On Sunday, Minister for Planning and Housing Anthony Roberts, and Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Andrew Constance launched the Greater Sydney Commission’s (GSC) draft Regional Plan, together with NSW’s Future Transport Strategy for metropolitan Sydney.
According to GSC Chief Commissioner Lucy Turnbull AO, both plans (which are available for public comment) are the first long-term land use and transport strategies to be developed in direct collaboration.
“Reshaping Greater Sydney as a metropolis of three cities – Eastern, Central and Western – will rebalance it, fostering jobs, improving housing affordability, easing congestion and enhancing our enviable natural environment across the entire region,” she said.
“This is particularly exciting for Sydney’s west, with an entirely new city to emerge west of the M7, where the new Western Sydney Airport and the surrounding aerotropolis will support tens of thousands of jobs. Penrith, Liverpool and Campbelltown will become university towns, which means even greater opportunity for young people growing up in Greater Sydney’s west.”
The GSC’s draft plan envisions a Greater Sydney where residents live within 30 minutes of their jobs, education, health facilities, and recreational facilities.
Over the next four decades, Greater Sydney will evolve into three inter-connected cities: the Western Parkland City, the Central River City, and the Eastern Harbour City. These cities will be linked by new public transport, giving commuters greater access to job opportunities, new homes, and various services.
Greater Sydney’s population is expected to leap from five to eight million over the next four decades, with nearly half residing west of Parramatta. Planning this growth will ensure the equitable delivery of benefits across the area.
Roberts said Greater Sydney’s continued growth and success as a global city required a “transformative approach to its planning”.
“Greater Sydney is destined to become one of the world’s top 10 cities and as its population grows to an estimated eight million people over the next 40 years, we need these plans to ensure we deliver the housing, jobs, transport services, schools and medical facilities Sydneysiders will need,” he said.
“I congratulate the Chief Commissioner and her team on developing a compelling vision for the future of Greater Sydney and collaborating across government to align land use planning with future transport services and infrastructure.”
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