Bradfield Scholarship: Hillary Pan’s radical fix to the housing crisis

BRADFIELD SCHOLARSHIP: WHILE some urban planners are all at sea when it comes to coping with Sydney’s rapidly growing population, Hillary Pan has embraced a new wave of design ideas.

WHILE some urban planners are all at sea when it comes to coping with Sydney’s rapidly growing population, engineering student Hillary Pan has embraced a new wave of design ideas.

The first of our Bradfield Scholarship finalists, Ms Pan is proposing to build a succession of “floating cities” moored off the NSW coast and anchored to the sea bed.

Under her radical vision, hundreds of thousands of Sydneysiders could be living in sea-based island housing developments connected by retractable bridges.

The University of Sydney student believes a network of Independent Floating Modules (IFM) — each about 74ha — would provide affordable housing for about 20,000 residents per island.

The radical design concept would also free up prime farming land on the mainland.

“The concept of sea-based living has been developed and implemented since early people started developing permanent settlements,” Ms Pan said.

Bradfield Scholarship finalist Hillary Pan, 19 / Picture: Jonathan Ng

“To circumvent the burgeoning issue of housing and land shortages, I believe that it is time for Sydney’s lead developers and urban planners to look to a new radical solution that will capitalise on one of the city’s defining features — the ocean.”

The 19-year-old is a Lend Lease Bradfield Urbanisation Scholarship 2016 finalist and envisions high-speed ferries connecting the IFM’s mainland with the futuristic cities operating off the grid by harnessing the wind, sun and wave energy.

“The IFM will represent cutting-edge technology in many fields, including renewable energy production and naval engineering — but beyond that the IFM will propel Sydney to the forefront of sustainable urban research,” she said.

The winner of the Bradfield Scholarship will be announced at the Bradfield Oration dinner on October 19.