minute cities, which reduce private vehicle use and increase sustainable transport use.
‘This will include planning transport connections for areas of new housing and business development.
‘People will be able to catch public transport, walk, and cycle safely from the day they move into their new home.’
‘They have tree canopy cover and shade, quality public spaces, well-designed roads and pathways with safe speeds, and a concentration of activities that bring people onto streets.
‘Transport for NSW will partner with government, urban developers and councils to set new housing developments in 15-minute neighbourhoods and support a culture of public transport use.’
The development strategy signals the end of the great Australian dream for many who planned on owning a standalone house – with more apartments to be built in the state.
‘We have to go up,’ NSW Premier Chris Minns said last year as he backed building big new developments along the city’s transport links.
‘Sydney can’t grow by adding another street to the western fringe of Sydney every other week. The best way… is to have buildings that go up.’
Blocks up to 47 storeys at St Leonards, on Sydney’s lower north shore, are vertical villages, with supermarkets, medical centres and even libraries built into their design.
Restaurants, cafes and schools are all within walking distance.
They are the high-end blueprint to the city’s future, and critical to their success is being next to bus, train and light rail links.