COULD AUSTRALIA’S NEWEST CITY LEAD THE WORLD IN SUSTAINABILITY? The NSW Government recently signed off on the Master Plan for the new aerotropolis of Bradfield, which is being hailed as Australia’s first 22nd-century city and Sydney’s third city. Located in South Western Sydney, the area has just witnessed the first plane taking off from the new Western Sydney International Airport.
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nternational urban design firm Hatch led the Master Plan for Bradfield and has commented on the measures that will be taken to make the upcoming city truly sustainable at a time of increasingly severe and prolonged heatwaves.1 Stephen Moore, a Partner at Hatch, developed Bradfield’s award-winning team and provided strategic leadership throughout the project. “Since the beginning we knew the project had incredibly high expectations, and rightly so,” he said. “The new airport alone has been discussed for 20 years. Its announcement came with support across three tiers of government and unprecedented investment in infrastructure in Western Sydney. “Sydney is facing enormous growth pressure as one of the world’s global destination cities. At the same time, Western Sydney is increasingly experiencing high heat, drought and flood levels and has historical inequalities across jobs, housing,
transport, urbanity, greenery, health and more,” Moore explained. “To address the complex issues while maintaining the grand vision, we used our Great Places Framework to drive innovation and world’s best practice.” Over 30% of the city will be dedicated to parklands, with double the tree canopy coverage of Sydney. The blueprint for Bradfield offers walkability, jobs, futureproof infrastructure and a strong connection to Country. Hatch Principal Sam George coordinated the Master Plan, which was a four-year process. “There were many voices to hear and learn from — from Traditional Custodians and the community to the many state and local government agencies and intra-agency sectors, as well as our project partners and experts across planning, transport, engineering and economic sectors,” George said. “We prepared hundreds of design studies, options and iterations across hundreds
of meetings and workshops to reach the agreed master plan. This inclusive process with lots of dialogue, evidence and testing has helped to create a robust master plan with global innovations.”
CENTRING FIRST NATIONS George said input and collaboration with First Nations consultants, Traditional Custodians and knowledge holders shaped Bradfield from the beginning, with workshops and an iterative design process merging knowledge from the world’s oldest living culture with contemporary planning. As a result, Bradfield will be linked by a 2.2 km First Nations ‘green loop’ cultural trail with natural materials, endemic plantings, and Indigenous art and stories to provide a connection with Country in an urban setting. “This has been done in a way and to an extent that’s never been seen before,” George claimed. “This could create a model ... for Australian cities that values First Nations culture and knowledge.” The Master Plan identifies dedicated First Nations health, education and community facilities and the Bradfield Development Authority is pursuing strategies for First