Steve McCann: Bradfield’s sustainable vision for generations
ACCORDING to some recent media commentary, Sydney is “one giant construction site” — but we all need to remember these changes are not just for us, it’s for the future writes Steve McCann.
Project Sydney
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The formidable founder of Lendlease and a Bradfield Honour Roll inductee, Dick Dusseldorp, came to Australia from the Netherlands in 1951 with £10,000 and a handful of Dutch workers to build 200 houses for the Snowy Mountains Authority at Cooma.
This relatively modest but important project — part of one of this country’s great nation-building works — occurred in an environmentally delicate area. It marked the start of his awareness and commitment to excellence in sustainable development.
This focus on sustainable development is something that Lendlease hopes to actively encourage as part of the Lendlease Bradfield Scholarship for urban vision.
Good infrastructure and sustainable urban development can and should always focus on the people who will be living, working and using the space over many years.
We need the next generation of leaders, our Bradfield scholars, to remain firmly fixed on this vision, and remain mindful that what is delivered must also leave a longer-term positive legacy for the community.
This vision needs to be clear well before the first sod turn and can take many years to deliver upon.
But it is worth it.
According to some recent media commentary, Sydney is “one giant construction site”.
However, I’d encourage cynics to give thought to the fact that what is being delivered is not just for today’s Sydneysiders but those who will be living here 50, 80, perhaps even 100 years from now.
To make Sydney a global city we must take a view that spans generations. We must ensure that the decisions we take now, as we regenerate and plan our city, will go beyond the current cycle of development, beyond the next decade.
The economic benefits of current infrastructure work are invaluable.
The work being done across Sydney is delivering much-needed employment and training for thousands of men and women; giving them skills and experience they’ll keep for a lifetime. For example, Barangaroo South, which at one stage was Australia’s largest construction site, had more than 10,000 workers undertake formal skills training, delivering more than 16,000 accredited training outcomes ranging from skills sets to advanced diplomas.
Similarly, large-scale infrastructure projects such as road and rail networks, tunnels, bridges and stadiums will deliver enhanced transport links and new social amenities, all of which mean sustainable jobs and growth outside of the central business district.
Sydney is already a global leader in this space with Barangaroo one of the world’s largest carbon neutral and water positive precincts.
Within Australia we are also successfully testing and introducing energy- and watersaving innovations such as electric vehicle charging stations, smart irrigation systems and street lighting linked to motion sensors, to residential communities.
Our Bradfield scholars understand this and I applaud and greatly encourage ideas such as converting pedestrians’ footsteps into electricity; the innovative, space-saving “stackable houses” or the call to make green roofs and walls mandatory for all new residential and commercial developments to minimise urban heat and provide urban farms.
Urban regeneration delivers positive change. I am heartened to see that the future of this change is resting in the hands of such talented young planners, engineers and architects.
Steve McCann is CEO and MD of Lendlease Group.