Major earthworks of the $5.3B Western Sydney Airport are to start in 2020 signalling a significant step closer to the realisation of Western Parkland City, an emerging entity on a north-south axis extending some 50 kilometres from the Hawkesbury to Campbelltown and beyond,
Similar to start-up businesses which aim to solve problems, the city is destined to provide the lifestyle and employment opportunities for a projected population of well over 1.5 million people by 2056, within 30 minutes of home.
While the federal government bankrolled the construction of the airport, major investment by the NSW government and the private sector will be required to fund agricultural, commercial and industrial entities within the surrounding aerotropolis.
Western Sydney Aerotropolis Investor Guide states the aerotropolis represents the chance to build a city from the ground up; $20B of public funding so far has been allocated across transport, health and education infrastructure.
The aerotropolis will make a significant contribution to 200,000 new jobs for Western Sydney residents by establishing a new high-skill jobs hub across aerospace and defence, manufacturing, healthcare, freight and logistics, agribusiness, education and research industries, according to the Greater Sydney Commission,
The NSW government regards the aerotropolis, an 11,200-hectare economic zone and the airport, as the catalysts – game changers – of the development and growth of the start-up city.
On the threshold of major construction at the airport, a random report card conducted by the author shows to-date that the NSW government has been successful in securing memorandums of understanding (MOU) from global companies to establish a presence in the aerotropolis.
The MOUs include BAE Systems, Siemens, GE Additive, DB Schenker, Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, SUEZ, Vitex Pharmaceuticals and Northrop Grumman.
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Japanese conglomerate Hitachi which signed a MOU in 2018 has since signed up to be the first tenant of the aerotropolis, with a collaboration and research centre generating hi-tech jobs.
Domestic projects include the University of Newcastle, University of NSW, University of Wollongong, and Western Sydney University which have signed a Statement of Intent with the NSW government to deliver a higher education institution focussing on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.
In the domestic private sector, the development of the $5B, 280‐hectare Sydney Science Park, at Luddenham, which upon completion is expected to deliver more than 12,000 smart jobs, educate 10,000 students and provide over 3000 homes – a venture owned, and being delivered by Celestino a Western Sydney‐based property group.
Boxes ticked include the establishment of the Western City and Aerotropolis Authority to design and deliver the city’s commercial centre (CBD), the Western Sydney Airport Investment Attraction Office is operational, the initial design of the airport terminal precinct has been unveiled, and the Western Sydney Development Corporation, a design and property development company that specialises in residential developments exists.
The Minister for Western Sydney, Stuart Ayers, spoke enthusiastically of the development and future of the start-up city at a Business Council of Australia and Western Sydney Business Chamber function.
“The focus now is to ensure that across Western Parklands City we leverage the airport investment to create a much stronger connectivity between the already established economic zones.
“I think of it as the golden triangle of Western Sydney – Penrith in the north, Campbelltown in the south, Liverpool in the east and right in the middle of that is now the Western Sydney Airport.”
The federal and NSW governments plan to deliver a north-south rail link which will initially form the backbone of an economic corridor from St Marys to the airport-aerotropolis complex, with long-term proposals of directly connecting Greater Penrith, Liverpool and Campbelltown-Macarthur, enabling a government widely proclaimed objective of a 30-
minute commute from home.
The CBDs of these established cities are being rejuvenated, night-time attractions are instituted medical and education precincts are expanding with investment in hospitals and university campuses and high-rise commercial and residential buildings line the streetscapes.
The report card shows the realisation of the vision of Western Parklands City, a first in the history of planning for Greater Sydney,
