Artist’s impression of the First Building project in Bradfield. (Source: Western Parkland City Authority) The state government hopes the development will “supercharge the creation of jobs and economic opportunities” in western Sydney. — Bloomberg
SYDNEY: Carbon-neutral buildings and tree-lined streets are at the heart of plans for a brand new city in a pocket of Australia where temperatures can be among the hottest on earth in the summer and climate change looms as a major threat.
Bradfield city centre is under construction on an expanse of dirt and scrub about 56km west of Sydney’s central business district and harborfront, neighbouring a new international airport that is set to open in 2026.
The city and airport are part of the wider Aerotropolis, an area of about 11,000ha, around the size of 16 Manhattan blocks.
The state government hopes the development will “supercharge the creation of jobs and economic opportunities” in western Sydney, an area that’s home to about 2.5 million people and has some of the fastest growth rates in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Backed by A$1bil (US$668mil or RM2.9bil) from the government and more from a slew of international firms, it’ll be home to technology companies, colleges, and further down the line, apartments and houses. The first building is set to be completed next year.
The new city comes as Australia has faced an increasing number of bushfires, floods and other extreme climate events in recent years, forcing developers to find ways to overcome, or at least mitigate, the impact of a warming planet.
At Bradfield, the immediate challenge is the area’s extreme summer temperatures, which can soar as much as 10 degrees celcius higher than the city’s east, which is cooled by the ocean.
In January 2020, as wildfires ravaged Australia’s east coast, the temperature reached 48.9 degrees celsius in the Sydney suburb of Penrith, about 23km from Bradfield, making it the hottest place in the world.
There’s also concern deforestation from construction in years gone by has left it exposed to complications from global warming, such as accelerated soil loss and endangered native animal and plant species.“The loss of greenery over the years makes this area very vulnerable to climate change,” said Tooran Alizadeh, a professor at the University of Sydney who’s leading a research team to examine the new urban development in the city’s west.
“This is a very sensitive area.”
Some 37 firms are already locked in as partners to the state government to construct Bradfield.
That list, which includes Northrop Grumman Corp and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd, is expected to expand to 50 by the end of this year, according to the chief executive of Western Parkland City Authority Sarah Hill, who is overseeing the development.
Australia’s top science organisation, the Csiro, will also move some divisions into a purpose-built facility.
Hill, who has spent her career designing city developments including the 2012 London Olympics, said starting with a clean slate meant not having to fix problems further down the line.
“We’ve really brought our partners in early to help us design the city so that it addresses any of those challenges that are emerging globally around climate,” Hill said.
“This is really flipping the model on its head.”
Sustainability targets are being monitored at Bradfield from planning through to construction.
By ensuring 100% renewable energy use – from solar, wind, hydrogen and bio-energy – while making water treatment integrated from the start to reduce waste, planners are banking on green outcomes well before the city is populated.
To deal with the heat, commercial and residential planning applications need to show if roofs and paved surfaces are designed to reduce adverse effects of solar heat on the surrounding land. This includes a requirement for light-coloured roofs.
“Rather than starting with housing, we’re starting with what industry and businesses need, and this is quite a different approach to planning cities in my experience and decades of doing this,” Hill said.
With increased focus on environmental, social and govenance factors in recent years, however, there are heated discussions of the “massive environmental and societal issues in that location” Alizadeh said.
In addition to the environmental impact, the project will also be scrutinised for how it consults with Indigenous peoples.
When the city’s name was first released in 2021, controversy ensued when it was confirmed that an Indigenous word would not be used. Instead, the city’s name would honor engineer John Bradfield, most noted for his design and construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
The naming controversy comes as the country later this year is expected to hold a referendum that would give Indigenous Australians an official voice in parliament. Some western Sydney suburbs near the airport development have proportionately more than the 3.2% national average of First Nations people.
The parkland development body acknowledges that projects of this size aren’t supposed to be straightforward.
“This is one of the most unique opportunities that we have in the world to create a city from scratch, from a clean slate, but also on the doorstep of an existing global city,” said Hill. — Bloomberg
